When Should You Consider Consulting A Mental Health Counselor? A Bangladesh Perspective

We all go through tough phases at different stages of our lives. Whether in academic, personal, social, or professional life. Challenges seem to follow one after another. And when too many pile up, we feel as if one more push from life will take us down the rabbit hole.

Sayeda Sultana

1/15/20257 min read

Let’s take Nilima for example, a 20-something girl in her second year. As her midterm week is nearing, her stress seems to be nearing too. She has all three of her exams back-to-back on the same day. Failing to achieve decent marks will directly affect her cumulative grades, jeopardize her tuition waivers, and invite criticism from her parents, something she is desperately trying to avoid. And complications in her relationships seem to be taking a turn for the worse as well. Life seems to be falling apart for her. But she pushes through the mid-term week with success, even with all this pent-up stress. Yet, on her way back home, she collapses. She has become exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Her experience mirrors the challenges many of us face, just in a different context. Now when these stresses occur in our professional, personal, or academic life, we feel most vulnerable during these times. And this is when we need support more than ever. Perhaps a new perspective, a new mindset, or a solution we thought was not possible, can help us immensely in navigating through the chaos.

This is where the mental health counselors come in. They help us see things in a different light, and show us ways we were once scared or confused to consider. Most importantly, they help us understand our emotions, reactions, and triggers with clarity, so we can understand ourselves better, and approach life with much more ease and confidence. But how do we know when should we see one? And what about the stigma in our Bangladeshi society about seeking help? How do we get past them and seek support? So first, let’s try to understand what is mental health counseling.

What is mental health counseling?

Some might imagine that it may be one of those scenes from a movie, where a character lies on a sofa, and talks about his or her life. However, in reality, this sort of thing differs per need. Mental health counseling is a type of counseling that helps individuals navigate through the emotional, psychological, and social challenges of life. It is provided by a mental health professional who has in-depth knowledge about how our thoughts and experiences impact our behaviors in day-to-day life.

Now that we understand what it is, let’s look at when should one see a counselor.

Signs you should consult a mental health counselor -

Even though the tough situations and the reactions to those are different in everyone’s life, there are a few signs, that tell when one should consider visiting a mental health counselor.

  1. Unceasing sadness or anxiety: Occasionally feeling sad or anxious is normal, but when these emotions persist for a long time, meaning more than a couple of weeks or months, disrupting daily activities, or struggling to focus, then this may signal that this person might be suffering from anxiety or depression, therefore seeking help from a mental health counselor is essential.

  2. Severe mood swings: Sudden transition in mood makes it hard to stay calm and collected throughout the day, and the person ends up feeling overwhelmed by all these raging emotions. Sudden outbursts of anger, irritability, and crying out of the blue are often indicative of growing emotional distress. Thus requires support from a professional.

  3. Inconsistent sleeping pattern: Difficulty falling asleep, racing thoughts, suddenly waking up from sleep and not being able to go back to sleep, keep moving to find the ‘right’ side to sleep on, waking up tired, feeling sleepy all day long, etc are the most common signs that show one is having a poor sleep cycle.

  4. Loss of appetite: Losing appetite is common when we suffer from illness, but without that, having little to no interest in eating, feeling full even after not eating sufficiently, feeling bloated, missing out on meals, feeling nauseous, digestion issues, etc are often seen when a person is mentally struggling, and that is an important indication of declining mental health, thus the issue bugging, should be brought under evaluation with help from a professional.

  5. Fatigue or low energy: Afore mentioned signs usually lead to long-term fatigue. Even sleeping for long hours does not make up for the exhaustion and the weariness does not seem to shake off.

  6. Difficulty concentrating: The mind keeps wandering. It becomes a challenge to complete any task that requires attention. Then it escalated to, forgetfulness, difficulty remembering important details, etc. Ultimately, it impacts our academic, professional, or personal lives negatively.

  7. Unhealthy coping mechanisms: This one consists of many things, scrolling on social media for hours without realizing it, getting addicted to substances, impulsive behaviors, imaging fake scenarios to feel better or worse possible scenarios to have a sense of safety, so we do not get caught on by surprise, overworking without any sufficient break in between, etc. All these are just to avoid feeling miserable. But this continuation further ruins a person’s mental stability.

  8. Withdrawal from social life: When all these difficulties are on the rise, we start feeling burned out. Nothing strikes any interest, we feel almost indifferent. We start losing interest in the things we once used to love doing. All of those feel like a chore, so we choose not to do it unless we have to. Slowly we fall into the dark pit of hopelessness and start losing the will to live a meaningful life.

The stigma around mental health in Bangladesh & how do we move forward from it?

In our community, the most significant problem in addressing mental health issues is the stigma around it. For instance, people are often concerned about “What will people say?”, upon hearing someone say that they are seeking help from a mental health professional. This sort of question comes from misconceptions and limited awareness. Some people may believe that only individuals with severe mental illness require professional assistance, as there’s a pre-existing belief that struggling mentally is a sign of personal failing or a sign of weakness.

Besides all these, stereotyping is another obstacle. Expressions such as, ‘Men don’t feel emotion’, ‘Mental health struggles are first world problem’, and ‘Girls are always emotional’ have been made normalized in our society. Such unfair attitudes are often rooted in a lack of understanding.

So what can be done to mitigate this challenge? For a start, we can –

So, these are the major signs that suggest the need for seeking counsel. And the sooner the help can be acquired, the better. However, in our society, issues related to mental health are often stigmatized. This is why, even if someone realizes that they need help, they feel discouraged to open up about it, let alone seek help. Lack of awareness is another factor in this matter. Due to ignorance, some people even dismiss the whole idea of asking for help, and visiting a mental health professional is even more unreasonable to them.

References

  • Marquette University. What is mental health counseling? Retrieved January 6, 2025, Link: Click here.

  • Healthline Editorial Team. How psychologists can help with depression. Healthline. Retrieved January 6, 2025, Link: Click here.

  • ALALCP. Mental health: Signs you should see a psychologist in Dhaka. Retrieved January 6, 2025, Link: Click here.

  • Healthdirect Australia. What is mental illness stigma? Retrieved January 6, 2025, Link: Click here.

These highly skilled professionals are known as counselors, who help people address the underlying factors behind the issues they face and provide them with perspectives. They provide different types of counseling depending on their expertise in a particular area. Counseling is usually short-term and goal-oriented. Meaning, it focuses on something such as stress, transition in life, decision-making, communication, etc.

Moreover, many people are discouraged from asking for help because when they open up about their struggles, they face ridicule and judgemental comments. They do not feel encouraged to share anything, so they do not consider asking for help. Comments such as, ‘Oh, you’re so sensitive!”, “Just get over it, it’s not that big of a deal!”, “Some other people have it worse than you, so stop complaining!” and leave the individuals feeling invalidated.

Employing these understandings can help us overcome our society’s deeply rooted stigma at great length. And create an empathetic and compassionate community, where people are not afraid to ask for help.

  • Recognize that struggling mentally is not a sign of weakness, rather it’s part of the human experience, and learning the correct things about it will help us approach life with greater ease

  • Understand that we are not our struggles, someone with an injured hand is not someone broken or finished

  • Pay no attention to negative criticisms, because most people who say discriminatory things, are often ill-informed about the issue or do not have any experience at all, thus they do not know what they are talking about

  • Learn about stereotypes and call them out when faced with one

All things considered, we must always recognize the importance of asking for help. After all, we are a social species, so it is only natural that we will need each other’s support to survive. We must acknowledge the fact that our mental well-being is the cornerstone for giving our best and enjoying life to the fullest. Keeping an eye open for the signs when we should visit a counselor is crucial in this day and age, given the amount of stressors we have in our current lives. Thus, we should be brave when asking for help. Because seeking assistance is a sign of strength, not weakness.