Do I Need a Therapist? 11 Signs of Mental Health Challenges
We all struggle during various parts of our lives; some parts are rockier than others. Therapy is an invaluable tool to both treat and prevent mental health challenges that are affecting or may affect your daily life. Sometimes it feels like each day gets harder. Why aren’t these symptoms going away? You have questions. We have answers. Ultimately, you must be your own advocate. You deserve a better relationship with yourself.
Having a trusted friend or confidant is certainly a great way to vent personal struggles during a pandemic, but your friend likely has burdens of their own. Having an unbiased ally may be exactly what you need.
Therapy can help in a multitude of ways to include decreasing adverse cognitive, physical, and emotional symptoms. Even if you feel like you don’t need therapy, we encourage you to give it a go.
So, how do you know when you need therapy? Keep reading to learn 11 signs you may need to see a therapist.
If you are asking yourself, “why should I see a therapist?”, you’ve come to the right place for trusted answers. Make the leap and book an appointment with a therapist today.
Cognitive Signs that Therapy will Benefit You
#1 — Extreme Overwhelm
Small bursts of overwhelm can happen during the day, but if your overwhelm begins to feel compounded, a therapist can assist you with generating life hacks to better manage your life responsibilities.
Even if your plate has always been full, you can still feel extreme overwhelm due to other bodily systems going haywire. Therapy can even work towards preventing extreme overwhelm when you are anticipating a change or addition in life obligations such as starting a new job or having a baby.
#2 — Excessive Worrying
Just like overwhelm, worry in small doses can come and go, but if you find you are constantly worrying about anything and everything, especially things out of your control, this is a sign of mental health decline.
If you are constantly anticipating negative outcomes, it can affect how much joy you get out of life. Worrying most days and for multiple months will lead to anxiety. If the anxiety gets out of control, you will immediately notice physical signs such as headaches and gastrointestinal issues.
#3 — Intrusive Thoughts
Other signs of mental health deterioration are intrusive thoughts — the negative, self-sabotaging things you say to yourself in your head, therefore, it’s deeply internalized. Therapists can help you learn how to use affirmations and other coping tools to retrain your brain to be more present and process information in a more positive and less harmful way.
#4 — Focus and Concentration
Difficulties with focus and concentration are now being diagnosed in adults when traditionally, psychologists were more focused on observing these traits in children. But adults can struggle with symptoms similar to those of Adult attention-deficit disorder (ADHD) and may or may not have or desire a diagnosis. However, these can also be symptoms of a psychiatric disorder that therapy can treat.
Common signs of mental health distress can often include impaired attention, concentration, memory, energy, and can result in apathy. A decreased desire to do your favorite activities, manage your productivity at work, and maintain healthy relationships may lead to grave outcomes like losing your job or getting a divorce.
A therapist can facilitate active problem solving and relaxation strategies to help you effectively self-regulate your behavior and adapt more easily to critical tasks — large or small.
Physical Signs that Therapy will Benefit You
#5 — Fatigue and Quick Exhaustion
If you have this symptom, see a therapist as soon as possible, because this often indicates depression. Mental health and physical health are tightly interwoven, and fatigue or tiring easily could be a sign of physical health disorders. This symptom can worsen and cause depression, and then depression causes more fatigue.
Depression and fatigue are often cyclical and may gain speed quickly or unexpectedly. Simultaneously working with a trained therapist and physicians that specialize in other bodily systems such as those that affect the central nervous system — endocrine, immune, cardiovascular to name a few — is critical to get the appropriate diagnosis.
#6 — Weight Fluctuation and Changing Eating Habits
Constant and dramatic changes in weight and an unpredictable appetite are two of the major signs of unstable physical health. When it comes to diagnosing mental health disorders, sudden weight gain or loss and an increase or decrease in appetite can vary from person to person.
Keeping a journal to record your eating habits and quality of appetite is a great place to start. Four weeks’ worth of notes should provide your therapist with enough information to get started.
#7 — Sleep Disturbance
Your sleep habits play an undeniable role in identifying signs of physical health decline. Neurological research has been slowly developing, and we have much further to go. The research that has been replicated, validated, and published proves that sleep disturbance (getting too little sleep or low quality sleep) causes memory issues and impairs analytical skills.
If you experience sleep disturbance, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) — typically four to six sessions — will identify poor sleep habits and how to change them, encourage relaxation techniques, and, hopefully, reduce worry about not being able to sleep.
Keeping a journal to record your sleeping habits — quantity and quality — is a great place to start. Four weeks to six weeks worth of notes should provide your therapist with enough information to get started.
#8 — Frequent Sickness
For most people, when your emotions are not regulated, your body will show signs of physical health deterioration. But stress over time can actually weaken your immune system. This increased susceptibility to infectious disease makes you contract whatever is floating around. Your symptoms can be worse or the illness could be prolonged as compared to others around you.
Have you thought, “I think I need therapy now, but I don’t know what to do or how to do it”? You can book your first appointment with one of our therapists, and possibly have a same-day appointment.
Emotional Signs that Therapy May be Beneficial
#9 — Anger and Resentment
Most people experience anger from time to time, but if it’s increasingly excessive, becomes more frequent, or leads to violence, these are all signs of emotional health deterioration. It’s time to seek support. Therapy can provide a safe environment in which you can be open and vulnerable — in a good way — without judgment or negative consequences.
#10 — Mood Swings and Irritability
Just like anger, different moods come with different situations. Both mood swings and irritability are signs of unstable emotional health, especially if the mood lingers longer than usual. You may also feel more frustrated or impatient. Working with a counselor can help get to the root cause of frequent mood swings and will provide tools to more carefully mitigate thoughts, emotions, and behaviors related to mood swings.
#11 — Grief or Loss
Any kind of loss in our lives — a divorce or break up, or the loss of a friend, family member, child, or job — are some of the most opportune times to benefit from therapy. There are proven therapeutic methods and practices to help us get through the stages of grief and loss. A therapist can help guide your healing process.
#12 — Trauma
Signs of emotional health distress include traumatic experiences, whether recent or long ago. These traumatic events can negatively affect anyone, not just war veterans. Some individuals find it easier to purposefully avoid thoughts and experiences that remind them of the traumatic experience. But the truth is, the more quickly you begin processing traumatic events that may cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) later down the road, the better chance you have of healing.
Be your Own Advocate
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You may be at a point in your life during which you say to yourself all of the “should’ve, could’ve, would’ve”s, but avoiding the deeply seeded issues and entertaining quick fixes gets you nowhere. You don’t want to wait around for things to magically get better.
Even if you feel like things are ok right now, therapy is a great way to not only treat illness but also prevent it. You deserve a better relationship with yourself. Therapy can help you become a more courageous, thoughtful, and authentic you.
If you’re motivated to make a change, process, and heal, seeing a therapist is the very best thing you can do for yourself and your quality of life. No one else is going to do it for you. It will take time, energy, and vulnerability, but the outcomes are worth it.
I’ve decided I need therapy. Where do I start? Right here. Get started by booking an appointment with a therapist today. What do you have to lose?