A non-professional’s take on knowing when to reach out for help.
You might want to consider finding a licensed counselor if:
- You had a childhood
- You were raised by humans
- You were raised by monsters
- You were bullied (or are currently being bullied; it still happens to adults)
- When speaking to people, you tend to suck all the air out of the room
- Unhealed trauma comes up every time you are around people
- You can’t stop talking about things that happened more than a year ago
- You think therapy is for crazy people (we’re all crazy here)
- Every time there is a loud noise, you jump
- The worst-case scenario is your go-to in every situation
- You believe the problem can’t be you; everyone else is at fault
- You have strong feelings that seem to come out of nowhere (anger, jealousy, euphoria, loneliness, etc.)
- Everything is about you
- Nothing is about you
- Someone you respect outright suggests you go to therapy
- You went to therapy but didn’t get anything out of it
- You feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest
- Nobody you interact with on a daily basis knows what really goes on in your head
- Things that used to bring you joy no longer do
- You need honest feedback from a third-party observer
- You numb your pain to the point that you can’t feel anything anymore
- Patterns keep repeating and you don’t know how to stop them
- Unhelpful thoughts dominate your consciousness
- Everything feels personal
- Nothing feels real
- Everything feels too real
- You exist in extremes
- Your triggers are trying to tell you something, but you don’t know what