When you break a bone or become ill, most people wouldn’t think twice about going to see a doctor. When it comes to trauma or other mental health issues, however, there seems to still be a great deal of shame that surrounds the idea of seeking out the help of a counselor, therapist or other mental health professional. Just like a physical injury, unaddressed mental health issues can grow more and more serious and can even lead to disaster if not properly addressed. Here are 3 ways that getting help can keep you out of trouble.

Out-of-control Responses
When you have experienced some kind of trauma, it often creates the fear of having it happen to you again. This fear can become so strong that you can start to have over-the-top responses to normal, simple gestures. In time, this fear can grow to the point that your own responses become out-of-control and can land you in hot water. In addition to the stigma of therapy, many people feel they cannot afford it. If you begin to experience mental health issues as a result of some type of trauma caused by someone else, a personal injury attorney may be able to help you get financial compensation for therapy.

Interfering with Work
Most people struggle with some level of mental health issue, but it becomes a disorder when it interferes with your ability to accomplish basic daily tasks. Among other things, unaddressed mental health issues can have a strong impact on your work. From lashing out at customers to behaving inappropriately at work, there are a number of different ways in which mental health issues can land you in hot water at work. A therapist can help you address the underlying issues causing inappropriate work behavior .

Interfering with Relationships
Mental health issues actually cause pain in the same way physical issues do. If we don’t deal with the underlying cause of the pain, we have to find a way to soothe it instead. The longer an issue goes unaddressed, the more intense the pain becomes. The more intense the pain is, the more we need the thing we use to soothe it. This is called addiction. Addiction interferes with our relationships because we become so focused on getting the thing that soothes the pain that we lose all ability to focus on anything else. Therapy can help you address the root cause of your pain and help you restore your relationships.

Unaddressed mental health issues can cause you problems in a wide variety of way. From landing you in jail to landing you in divorce court or even causing you to lose your home or livelihood. No matter how great the stigma may be, a failure to get help can cause you a world of hurt.

Author's Bio: 

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan.