Therapy is not only for people with mental health problems. It can be a helpful tool for anyone who is struggling with difficult life challenges, such as stress, grief, relationship problems, or anything else life throws their way. It can also be beneficial to those who just need to vent from time to time.
Keep reading to learn 9 of the best reasons you should see a therapist.
1) Your Feeling Overwhelmed
Many people have tasks at home, tasks at work, a family, and pets to care for, school, and social relationships to maintain. Just one of these is a lot to handle, and when someone has multiple in their life at once, stress will likely occur.
When a person doesn’t talk through or manage their stress appropriately, they become overwhelmed causing diminished productivity, irritability, and sometimes mental illness.
2) You Need Unbiased Support
When you go to a friend or family member for support, they generally have good intentions, but their opinions and advice will likely be biased.
Sometimes when you need support, it’s best to talk to someone that has no skin in the game. Therapists offer advice that supports the overall well-being of their patient and never directly tells someone what to do. Instead, they educate their patients and help them learn how to come to their own conclusions on certain situations without judgment.
3) You Have Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
If you struggle with a drug, alcohol, gambling, food, or other addiction, therapy will be one of the best tools you ever put in your bag.
There are both healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms, and your therapist will teach you how to replace the bad ones with good ones. An example would be exercising instead of drinking when a recovering alcoholic is tempted or using cannabis when an anger management patient feels the urge to lash out (at Veriheal.com, you can learn which strains might work for you).
4) You are Dealing With a Big Change or Transition
Moving to a new place, losing your job, and receiving a medical diagnosis are examples of life-altering changes that may be difficult to transition into.
Of course, not all changes are bad, but even the good ones, like having a child and getting a promotion bring unexpected twists to the life you have gotten used to, and talking to a professional can help you manage what is ahead.
5) You Feel Depressed or Anxious
For many with a mental health condition, no amount of medication and lifestyle changes can treat their illness alone.
If you have anxiety or depression, therapy will help you learn how to use your own thoughts to encourage recovery instead of dragging yourself down with self-defeating thoughts.
If you don’t have a mental health diagnosis and are feeling anxious and depressed, therapy is a great tool for preventing the development of an illness.
6) You Have Went Through a Traumatic Experience
When a person goes through a traumatic experience, the fundamentals of how to behave, communicate, and function can be skewed by fight or flight responses. These responses are our body’s natural way of protecting itself when triggered by a potential threat. Unfortunately, they often do more harm than good by making us shut down, get defensive, isolate, or fight.
If someone experiences a traumatic event, therapy is typically the only place where treatment can be successfully obtained. The therapist helps you learn how to process buried emotions, cope with triggers, and manage your fight or flight response.
7) You are Grieving
Various emotions surface when a loved one passes away. You may have questions, feel guilty, angry, sad, confused, or even happy.
Your therapy session is the perfect place to vent, cry, ask questions, and develop an understanding of why you feel the way you do. Your therapist will also teach you how to adapt to life without the person that has passed.
8) You Struggle in Social Situations
If you struggle in social situations, you may have social anxiety. This form of anxiety can cause severe emotional distress and functional impairment due to fear that you may be judged by your peers.
Your therapist may use one or more of the many techniques available to help social situations feel less overwhelming. Examples of techniques used are cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and social skills training.
9) You Have Low Self-Esteem
Part of being human is encountering times in our lives when our self-esteem is not the greatest. Unfortunately, Improving your self-esteem may feel impossible if you are struggling with a mental illness.
Therapists are used to working with patients who have self-doubt and self-defeating thoughts, and they have tools that can help even the most resistant individuals.
If you have low self-esteem, your therapist will likely teach you how to “check the facts”, develop realistic thoughts about yourself, and challenge negative thoughts with positive self-affirmations (even if the activity is uncomfortable).
