Lesson 6 of 6 · When to stop reading and see someone
How to tell it has outgrown reading
There is no line painted on the floor, but there are markers, and they are practical rather than spiritual.
Time. An hour or more of most days going on worry, checking or preparing.
Function. You have stopped doing things. Work, driving, calls, the masjid, seeing people.
Duration. Not a hard fortnight. Months, and it is not lifting.
And two that go quickly. An episode where you thought you were dying or losing your mind. And chest pain, fainting or breathlessness that a doctor has not looked at, which goes to a doctor first.
None of these says anything about your faith. They are the markers any clinician would use, and meeting them means this has grown too big for reading alone.
What the research says
You get moved up from self help on how long it has gone on, how much of your life it is taking, and whether the lower step helped. These are reasons to go and ask somebody, not a verdict on you.
Guidance moves a person up from self help on duration, on how much daily life is affected, and on whether the lower step has helped. These are the markers above. They are reasons to go and ask, not a score.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2022). Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults: management, NICE clinical guideline CG113, updated July 2022. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
The same thresholds again, from the assessment side: duration, cost to your life, what has been tried, risk. None of it asks about your faith.
The assessment and referral algorithms used by non-specialists turn on the same practical things. None of them asks about a person's faith.
World Health Organization (2019). mhGAP Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in non-specialized health settings, Version 2.0. World Health Organization