I've not been myself for months after several big hardships happening at once but I don't want the embarrassment or cost of talking to a doctor if I don't need it.

What embarrassment ?

Are you embarrassed to get a flu shot, would you be embarrassed to go to a doctor for a broken arm ?

In what ways are you not yourself ? Is it effecting your daily life ? How is it effecting others ?

That makes sense. I've always been an overachiever type and for about seven months I've felt like even normal necessary thing like laundry are a physical and emotional effort. I'm trying to be tough but I don't have that inner reserve of spunkiness that you call on when you have do something you don't want to or something upsetting happens. It feels like I can't deal a lot of the time, and my husband has started to be frustrated with me over the past couple months. He says he misses the independent, happy woman he married. Thanks for answering this!

Sometimes it takes only a few sit-downs with a counselor to vent and talk through whatever is bothering you. The counselor can give you some goal-setting exercises and have you check back with progress reports. I've even done follow-up counseling by phone. Having an unbiased person to be accountable to is the big thing.

And most counselors have a sliding scale and are more than willing to work out an easy-payment plan with you.

That makes sense. I've always been an overachiever type and for about seven months I've felt like even normal necessary thing like laundry are a physical and emotional effort. I'm trying to be tough but I don't have that inner reserve of spunkiness that you call on when you have do something you don't want to or something upsetting happens. It feels like I can't deal a lot of the time, and my husband has started to be frustrated with me over the past couple months. He says he misses the independent, happy woman he married. Thanks for answering this!

Thanks so much for the responses. Very helpful!