We all want to take charge of our life and emotions and be able to handle them well, but there are always some struggles we face that can throw our well-managed control out the window, and we are left with a feeling of confusion. We all come across struggles relating to work, health, family, or relationships when we try to resolve them by talking to our friends and family. We also come across emotional struggles like overthinking, anxiety, drinking alcohol too often, or upsetting thoughts; but sometimes these struggles overwhelm us to the point where we cannot resolve them anymore. What should we do at this point?
Firstly, Therapy is not something to go for only if you have a mental illness. One can seek therapy for low esteem, relationship problems, or any other general life problems as well. Therapists help us gain confidence and meticulously handle our day-to-day life problems. Mental illness is as important as a physical illness, therefore we must not resort to self-diagnosis to determine if we need professional help or not. There are a few, among many, things to look for that indicate you might need professional help:
1. If you’ve lost interest in activities that you found pleasurable, and these activities are unable to lift your mood like before.
2. The problem that you’re facing is affecting your everyday life. It can manifest itself as a change in sleeping or eating habits, and affecting your concentration or work/school/household environment.
3. You are being dependent on someone else or something else too much, which can be considered as substance abuse. For example, too much alcohol, drugs, food, porn, smoking, sex, videos games, etc.
4. An outburst of emotions and feeling overwhelmed by emotions, like anger or crying outbursts.
5. The most important indicator is the thoughts of death/dying/hopelessness.
Although these signs do not mean that you must go for therapy, these signs are not to be ignored lightly. Seeking therapy or professional help is not something to be ashamed of; just like taking care of yourself is not something you should feel ashamed of.