How do you know when it's time to get therapy?

I found therapy very helpful for a period of time. I knew when I was finished too. Outside perspective can be very valuable in helping you sort through your issues.

When you have to question it, its time.

I’ve gone to therapy quite a few times.

The key is finding the right therapist. There are some that could be a huge waste of time and money. But there are some that could be the best investment you ever made, no matter how many or few issues you have.

I agree with @Marina – when you start questioning if therapy would be beneficial, it’s time to go to therapy.

I freaking love therapy.

My first time was helpful, but due to the circumstances at the time I didn’t go as long as I needed. The second time she wasn’t any good. Definitely shop around until you find someone who suits you. I’m hoping to go again when I can.

Therapy helped me deal with the death of my father and the trend of self-destructive behavior that event set me off on… My life is where it is now because of therapy.

I’m all for it.

It’s time to go for therapy when you have problems you can’t solve on your own.

You say that you’re smart, and you have common sense, and you are good at helping other people solve their problems. I suspect that all a therapist would have to do to help you out a great deal would be to get you to look at your problems from a third-party, objective perspective, and that once you saw your problems from that perspective, you’d see for yourself how to solve them.

Don’t go to this guy .

Whenever you think you would like to get some professional advice, or some else suggests it would help. The first visit should tell you if it will work for you. You and the counselor/therapist sit and discuss your expectations, and they will let you know if you are a good fit.

In an ideal world, everyone would have a therapist to coordinate mental health, just like everyone is supposed to have a primary care physician to coordinate physical health. Being in therapy helps you learn how to actively perceive yourself – it’ll let you become aware of your own motivations and deep-seated desires, and will eventually show you how to change these things if you find that you want to.

It can’t hurt, go for it now and it will comfort and help you. Your question and input shows me you are going uphilll, so may I wish you the very best.

@wildpotato

I don’t necessarily think that’s ideal. What if you simply don’t want to see a therapist? It should always be a choice.

@DominicX My bad on the wording; I didn’t mean that people should be forced to go into therapy! Personally, I would say that people should never be made to seek out medical assistance if they don’t want it. As far as therapy in particular goes, it doesn’t usually work if people aren’t open to it anyway.

I was trying to articulate the sentiment that we ought to think of mental health more like we think of physical health – as something that everyone ought to take seriously and pay attention to. I think that people who become unbalanced easily often tend this way because they don’t know how to observe and to attempt to regulate themselves. At least, that’s how it used to work for me.