Did you know that the cost of untreated mental illness in the United States is $113 billion annually? The benefits of therapy outweigh costs and risk when it comes to untreated mental health.

• People who suffer from anxiety are 5X more likely to go to the doctor and 6X more likely to be hospitalized.
• Treating the underlying causes of anxiety can save both a lot of time and money on lost productivity, unnecessary emergency visits, and improve quality of life.

With anxiety disorders being the most common mental illness, impacting approximately 18% of the adult population each year, psychotherapy “talk therapy” can be an effective treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered the most effective form of psychotherapy specifically for anxiety, and can include techniques such as exposure to gradually faced feared situations while you learn to tolerate or manage your anxiety. Medication can also provide relief from symptoms and can be especially effective when combined with psychotherapy. Although therapy does require an investment, the results are worthwhile.

Here are several additional ways in which therapy helps with anxiety:

Therapy helps maintain optimal mental health functioning.

• Therapy can help you identify strategies to address anxiety. For some people, it may be a space to process sources of stress. For others, it might be using strategies such as cognitive behavioral therapy or relaxation exercises to help manage symptoms. A referral for medication management might be recommended.

Therapy helps work with anxious thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns.

• Therapy can help bring awareness to what one is feeling and how one is experiencing this is their body. Therapy can also help identify unhelpful thinking and work with cognitive-distortions common with anxiety such as catastrophizing “worst-case scenario” thinking. Therapy can help test and reframe unhelpful patterns and learn more helpful behavioral patterns.

Therapy helps you achieve goals around healthy lifestyle habits.

• Healthy eating habits, good sleep hygiene, exercise, healthy social and recreational outlets…these are all part of a healthy lifestyle. Habits take time to establish. Having an accountability partner such as a therapist working towards shared goals can save a lot of time in the long run with achieving the results you want.

Therapy is more convenient than you might think!

• Many therapists provide telehealth as an option for therapy. If one has access to a safe and secure space, therapists can meet via telehealth over a lunch hour, during a school break time, or in a parked location in a vehicle in addition to one’s home. In larger clinic settings such as CARE Counseling multiple office locations can help offer even greater flexibility.

Yes, time is precious (and so is your mental health!)

Written By: Charlotte Johnson, MA, LPCC