It’s normal to find points in our lives when we feel overwhelmed by situations or emotions.  We live complex lives these days with many pressures on us. If you find yourself asking, “Am I going Mad?” it’s likely a sign of being stressed. (Find out more about CBT counselling for stress & anxiety here)

Am I Going Mad? *The good news is probably not*

The fear of “going mad” is caught up in our ideas about mental health and emotional well-being:

And yet, the most common reasons for clients thinking they are going mad are:
-A partner is having an affair and lying about it, leading the person to doubt their own mind.
-A boss or work colleague is bullying or plotting but pretending otherwise.
-Life stressors such as bereavement, divorce, or redundancy have overwhelmed the emotions.
-Biological reasons such as menopause, or reactions to prescription drugs.
-The side effects of other drugs.

Counselling can help you understand the factors and return to better emotional health. Contact me here to find out more

Am I going Mad?: *No – you’re human!*

Clients often come to me asking “am I going mad, do you think I’m mad?” and mostly this is a sign of the social pressure to hide emotional distress – to just ‘cope’ or ‘get on with it’. If you are asking yourself “am I going mad”, its probable that you have merely hit a crisis point in your life.  

Counselling can help you make sense of why the emotions are so overwhelming and give you insights and strategies to manage your situation better.Find out how much CBT counselling costs here…

Significant life events can often overwhelm our ability to cope – but counselling can help.

The Great British Stiff Upper Lip approach is simply about denial – putting on a false front.
Being real with who we are and what we feel takes more courage but is healthier and gives a better quality of relationship with the people around us.

It’s not “crazy” people who go to therapy – its just people who want to feel fitter emotionally.

Think of it like going to the gym but for the emotions. You don’t have to be a complete wreck physically before you go to a gym to exercise –
in fact a lot of healthy people go to the gym to feel even fitter. Therapy is like this – a space to work-out on those emotions.

You may be thinking about therapy because life has become intolerable – well maybe it seems that way.
The very fact that you are looking at therapy websites could be seen as a positive sign – a belief somewhere deep inside that things can be different.
And you’d be right. You might get there on your own or with the help of good friends; when those supports aren’t working or available to us the trust and
patience of an empathic and understanding therapist can give us the encouragement to make the steps forward in our life.

Perhaps its not that your life is in crisis, but maybe it has lost some of its meaning, or you are lacking the ‘zest’ you’ve formally had. Sometimes we need a sounding board to bounce ideas off, sometimes its because we recognise that something in our personality consistently holds us back and now finally its time to hit it for six to move on.

Don’t ask “Am I going mad” – ask “how long do I want to feel like this” and then make the commitment to change. Counselling can help you achieve that:

If you don’t live in South Wales I can do counselling via Skype or you may like to find a therapist via The Counselling Directory”