Millions of people all over the world suffer from anxiety and depression and other mental health problems. Many of these people are helped by the services offered by therapists. There are a lot of benefits to going to counseling services.
- Talk therapy has been shown to change the way the brain is wired. It has been shown that therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy increases and strengthens the connections in the brain. Some research has shown that after receiving this kind of therapy, there are more connections between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. Other evidence has shown that after working with therapists, patients had more activity in those areas of the brain but also in the anterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus. The research in these areas has been interesting because it had been thought that only medication could achieve these results.
- Working with talk therapists has long term effects. The positive impact of using any of the types of therapy lasts a long time. When people work with a therapist on one issue, patienst also work with them to develop the tools that they can use to live a better and more healthy life. When used by itself, or with medication, the results that are achieved last for a long time.
- Talk therapy can help a person’s physical health. The link between psychological and physical health is well established. Both depression and anxiety are known to cause physical symptoms. Working with therapists can help both the psychological problems and the physical issues that they cause. Some common physical issues that people experience are headaches, sleep disorders, stomach issues such as ulcers and other problems. Stress has been shown to have very dramatic and serious effects on a person’s physical health. Going for therapy can help you will stress and improve a person’s overall health.
- Unexpressed feelings are still there. Just because a person does not deal with or talk about feelings does not mean that they are not there. Many people have feelings that they are not able to express and these can be very bad for a person’s psychological and physical well being. For many people, the way to deal with unpleasant experiences and thoughts is to suppress them and to not deal with them at all. Some people call this having “a stiff upper lip.” The main drawback to this way of coping is that it means people do not really cope at all. Therapists can help people deal with emotions that they may be ignoring or repressing, they can head off a problem later on. Sometimes, people push their emotions way down and eventually, they can have a psychological break and suffer a lot from that.
- Talk therapy prevents the need for self-medication. Many people deal with psychological stress and strain medicate with alcohol or illicit drugs. This is a very common reason that people use these substances. The need to do this can be reduced or eliminated by working with therapists. They can help a person work through their issues so that the underlying issues are handled directly.
- Therapists make people feel less alone. It is easy to feel adrift in today’s world. People who suffer from mental illness often feel isolated and alone. Connecting with therapists can help with that. Many people also feel like they are taking charge of their problems and being proactive. Those actions often help people connect with others. There are other forms of talk therapy that people take advantage of. Support groups may be helpful as can group therapy.
- Talk therapy can give people a better perspective. Therapists can help people understand the people around them. Every day, many people make assumptions about the people around them without having the information they need to think through these thoughts. People are not mind readers. Working with a therapist can give a person a better understanding of this. Knowing that a person does not know what another person is thinking or experiencing can lower the first person’s stress level and make them much happier overall.
Over the years, the way people view going to therapists has changed a lot. Mental health issues plague many people and it has been found that going to therapy can do a lot to help.