Every year we make an appointment to see our doctor for a physical. We get our blood work checked for high cholesterol; we get our blood pressure checked to make sure that we are in good health and we get evaluated to see if we have experienced some sort of change from our regular biological functioning. So how come we don't get an emotional assessment on an annual basis?
I find in my work with people that frequently we have become overwhelmed but don't realize how much stress that we have in our lives. This happens for a number of reasons. First of all, stress builds up slowly like cholesterol, and these little stressors in our lives can become large and overwhelming without even realizing it has happened. Secondly, we get so busy that we forget to do the little things that help us cope with all of our life stressors. In fact, it's usually the things that help us cope that we get rid of first like going to the gym or meditating or praying. Sometimes we even fail to enforce boundaries with our family, friends and colleagues to protect our time and energy (emotional and physical).
Certainly, people feel free to call their counselor when some new stressor appears and causes a seemingly large problem. But I have studied the works of Dr Martin Seligman on the topic of positive psychology and he proposes that using therapy for “emotional wellness” is just as important as using it for “emotional illness. In other words, we should all feel empowered to come and speak to emotional health professionals about ways to increase the meaning and purpose in your life even if we already find ourselves to be relatively content. We should feel free to work on the parts of ourselves that we may not like or want to change without needing to feel “mentally ill.”
One last comment I would like to make about promoting emotional health is that I have become quite convinced over the years that visiting a therapist will release dopamine in your brain. As you may know, dopamine is the neurotransmitter in the brain most closely related to the experience of joy. So let me encourage you.. Go See your counselor and evaluate how well you are functioning emotionally. I bet that you'll be glad that you did!