Knowing when to seek mental health care is not always as cut and dry as people may believe. Many people wrestle with whether or not they should speak to a therapist, psychiatrist or even their primary care physician about their struggles. Working in mental health, it often comes up that people minimize their own struggles with the thought that someone else has it worse so they shouldn’t be struggling.
This may cause people to second guess when exactly they need to seek help. Dr. Julie, a clinical psychologist, posted a video on her TikTok page in order to help people figure out when they should seriously consider going to see a therapist. Some people may be surprised by the signals that indicate a need for therapy.
In the video, which has over 33k likes, Dr. Julie acts out different scenarios without speaking as what she’s experiencing in those moments floats above her head in text overlay.
One of the very first signs that someone should consider therapy is, “Nothing seems to help and you’re starting to feel hopeless.” Hopelessness can be an indicator of depression, especially if it’s paired with other things like not finding joy in things that used to make you happy or sleeping more often.
Another sign that Dr. Julie displayed on the screen was, “Your mood changes have persisted for several weeks or more.” Again, barring a major life event like the loss of a loved one where feeling down is expected, this can signal depression. But what’s most important to know is that any time you feel concerned about your mental health, you can seek therapy.
Therapy isn’t something to be ashamed of or reserved for people who live with severe mental illnesses. In fact, you could simply need an unbiased perspective, want to gain tools for moments of stress or be experiencing a life change like a breakup. As a therapist myself, I want people to know that you don’t have to be in distress to seek out therapy. Going for mental health maintenance is a perfectly acceptable reason.
Check out Dr. Julie’s video below:
@drjuliesmith Seek help any time you are concerned about your #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthsupport #psychologist