Depression and anxiety affect a lot of people. Estimates are the 350,000,000 people worldwide have some form of depression. In the United States alone, studies show that about $80 billion is lost every year in productivity or spent on health care due to depression. In 2012, experts in psychotherapy estimate that about 16,000,000 adults in America had a major depressive episode: nearly 7% of the population. Despite these sobering realities, almost 50% of Americans who have major depression do not seek treatment that could help to relieve their feelings of trauma and anxiety.
If you are suffering from anxiety or stress, are going through depression, or are having difficulty coping after living through traumatic situations, you?re not ?crazy.” You?re going through what a lot of people suffer, and therapy can probably help you. Here are four moments when it?s good to consider counseling:
Depression and Your Future
Sometimes depression is short-lived, but long term sadness and depression can kill your motivation, harm your relationships, and make life hard just plain hard to live. Individual counseling can help get at the root of the problem. In fact, typical psychotherapy for depression takes only about 10-20 weeks, though the length of treatment varies by condition. That amount of time is doable, so rather than continuing to suffer through depression, consider look into counseling services that could help you feel like yourself again.
Overcome Anxiety
Everyone has bouts of anxiety at times. It?s normal to feel nervous before a big test, a job interview, or some other major life event. Anxiety becomes a problem, though, when it starts to interfere with your ability to live. If you find yourself unwilling to eave the house or withdrawing from your friends and family, this could be chronic anxiety, which counseling may be able to you understand and overcome.
Coping With Major Events
These could be traumatic events, such as an accident or assault, or you might be struggling with your feelings when facing cancer or some other major health crisis. Perhaps you’re making major life changes, such as moving or having a child. It?s not a sign of weakness to need some help sorting our your feelings, and assistance in learning strategies for coping with some of the major issues that life can throw at any of us.
Relationships
One of the most common reasons that people seek out therapy is to help heal broken relationships. This could be between couples, especially after an affair or other major breach of trust, but counseling can also help you understand how to improve your relationship with children, siblings, parents, or even friends. In relationships, trust is important, and attending therapy together is one way of taking a first step towards returning to trust and a fulfilling relationship.
A therapist or counselor can act as a neutral third party ready to listen to your problems, provide help for you to sort out your emotions and prioritize the things that make your life more meaningful, and relieve anxiety and depression. Seeking out psychotherapy services is not a sign of weakness; it?s a sign of wisdom.
