Determining when to seek professional assistance is a crucial step in managing various challenges effectively. Stress, for instance, manifests in multifaceted ways, impacting individuals psychologically, physiologically, and situationally. Feelings of inadequacy, coupled with physical symptoms such as headaches and neck pain, can significantly hinder performance and reinforce negative beliefs.

Likewise, chronic anger, unmet goals, repeated interpersonal conflicts, excessive risk-taking, and a lack of focus or resistance to change can all indicate underlying issues requiring professional intervention. Recognizing these signs and seeking appropriate support is essential for personal and professional growth.

Some signs that you should seek professional help.

• Stress grows as you face what seem to be insurmountable problems and choices. Stress may be psychological, physiological, or situational. Each form of stress exacerbates the others. A conviction that you are not good enough, for example, causes headaches and neck pain, which distracts you and causes you to make mistakes, thereby reinforcing your internal thoughts.
• Chronic anger requires intervention because it is harmful to you and those around you. While anger is a natural emotion and can be expressed appropriately, chronic anger lashes out unpredictably and with a force not equal to the cause. Like stress, it causes rather than cures both physical and emotional problems for yourself and everyone you target.
• Unfulfilled goals may cause you to blame others for obstacles in your way, discriminate against those who are not like you, and reject ideas that contradict your own. You either overestimate or underestimate your accomplishments and skills. You may lack sufficient self-awareness of your strengths and weaknesses to create realistic goals.
• Successive broken relationships may stem from stress, anger, lack of self-awareness, or many other problems. Still, they are a sign that you are functioning in a way that makes it difficult for other people to relate positively to you. High turnover in your team is a form of broken relationships that points to poor leadership skills and can be turned around with help.
• Excessive risk-taking may be related to your inability to share decision-making and to consider the feelings of others. Everyone differs in their ability to tolerate risk. However, if you regularly take risks that jeopardize your own, your family’s, or the company’s well-being, you may be depressed, unable to accept feedback, or blind to consequences.
• Passivity and withdrawal also signal emotional distress. If you withdraw from even the slightest stressful situation or isolate yourself from relationships, you may suffer from low resilience. Oddly enough, if your resilience is low, even good experiences can send you spiraling.
• Lack of focus and concentration results whenever you are worried or stressed. If you are unfamiliar with SMaRT techniques of mindfulness and self-awareness, you may not recognize how profoundly worry and stress affect you. You may lose valuable items, miss essential appointments, confuse names, and mangle reports when you lose focus and concentration.
• Resistance to change is likely when you are fighting to maintain control. You reject any change in your circumstances—even those that would help, like finding a less stressful job, taking a vacation, visiting a counselor, or consulting the family physician about chronic pain. If you refuse to consider any change in your routine, you might need professional help to evaluate what is happening, make a plan, and have a support buddy to talk about your journey.
• Failure is a learning experience. The inability to learn from or accept failure is a warning sign, especially when many failures may be rectified merely by acquiring and practicing new skills and insights. Whether it’s motivating your tribe, understanding how to create a budget, or building trust in others, professional guidance can quickly put you on the right track.

By acknowledging these indicators and taking proactive steps to address underlying issues, you can pave the way for a more fulfilling and successful life journey. Remember, seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a courageous step towards self-improvement and resilience.