SHOULD YOU SEE A THERAPIST? // When is it time to ask for help?

What's going on? Welcome back to my channel. One of the biggest questions that I get asked a lot, especially over email and social media, is Lori, I just broke up with my boyfriend, or Lori, I've been experiencing xyz or I've been not able to sleep at night, I've been up late worrying all of the things. And the question that comes after somebody's explanation of what is going on is should I see a therapist Now? My answer that I say a lot, and I've said this before in videos, is if you're ever thinking about something more than you'd like to be thinking about it, ask for help, ask for support, see a therapist, get help. Anytime anything is bothering you or you're thinking about it more than you want to be, it's okay to ask for help. Now I could probably end the video there and we could be done with it. But let's talk a little more about should I see a therapist now? According to statistics, only about 40% of people who struggle with mental health issues actually seek professional help. Why? Because of stigma, because availability, because of insurance money, all kinds of reasons. But only about 40% of people who who struggle with mental health issues seek help. But what happens is when issues are left untreated, when you don't seek help, support, guidance, professional help, therapy, see a doctor, whatever it may be, there's a possibility that something could get worse or it could lead to other problems. It's just like if you're physically not feeling well for a while and you don't go to your doctor and then all of a sudden something gets so bad and you go see the doctor and he or she tells you there's all kinds of things going because you left something untreated, because you didn't address a problem when it started. It's the same thing with what is going on in our minds. If you are thinking about something more than you want to be thinking about it, ask for help, get guidance, seek therapy. We're always here. It doesn't matter what is happening, you can always talk to somebody. So there's obvious reasons why somebody would go see a therapist. Like not being able to go to work or school, having trouble in relationships, relationships, friendships, their marriage, or not being able to take care of their children, having a family history of mental health issues, or if you're somebody who's at risk or a victim of trauma or abuse, and if you have any self harm thoughts or behaviors, or suicidal thoughts or behaviors, or if you've been hospitalized, usually there's A lot of aftercare that goes into post psychiatric hospitalization. So there's pretty obvious reasons why somebody would seek therapy. Some other things might be. Might be things like disproportionate rage, Are you getting angry or raging at things that might not have bothered you in the past, or maybe don't need to be bothering you as much as they are, or things like feeling apathetic, overwhelmed, or socially withdrawing. There's all kinds of reasons why people seek a therapist, but you don't have to be in crisis or. Or having been hospitalized or a victim of trauma or abuse or experiencing some catastrophic event in order to seek help. The biggest thing, like I said in the beginning of this, is if you find yourself thinking about something more often than not, or more than you'd rather be thinking about it, or it's keeping you up at night, or it's just always in the back of your mind. Ask for help, See, seek support. It's okay to talk about things. What happens when we keep things in, when we don't address them, is that that's what tends to lead to bigger issues or more struggles. The other end of this is if you're always experiencing a constant pit in your stomach or you've gone to the doctor for physical issues and they're telling you nothing's wrong with you, by all means, trust your doctor's opinion, get a second opinion, whatever you need to do. But there are times where people go to doctors or for stomach aches, headaches, and things like that, and the doctor will run tests and there's nothing physically going on, and they say, maybe you need to talk to somebody. Maybe you need to lower your stress or work on your lifestyle. Those are all very good reasons to seek help, to seek professional help and therapy. I get referrals from doctors all the time. If people are fatigued, if there's stomach aches or if there's other physical symptoms or things are manifesting in their life, there's no physical reason why it should be happening. When we start therapy, we can usually address those physical symptoms. So even if you're not thinking about something or you don't know if you're thinking about something or you don't feel a struggle, you might be feeling physical symptoms in your body. So just pay attention, be aware, be mindful of what's going on. And generally, if something's bothering you, reach out for some help and ask for support. It's okay. I'd rather you ask for help sooner than later and not let something spiral out of control. Or get to the point where you can no longer handle it or cope with it as maybe effectively as you currently are, which is why you might not be thinking there's an issue and why you might not be seeking professional help. So if something's bothering you, if you're thinking about it more often than you'd rather be, ask for help, ask for support. We're always willing to talk and process with you. No matter what is going on. There's no problem, no issue too big or too small to handle. You can talk about anything. Sometimes people just need somebody to talk to that they don't live with, that they don't go to school with, that they're not friends with, and they just need somebody else in their life to talk to. So I promise you, there's no reason why you shouldn't ask for help. If you've been thinking about it, if it's on your mind, or if you just want somebody else to talk to about something that's going on in your life, Always err on the side of caution. And if you're thinking to yourself, should I see a therapist? It might be a good indication that it might be time to make a phone call.