How to Know When You Need Therapy

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