10 signs that you should go to a psychologist immediately

There is a war going on in Ukraine. It is impor­tant to mon­i­tor not only your phys­i­cal safe­ty and the safe­ty of your loved ones, but also your psy­cho­log­i­cal health. In this arti­cle, we have list­ed 10 signs that you or your loved one needs to talk to a psy­chol­o­gist.

And in our oth­er arti­cle, you will find 9 plat­forms that pro­vide free psy­cho­log­i­cal help. Do not hes­i­tate to ask for help.

1. You eat more than usual or have lost your appetite

Psy­chotrau­ma knocks us off course, so it can man­i­fest itself in the form of prob­lems with appetite. Some peo­ple start eat­ing in order to “eat” their prob­lems. And some­one can­not eat at all. If you have a prob­lem with appetite, pay atten­tion to oth­er emo­tions accom­pa­ny­ing this con­di­tion: sad­ness, pes­simism, low self-esteem.

2. You are depressed by little things

Increased irri­tabil­i­ty or, con­verse­ly, depres­sion over tri­fles. For exam­ple, a cup broke, and you are in tears, or you start smash­ing the apart­ment, shout­ing at loved ones.

This is a rea­son to ask for help.

3. You have problems sleeping

You either sleep too much, can’t open your eyes and just want to crawl under the cov­ers, or vice ver­sa — not enough and can’t fall asleep.

Doc­tors believe that increas­ing sleep time is a way by which a per­son with psy­chotrau­ma or men­tal ill­ness escapes from real­i­ty. At that time, if the thoughts are too intru­sive and repet­i­tive, sleep prob­lems and insom­nia may begin.

4. You feel useless, helpless

“I can’t do any­thing”, “Every­thing is lost”, “Every­thing is bad”, “I am not cop­ing well enough with the sit­u­a­tion”, “I will not be able to pro­tect myself/family”, “No one will help me”. These thoughts some­times slip through each of us dur­ing this peri­od, but in peo­ple with a strong psy­cho­log­i­cal trau­ma or a pro­gres­sive men­tal ill­ness, they become repet­i­tive and pre­vent them from liv­ing nor­mal­ly.

If you feel that it is dif­fi­cult to fight these thoughts, imme­di­ate­ly con­tact a spe­cial­ist.

5. You can’t concentrate

When the sirens began to roar and howl in Kyiv, I sim­ply fell into a stu­por and could not even pack my bag, because my thoughts sim­ply slipped away. Blurred think­ing is nor­mal in stress­ful sit­u­a­tions, while a con­stant lack of con­cen­tra­tion and reduced cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties is already a rea­son to con­sult a doc­tor. Espe­cial­ly if it is accom­pa­nied by dif­fi­cult thoughts.

6. You are not happy with what used to make you happy

If you can no longer look at your favorite things or do hob­bies, even if there is time and oppor­tu­ni­ty, and at the same time you notice sev­er­al oth­er points from this arti­cle, you should talk about your well-being with a spe­cial­ist.

7. You have unexpected pains

Psy­cho­so­mat­ics caus­es pain that can­not be quenched in any way, even with painkillers. It is usu­al­ly accom­pa­nied by malaise, prob­lems with the stom­ach and diges­tion, and weak­ness in the legs.

8. You think about death. Often

Obses­sive thoughts about dying or self-inflict­ed death, think­ing about what will hap­pen after you die, think­ing of ways and com­ing up with a plan of action are all pre­texts imme­di­ate­ly ask for help. Do not wait for oth­er symp­toms and alarm bells! Con­tact a psy­chol­o­gist!

9. You are in a panic, anxiety

Feel­ings of fear and anx­i­ety, pan­ic are signs of anx­i­ety dis­or­der and depres­sion. If you start hav­ing pan­ic attacks, you can’t cope with anx­i­ety — this is a rea­son to seek help.

10. You have no strength

I don’t want to move or do any­thing, but just lie down and cry, and I don’t even have the strength for tears. This is a sign that you need imme­di­ate pro­fes­sion­al help. A men­tal injury or dis­ease takes too much strength from the body, which is why you feel this way.

Take care of your­self and believe in the Ukrain­ian Armed Forces! And also — do not hes­i­tate to ask psy­chol­o­gists for help!