For most people, everyday stress is an integral part of life. Modern life is full of challenges – pressures at work, family obligations, and financial difficulties tackle our mental stamina every day. We are equipped with different defense mechanisms, and most of the time, these mechanisms work fine, helping us cope with the stressful and challenging events and situations.
Sometimes, though, our defense mechanisms are not suitable or strong enough. Some of our life struggles are too overwhelming to be handled without help.
How to know when it’s time to see a therapist?
Below are ten signs it’s time to see a therapist that you should not ignore.
You are overwhelmed with stress
Not everyone manages stress with the same capacity. What is seen as a minor trouble by some people, may be a source of a deep suffering for others. Accumulated stress may generate diverse mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.
You should know it’s the right time to see a therapist when you feel fatigued, tense, and defeated for most of the time. A therapist can help you recognize the main stress triggers in your life and find constructive ways to manage it. This might be anything from mindful meditation and relaxation techniques to recognizing negative cognitive patterns and working on their modification.
You need help in coping with anxiety
Many of us find it hard to cope with everyday life demands and stay focused, balanced, and emotionally fit. Therapist aid in coping with anxiety is important because it may help you recognize and acknowledge your apprehensions, your cognitive biases, and dysfunctional mental patterns that generate a great amount of discomfort.
Once mindful of your irrational fears, prejudices, and false beliefs, you can become stronger, able to develop and nurture self-management coping skills, and focus on positive and desirable outcomes.
You need to set the boundaries
To maintain and boost your mental fitness, you need to set firm and clear boundaries towards your life experiences, people, relationships, and situations. Our boundaries help us distinguish what we are or are not comfortable with when it comes to our relationships with others, expectations, and different life situations. A failure to set firm boundaries may lead to excessive stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues.
Your therapist can help you set the priorities, identify the time-wasters, establish and maintain your boundaries, and make realistic plans for change.
You cannot manage depression
Persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, or guilt sometimes indicate the more serious mental health problems such as depression – a condition no one should deal with alone. Therapy may help you recognize your depression symptoms and what causes them. After that, you can work with your therapist on mechanisms for coping with your symptoms more successfully.
You are using substances to cope
If you have been using alcohol or drugs to cope with the life challenges, this is a clear sign that it’s time to see a therapist. Using substances to either numb your feelings or experience excitement and joy is a behavior that needs to be addressed, understood, accepted, and modified with the help of a qualified therapist.
You have difficulties in maintaining social relationships
If you feel that your relationships with others have become strained and unproductive, causing you to feel unhappy, misunderstood, and anxious, it might be a good decision to trust your concerns to a skilled therapist and work together on your feelings, communication patterns, and expectations from other people and your interactions with them.
You have communication issues with your partner
One of the most common reasons couples seek counseling is poor communication. The couples’ therapist can help you recognize the negative communication patterns and develop positive communication skills such as active listening, reflecting, and willingness to talk about your feelings and needs openly.
You are coping with the breakup and/or infidelity
Both ending of a relationship and partner’s infidelity are challenging and life-changing situations that usually require ongoing support from a relationship therapist. If you have recently gone through a breakup or experienced partner’s infidelity, a therapy may be a safe place to acknowledge your feelings and find positive ways to cope with the new situation.
You have intimacy issues
Incompatible intimacy expectations and needs may significantly affect relationship. Trustworthy marriage therapist can help you understand the reasons that caused a fading intimacy and work on the ways to recover it.
You are coping with a life crisis or trauma
Surviving an extremely stressful or traumatic experience almost always calls for psychotherapy. When your coping skills are overpowered by the intensity of the stressful life event, such as a sudden loss, a therapy may be the right place to start working on your emotions. The help of a therapist may be vital in preventing post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health complications like depression or even suicide.
While severe mental health conditions require intensive and extended therapeutic intervention, most people benefit from goal-oriented, short-term therapy when coping with different life challenges. New Day Vitality in Westchester NY and Bronx NY is honored to help you on your journey. Offering individual, couples and family therapy in our Larchmont NY and Bronx NY locations. If you have decided it’s time to see a therapist, give us a call today to discuss options, we are honored to help.
