How do you know when it is time to see a professional rather than manage it yourself?
Useful markers rather than a rigid threshold: it has lasted more than two weeks without lifting; it is affecting work, study, relationships or self-care; you are using alcohol or other substances to cope; you have withdrawn from things you normally do; or people close to you have raised concern. You do not need to reach a crisis or meet a diagnosis to justify seeking help — most people wait far longer than is useful. If you have any thoughts of harming yourself, that is not a wait-and-see situation; contact a professional, a helpline, or someone you trust the same day.
Answers
Others raising concern is a marker worth trusting. I dismissed it three times before acting.
Good that the last line is unambiguous. That part should never be softened.
'You do not need to reach a crisis to justify help' is the sentence I needed five years earlier than I heard it.