When to Seek Help

Many clients come to us for self-referral with a clear understanding of the problems they would like assistance with. Unfortunately, it can often be difficult to know what exactly the issue you are struggling with actually is. To compound this, the more subtle symptoms of mental illness can often go unrecognised on their own. For this reason, the World Health Organisation reports that two thirds of people with mental health issues never seek help for their condition.

If you’re considering the fact that you may need therapy but don’t know where to start, try looking through the list below to see if you regularly experience any of these symptoms.

• disturbed sleep – for example, finding it difficult to fall asleep at night or waking up very early in the morning 
• continuous low mood or sadness 
• feeling hopeless and helpless 
• having low self-esteem 
• having suicidal thoughts or thoughts of harming yourself  
• feeling guilt-ridden 
• changes to your menstrual cycle 
• feeling irritable and intolerant of others  
• having no motivation or interest in things 
• finding it difficult to make decisions
• not getting any enjoyment out of life 
• moving or speaking more slowly than usual 
• changes in appetite or weight (usually decreased, but sometimes increased)
• unexplained aches and pains 
• lack of energy 
• constipation  
• low sex drive (loss of libido) 
• not doing well at work 
• avoiding contact with friends and taking part in fewer social activities 
• neglecting your hobbies and interests 
• having difficulties in your home and family life 

If you regularly feel burdened by several of the above, it is possible that you may be suffering from depression. As one of the most common mental health problems, clinical depression is experienced by an estimated 300 million people worldwide, though the low rate of recognition and acceptance means that the true number is likely much higher.

The other most common mental health issue by far is anxiety. Much like feelings of low mood and sadness, everyone experiences unwanted stress and worry from time to time. However, if the symptoms below cause a frequent, distressing problem, or if you feel that you can’t control when they occur, then it’s likely that clinical intervention would be necessary to make them more manageable.

• feeling worried or uneasy a lot of the time
• having difficulty sleeping, which makes you feel tired
• not being able to concentrate
• being irritable
• being extra alert
• feeling on edge or not being able to relax
• needing frequent reassurance from other people

Chronic stress and anxiety cause the body to be flooded with adrenaline for unhealthily prolonged periods of time, causing the following physical symptoms too;

• rapid breathing
• rapid or irregular heartbeat
• feeling sick
• chest pains
• headaches
• sweating
• loss of appetite
• feeling faint
• needing the toilet more frequently
• “butterflies” in your tummy

While depression and anxiety are common, they are by no means the only mental health issues that require a clinical perspective to diagnose and treat. More specific, complex and severe symptoms can be traced to any number of root causes. Whatever the issue, with a quick call or email to our operations team, we can get you booked in for an assessment in short time at your convenience to formally establish the presenting problems and what the best course of action for you would be.

Download Referral Form