Am I in Need of Therapy?

I read recently that while talking about your problems to friends is usually helpful for the most part, in some cases it doesn't always make you feel better; especially topics that escalate into repetitive roller coaster sessions. This was based on research of teenage girls, "but applies to adult women as well," says the author of the study, Amanda Rose, a professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia. I thought about this and I wholeheartedly agree. While relationships with our women friends are paramount, and the support and camaraderie we derive from them are irreplaceably healthy ones, talking ad nauseum only exacerbates and solidifies existing negative feelings.

I know this from firsthand experience. And when friends start recommending you see a therapist, you know you have crossed the line. Like Carrie in Sex and the City who wouldn't stop talking about her break-up with Mr. Big, the weariness on her friends faces who finally beg her to seek professional help is understandable.

I see it in my husband's expressions and I hear it in the voices of my children and close friends. My concern for my sister borders on obsessive. She is facing surgery this week and I am flying up to be with her. Praying for the best outcome and dealing with unresolved feelings toward my family since my mother's passing is overwhelming, and frankly sucks the life out of me at times. I worry about her constantly. I call her, email her, text her. I have dragged myself into an abyss of self indulged neurosis. The funny thing is, for someone with disabilities, she is calm, cool and collected.

I asked her how she was feeling this morning in anticipation of her surgery. "Fine," she replied. She takes these bumps in the road in stride. Seems I could take a cue from her.  So, like Carrie, it is time to move on.  And getting off this carnival ride of unproductive self imposed worry is the empowerment I need!