5 Signs you Need Counseling

It’s hard to admit that we need help, even when it comes to little things like housework, projects around the house, homework, professional work, or just emotional support. I’ll admit that I’m the last person to ask anyone for anything. I don’t want to owe anyone anything, I don’t want anyone to feel as if I am using them in anyway. Trust me, I get it, but there comes a time in everyones life when help is needed, and imperative to getting better, and feeling better. There are several ways to know that you need help when it comes to your mental health.

You often feel overwhelmed, tearful, a lump in your throat, and cry for reasons you wouldn’t normally cry over. This is something that is sometimes hard to pinpoint, especially for women. How can you tell when your tearfulness or crying are justified, or just from a hormonal time of the month (I’m a woman, so I can say this). This answer and the difference is when it is so often that you start to notice it, when it starts to take over your day or shift your mood to a maintained sense of emotion. It is also a concern when your tearfulness or crying starts to affect your relationships, work, or everyday activities. These are clear signs that you are full of emotion, and need to get it out by talking to someone.
You often find yourself thinking, feeling, or talking negatively about yourself. So much so that it consumes you and you find yourself “shutting down” when asked about it, confronted, or persuaded to be positive. Often when we are constantly negative about ourselves we shift ourselves into a constant “train of thought” to think, feel, and react negatively to every stimuli presented in our lives. This is often because we have a bad few days or events happen to us, and we become so preoccupied and all consumed by these events, that we think it is going to continue to happen to us, at every turn, with every aspect of our lives. And sometimes it just takes talking to a third party and hearing it out loud to understand the gravity of the situation and the likelihood that your life, luck, and circumstances are indeed that bad.
You find yourself making a pattern of old, unhealthy, habits. Habits that you have kicked previously, and/or new bad habits which you have developed over time. When you start asking your self “Why am I doing this when I know this is bad for me?” or “Why am I acting this way when I know it hurts my partner or my family?” “Why am I suddenly overeating when I was eating so healthy before?” “Why have I suddenly started binge drinking again when I almost quit completely.” These are signs that you are slipping into bad habits that need to be corrected and worked out in therapy. Again, sometimes just saying these things out loud to another person can invoke remarkable change.
You feel like your emotions are running you and they are in control; as opposed to us being in control of them and this usually presents itself with angry outbursts or crying spells. If you get out of bed dreading the day because you know you are going to cry on your lunch break again, it could be time to seek help. If you suddenly have violent road rage when before it wasn’t something that bothered you, it could be time It’s never a good feeling to feel out of control, especially when it comes to ourselves and factors in which we usually don’t have any trouble with. Emotional regulation is an art, and like an artist, it takes practice and skill to master it. There are ways outside of medicine in which we can maintain control of our emotions and feel more comfortable, stable, and healthy in our emotions and reactions to everyday events (both good and bad)
Any thoughts of suicide or wanting to die. Thoughts of suicide or wanting to die are serious, and should be treated as such. Seeking help for something so dire can be hard, and it is part of the disease to feel like you are alone and helpless in these thoughts. A counselor can help you through this, they can provide you with the tools and resources to overcome these feelings and do get you back on track, even when you feel as though there is no hope or purpose. Thousands of people everyday contemplate suicide, it is whether or not they reach out for help that makes all the difference in the world. If you or someone you know is suffering with thoughts of suicide, call the national suicide prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.