Should I seek psychological treatment?
When we experience significant mental distress and have difficulty functioning - and especially if we have also been given a psychiatric diagnosis - it is clear to us that we are in the field of mental health and we will generally recognize that we need professional help. Our environment will also convey this to us. We will probably find ourselves seeking treatment sooner or later, and will do well to do so.
But sometimes the picture isn't as clear. What if, on the whole, we succeed in functioning, occasionally experience good moments - but still feel that something is wrong? Perhaps we feel stuck, disconnected from ourselves, lonely; have difficulty making decisions, struggle in relationships, fail to find our way into the hearts of our children, toil to recover from grief over a loved one ... Do such issues 'require' treatment? Difficulty is a part of life; Maybe we should just grit our teeth and ‘get on with it’?
Mental suffering and mental well-being are personal experiences. No external entity can rule on them. Therefore, the question of whether or not treatment is 'needed', maybe except in extreme cases, has no unequivocal answer and tends to invite unnecessary self-criticism. Most people who have entered psychotherapy would not have fallen apart without it. The question is, what benefit have they derived from it? Here you can find a breakdown of the ways in which psychotherapy strives to benefit patients.
Why is it so hard for me to decide?
If you are having a hard time deciding whether to seek treatment, you are in good company. We wonder: what will it be like to reveal ourselves and convey our thoughts and feelings? Will we be accepted without judgment or criticism? Will we be understood? Will our fears and desires be touched upon with the proper gentleness?
Even when so, psychotherapy often involves change, and change can be scary. Over the years, each of us has developed a coping style that maintains for him or her some degree of order and logic in the world and protects against overly difficult emotions. If this style, which in the past was helpful and perhaps even essential to our survival, becomes an obstacle, it might be worth changing it. But letting go of something familiar in favor of the unknown is always an intimidating concept.
It is understandable, then, why starting treatment requires courage and is often accompanied by struggles. When the desire to reduce distress, the hope of feeling vital and the wish to connect – all put together – outweigh the fear, that's usually when we make the move.