This online screening is not a diagnostic tool. Only a trained medical professional, such as a doctor or mental health professional, can help you determine the next best steps for you.
We all have experienced moments of stress and anxiety in our lives. Many of us are no strangers to the emotional and mental challenges brought on by problems at work, financial worries, issues in our relationships, or grief over the loss of a loved one.
Sometimes we can handle these challenges on our own or with the help of friends and family members we trust.
But what about when these feelings become so overwhelming that they seem to weigh you down? Who do you turn to then?
Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is a common treatment for a number of mental health conditions, but it can also help with day-to-day challenges and concerns.
Not all psychotherapy is the same, and not all therapists offer the same services in the same way. And, contrary to popular belief, not all therapists have a chaise lounge or couch in their office for you to lie on.
Therapy can be one-on-one, in a group setting, or done as a family. If face-to-face therapy isn’t the best option for you, there are options for online therapy.
There are many therapeutic approaches depending on your unique needs. A few common psychotherapy approaches include:
People seek therapy for many reasons — from needing help dealing with a mental health condition to just needing someone to talk with.
Therapy can be effective for a variety of situations. A 2019 review found that psychotherapy was helpful across several problem areas. The review also suggested that routine psychotherapy was especially helpful for those who had severe distress.
How effective therapy is for you will depend on you, your unique needs, and how much work you do between and during sessions. You can also see a therapist for just a few sessions or longer, depending on your needs.
No matter the topic, there’s no reason to be ashamed of seeking additional help and support. Therapy can offer a safe space for you to talk and just be yourself.
Finding the right therapist can be crucial to your decision on whether therapy is the best option for you and your needs. It can take some time but it will be worth it.
If you’re considering therapy but not sure where to start, you can check out Psych Central’s hub for finding mental health support.
Updated on:12 October 2020, 17:36pm IST
“You need to see a therapist!” Has anyone ever uttered these words to you? Has it scared you? Well, it shouldn’t—because seeing a therapist really isn’t a big deal.
According to renowned therapist Sainiya Bedi, every one of us needs therapy to vent out. And that doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you mentally. You can talk to a friend and that’ll also work as therapy.
But at times there can be actual emotional and mental turmoil that even your friends and family don’t understand. And sadly, it can push you towards bigger problems like depression and anxiety. And that’s where a therapist can come to your rescue.
That’s why today, we want you to spare two minutes of life and take this quiz. This quiz will help you decide whether you should seek therapy for your mental well-being or not. Because your mental health is in your hands, buddy.
Therapy can be extremely helpful for anyone struggling with emotional difficulties, mental health concerns, or even just life challenges. While you may feel reluctant to seek help, people who do often reap the rewards of improvement in all areas of life.
During COVID-19, there are more opportunities than ever to get therapy virtually through telehealth. You may benefit from therapy if:
- You are having more trouble coping with things than usual.
Many people have trouble coping with difficult feelings, life experiences, and stress on their own during the best of times. In our current situation, even people whose symptoms were previously under control may find that they need help.
There is no shame in seeking help to cope with life, regardless of why you are struggling. Often, a sense of overwhelm, anxiety, or fatigue can be reduced or mitigated with therapy.
- You feel as though a behavior is growing out of control.
Frequent substance use, OCD behavior, and other behaviors that may feel out of control often increase under stress. If you do not feel like you are in control of your actions, you would be wise to seek help from a mental health professional who can help you regain control.
- You are concerned about your mental or emotional wellbeing.
It’s always a good idea to talk to a mental health professional if you have any concerns about your mental wellbeing. Whether you have a specific issue you wish to deal with, have been experiencing more negative emotions, or simply feel like there is an internal block holding you back from living the life you envision, therapy can help you work through your challenges.
Take our quiz
Use this brief quiz to help determine whether you should seek a diagnosis or treatment from a mental health professional. While we can’t diagnose mental illness without talking to you, we can give you an idea of whether you should seek out a mental health provider for more information.
How does it work?
After your mental health test, you will see information, resources, and tools to help you understand and improve your mental health.
How can online mental health testing help me?
What do my mental health test results mean?
Please note: Online screening tools are meant to be a quick snapshot of your mental health. If your results indicate you may be experiencing symptoms of a mental illness, consider sharing your results with someone. A mental health provider (such as a doctor or a therapist) can give you a full assessment and talk to you about options for how to feel better.
This website is an informational resource. We are not a crisis support line. If you need immediate help, you can reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or using the chat box at 988lifeline.org/chat. You can also text “MHA” to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. Warmlines are an excellent place for non-crisis support.
For all other screening-related questions and non-emergency support, please use MHA’s Contact Us form.
Mental Health America Inc., sponsors, partners, and advertisers disclaim any liability, loss, or risk incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of these screens.
Should you get therapy? How do we know if we need therapy or just some time off?
Generally, if you are having doubts, it is always better to be on the safe side and consult a therapist or mental health professional. The quiz below is not a diagnostic tool, but it can help you organize your thoughts and see things more clearly. Check all that apply:
I feel stuck in a place I don’t want to be in (bad relationships, low mood, career dissatisfaction).
I am unable to concentrate.
I am always tired and sleepy.
I feel on the edge.
I am unable to relax and rest.
I constantly ruminate about something.
I am unable to think.
I think I am too sensitive.
I am overly negative.
I am depressed.
I am unable to control my anger.
I experience frequent crying spells.
I feel irritable.
Substance abuse.
I have difficulty concentrating at work or school.
I feel sick but all medical tests come out fine.
I get anxious around other people.
I feel like something bad is about to happen.
I experience irrational fears.
I feel unreal (more details).
I feel miserable.
I have sucidal thoughts.
I am haunted by bad memories.
Lately, I’ve been harming myself.
I have abnormal eating patterns.
I experience extreme mood swings.
I am in a state of constant worry.
I feel hopeless.
I suffer from panic attacks.
My relationships/marriage are going downhill.
I feel anxious in general.
Checking even one of the above signs and symptoms warrants a visit to a mental health professional.
Here’s a list of international suicide crisis lines.
Mild cases may benefit from online CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) that includes follow-up by a professional CBT therapist, or it can be used as an additional tool when you are already receiving face-to-face therapy. Combination of face-to-face and online therapy is called blended therapy and may offer additional benefits. You can try online CBT here.
Related Posts:
Do You Need Therapy?
Epstein Mental Health Inventory – Revised (EMHI-r) v. 3.1, © 2007-2022, Dr. Robert Epstein
*1. Over the past year, I’ve had a lot of trouble sleeping because of all my worries.
*2. For more than six months now, I’ve panicked or have gotten very nervous when I’ve seen certain things.
*3. For a long time now, I’ve known that there’s something wrong with my body even though doctors tell me I’m fine.
*4. Since I was young, I’ve often avoided saying or doing things that might make people reject me.
*5. For more than six months now, I’ve been unable to control how nervous I get around other people.
*6. For more than a month now, I’ve been extremely tired during the day, even though I slept pretty well the night before.
*7. For more than six months now, I’ve been very afraid of something, and that’s caused problems for me.
*8. I sometimes feel like my mind is possessed by another person or creature.
*9. Ever since I was young, morals or the law or have never stopped me from getting what I want.
*10. For more than a month now, I’ve awakened feeling more tired than I was when I went to sleep.
*11. Ever since I was young, I’ve always gotten in fights and caused trouble.
*12. For most of my life, I’ve often had sudden urges to do things that make me feel bad or guilty later.
*13. For more than a week now, I’ve been taking huge risks without thinking about what might go wrong.
*14. For more than six months now, I’ve been scared and nervous in public, and this is a big problem in my life.
*15. For more than two weeks now, I’ve been feeling extremely down and miserable.
*16. For most of my life, I’ve had low self esteem and have been afraid of people rejecting or leaving me.
*17. Since I was young, my need to repeat certain thoughts or actions over and over again has caused problems for me.
*18. Sometimes I relive a terrible event that happened to me a long time ago.
*19. For at least a month, I have sometimes lost control over the movement of parts of my body.
*20. Over the past year, I’ve used more and more alcohol or drugs so I can deal with my problems better.
*21. For a long time now, it’s been hard for me to get turned on or orgasm, and this has caused problems in my personal life.
*22. For more than two weeks now, it’s been hard for me to feel happy doing things I used to enjoy.
*23. For a long time now, I’ve strongly believed that something’s wrong with the way I look.
*24. Over the past year, for no reason at all my mood sometimes changed quickly from very up to very down or vice versa.
*25. Sometimes there are large gaps in my memory of recent events.
*26. For at least a month, I’ve been seeing things or hearing voices which may not be real.
*27. Every week for several months now, I’ve eaten a lot of food all at once and then made myself throw up.
*28. For more than a few months now, I’ve been harming myself on purpose or have been doing risky things without thinking.
*29. Over the past year, my drug or alcohol use has caused problems in my job or relationships.
*30. Over the past year, my worries have gotten so big that my body is often restless, tense, or tired.
*31. I still think much too often about a terrible thing that happened to me a long time ago.
*32. I sometimes feel like I have two or more different personalities in me.
*33. Since I was young, I’ve been unable to stop bad thoughts from occurring over and over again in my mind.
*34. Over the past year, my moods changed so fast that people close to me got worried.
*35. For more than three months now, I’ve been starving myself using extreme measures.
*36. Ever since I was young, I’ve strongly believed I’m not good enough for many things in life.
*37. For most of my life, it’s been hard for me to control my impulses.
*38. For more than two years now, my depression has caused me to eat or sleep abnormally almost every day.
*39. For more than a week now, I’ve slept very little, and it hasn’t affected me.
*40. For more than two years now, my frequent negative moods have made it hard for me to focus or make good decisions.
*41. Over the past year, I’ve had extreme mood swings that I don’t think are normal.
*42. Ever since I was young, I’ve never cared if my actions hurt other people.
*43. For more than a month now, at times I’ve felt extreme fear or panic, and I worry a lot about when this will happen again.
*44. For a long time now, I haven’t felt sexual, and this has caused problems in my personal life.
*45. For more than six months now, I’ve been avoiding something I’m very afraid of.
*46. I’m very scared of things that remind me of something awful that happened to me a long time ago.
*47. For at least a month, my thoughts and speech have often been chaotic and confusing.
*48. Over the past year, I’ve been unable to stop worrying about things no matter how hard I try.
*49. For months or years now, I’ve been obsessed with eating as little food as possible so I don’t gain weight.
*50. For more than six months now, I’ve been sexually attracted to weird things or situations, and it causes me a lot of stress.
*51. For more than a month now, at times I’ve felt extreme fear and panic and I don’t know why.
*52. For more than a week now, I’ve been feeling extremely important, almost like a god.
*53. Ever since I was young, I haven’t been close to anyone because I’m afraid of being judged or not liked.
*54. For more than two weeks now, I’ve been feeling hopeless, like there’s no point in living.
*55. For most of my life, my extreme mood swings have caused problems in my relationships with other people.
*56. For more than six months now, I’ve been scared of making a fool of myself in public.
*57. Over the past year, I’ve tried to drink less, smoke less, or take less drugs, but have failed to do so.
*58. For more than a month now, I’ve frequently had trouble going to sleep or staying asleep.
*59. For a long time now, I’ve never known why there have been so many problems or pains in my body, but I know they’re there.
*60. For most of my life, I’ve done things without thinking about the consequences, and that’s caused lots of problems for me.
*61. Since I was young, I’ve had to do or think certain things over and over again to keep myself calm.
*62. For more than two years now, I’ve been feeling down and negative almost every day.
*63. For more than a month now, I’ve avoided certain places because I panic a lot when I’m near them.
Click on the statements below that apply to you. Do not click on statements that do not apply to you.*1.Over the past year, I’ve had a lot of trouble sleeping because of all my worries.*2.For more than six months now, I’ve panicked or have gotten very nervous when I’ve seen certain things.*3.For a long time now, I’ve known that there’s something wrong with my body even though doctors tell me I’m fine.*4.Since I was young, I’ve often avoided saying or doing things that might make people reject me.*5.For more than six months now, I’ve been unable to control how nervous I get around other people.*6.For more than a month now, I’ve been extremely tired during the day, even though I slept pretty well the night before.*7.For more than six months now, I’ve been very afraid of something, and that’s caused problems for me.*8.I sometimes feel like my mind is possessed by another person or creature.*9.Ever since I was young, morals or the law or have never stopped me from getting what I want.*10.For more than a month now, I’ve awakened feeling more tired than I was when I went to sleep.*11.Ever since I was young, I’ve always gotten in fights and caused trouble.*12.For most of my life, I’ve often had sudden urges to do things that make me feel bad or guilty later.*13.For more than a week now, I’ve been taking huge risks without thinking about what might go wrong.*14.For more than six months now, I’ve been scared and nervous in public, and this is a big problem in my life.*15.For more than two weeks now, I’ve been feeling extremely down and miserable.*16.For most of my life, I’ve had low self esteem and have been afraid of people rejecting or leaving me.*17.Since I was young, my need to repeat certain thoughts or actions over and over again has caused problems for me.*18.Sometimes I relive a terrible event that happened to me a long time ago.*19.For at least a month, I have sometimes lost control over the movement of parts of my body.*20.Over the past year, I’ve used more and more alcohol or drugs so I can deal with my problems better.*21.For a long time now, it’s been hard for me to get turned on or orgasm, and this has caused problems in my personal life.*22.For more than two weeks now, it’s been hard for me to feel happy doing things I used to enjoy.*23.For a long time now, I’ve strongly believed that something’s wrong with the way I look.*24.Over the past year, for no reason at all my mood sometimes changed quickly from very up to very down or vice versa.*25.Sometimes there are large gaps in my memory of recent events.*26.For at least a month, I’ve been seeing things or hearing voices which may not be real.*27.Every week for several months now, I’ve eaten a lot of food all at once and then made myself throw up.*28.For more than a few months now, I’ve been harming myself on purpose or have been doing risky things without thinking.*29.Over the past year, my drug or alcohol use has caused problems in my job or relationships.*30.Over the past year, my worries have gotten so big that my body is often restless, tense, or tired.*31.I still think much too often about a terrible thing that happened to me a long time ago.*32.I sometimes feel like I have two or more different personalities in me.*33.Since I was young, I’ve been unable to stop bad thoughts from occurring over and over again in my mind.*34.Over the past year, my moods changed so fast that people close to me got worried.*35.For more than three months now, I’ve been starving myself using extreme measures.*36.Ever since I was young, I’ve strongly believed I’m not good enough for many things in life.*37.For most of my life, it’s been hard for me to control my impulses.*38.For more than two years now, my depression has caused me to eat or sleep abnormally almost every day.*39.For more than a week now, I’ve slept very little, and it hasn’t affected me.*40.For more than two years now, my frequent negative moods have made it hard for me to focus or make good decisions.*41.Over the past year, I’ve had extreme mood swings that I don’t think are normal.*42.Ever since I was young, I’ve never cared if my actions hurt other people.*43.For more than a month now, at times I’ve felt extreme fear or panic, and I worry a lot about when this will happen again.*44.For a long time now, I haven’t felt sexual, and this has caused problems in my personal life.*45.For more than six months now, I’ve been avoiding something I’m very afraid of.*46.I’m very scared of things that remind me of something awful that happened to me a long time ago.*47.For at least a month, my thoughts and speech have often been chaotic and confusing.*48.Over the past year, I’ve been unable to stop worrying about things no matter how hard I try.*49.For months or years now, I’ve been obsessed with eating as little food as possible so I don’t gain weight.*50.For more than six months now, I’ve been sexually attracted to weird things or situations, and it causes me a lot of stress.*51.For more than a month now, at times I’ve felt extreme fear and panic and I don’t know why.*52.For more than a week now, I’ve been feeling extremely important, almost like a god.*53.Ever since I was young, I haven’t been close to anyone because I’m afraid of being judged or not liked.*54.For more than two weeks now, I’ve been feeling hopeless, like there’s no point in living.*55.For most of my life, my extreme mood swings have caused problems in my relationships with other people.*56.For more than six months now, I’ve been scared of making a fool of myself in public.*57.Over the past year, I’ve tried to drink less, smoke less, or take less drugs, but have failed to do so.*58.For more than a month now, I’ve frequently had trouble going to sleep or staying asleep.*59.For a long time now, I’ve never known why there have been so many problems or pains in my body, but I know they’re there.*60.For most of my life, I’ve done things without thinking about the consequences, and that’s caused lots of problems for me.*61.Since I was young, I’ve had to do or think certain things over and over again to keep myself calm.*62.For more than two years now, I’ve been feeling down and negative almost every day.*63.For more than a month now, I’ve avoided certain places because I panic a lot when I’m near them.
