Mental health issues affect many of us on a daily basis. Whether they’re minor and easy to manage or major and require help from a medical professional.
Mental health issues can be difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat. Unfortunately, mental health is one of the areas where we seem to have the most trouble when it comes to caring for patients properly. There’s just so much we still don’t know. However, that shouldn’t mean that people are scared to come forward with their issues. If you’re suffering and you think you may need help, here are some signs that you could be right.
Trouble Sleeping
A change to your regular habits is one of the first signs that something may be wrong. Having trouble sleeping at night for a prolonged time, or wanting to sleep too much, could signal that you’re suffering from depression. The same can be said for your eating habits. If you aren’t making sure you’re eating regular and healthy meals, and you aren’t bothered about skipping meals, it’s time to get some help before your issues become dangerous.
Emotional Outbursts
If you’re suffering from mental health issues, you may notice yourself behaving in ways that aren’t normal for you. Perhaps you’ve become prone to crying when you’re alone, or perhaps you become easily overwhelmed at work or around others. Because of this, you may start to have bursts of anger and take things out on the people who are closest to you. If your loved ones are starting to tell you that something may be wrong, a medical professional will be able to talk things through with you and make a diagnosis.
Unable to Cope with Responsibilities
We all have days where we can’t handle our responsibilities and they have to wait until tomorrow. However, if you or someone you know is having difficulty coping every day, that’s an entirely different matter. Getting organized isn’t easy for some people, but struggling to do simple things shouldn’t be a constant problem. Things can snowball if you don’t ask for help, so it’s important to share what you’re going through. It could just mean that you need a little treatment to get back on track.
Difficulty with Life’s Obstacles
Life certainly isn’t straightforward all of the time. We all have to deal with stresses, like financial issues, the loss of loved ones, or the car breaking down at the worst possible time. Ordinarily, most people will be upset with these situations, but find ways of getting through it and coming out the other side. However, for people with mental health issues, it could be a much harder task to overcome these obstacles. If you can’t face it when these kinds of situations arise, perhaps it’s time to be evaluated by a professional.
Avoiding People
Everyone has the odd day when they’d rather not have to talk to people. Staying home in your pajamas, with a good movie and no contact from the outside world is needed from time to time. But, there’s a difference between having a break from people and avoiding them completely. If you find you’re becoming fearful of facing people on a daily basis, or you’re reluctant to leave your home, you may have some social anxieties that need dealing with. You can contact a mental health practitioner and ask them to visit your home if visiting a clinic seems unrealistic for you.
Substance Abuse
This can be a difficult subject to approach if you see someone abusing substances, like drugs and alcohol, and want to help them. When people are suffering from mental health issues and don’t know how to deal with it, they often turn to drugs and alcohol instead of getting the help they need. In fact, that will always lead to more problems and mental health issues often worsen. The best way to deal with substance abuse is with help from professionals with experience in detoxing patients with mental health issues. Here are some factors to consider when deciding on a detox facility.
Extreme Mood Swings
When we think about mood swings, we automatically think about happiness or sadness. But, there are a range of different emotions we experience all of the time. As someone struggling with a mental health disorder, you may experience these emotions in the extreme. For example, happiness may turn into risk taking and reckless behavior, whereas sadness may present itself as deep depression and isolation. These kinds of emotions can be switched off and on like the flick of a button, but you’ll have very little control over them. Because the emotions are so extreme, you may also find yourself becoming tired quicker, which for some turns into pure exhaustion.
Warped Sense of Reality
Some people who suffer from mental health disorders create their versions of reality. That may mean that they’re carrying out their own fantasy life in their minds, or that they’re not capable of understanding certain situations. Delusional thinking isn’t a common symptom of many disorders, but if it is present, it’s a sure sign that professional help is needed. A person suffering from this may need therapy sessions to help them understand the difference between their own world and the real world, and what’s accepted in everyday social conduct.
Physical Symptoms
Just because you’re suffering from mental health issues, it doesn’t mean they won’t manifest physically. In fact, physical symptoms often tag along with mental health disorders and help professionals diagnose their patients. For example, some people with anxiety issues may also suffer from pulsations in their abdomen. Many anxiety patients have described a feeling of their stomach dropping, as if on a rollercoaster. Other common mental health symptoms include headaches, chronic pain, heart palpitations and fatigue. If you’re constantly suffering from physical symptoms, they could be linked to your mental health.
Anosognosia
This condition is one of the worst when it comes to mental health because it stops the patient from recognizing their own symptoms. Anosognosia is when a person has an inability to know how they’re feeling, behaving, or how their personality may be changing. Although these changes may be obvious to the people around them, the patient isn’t able to register them. This often leads to people being undiagnosed for long periods of time and suffering alone. If you think someone you know may have a mental health disorder but can’t see it, you may be able to convince them to see a professional.
Inability to Understand Others
People suffering from mental health disorders often have a hard time relating to other people. It may not be because of a lack of trying, but certain disorders can affect the chemical balances in the brain that allow us to empathize with others. If a person with these disorders hasn’t developed coping skills, it could be difficult for them to be around other people without feeling stressed or anxious. These people may not like being in large groups and may avoid using public transport. They may also prefer to have things planned in advance, rather than attending spontaneous gatherings.
Hyperactive Behavior
Children with mental health issues often display signs of hyperactive behavior. They may not be able to sit still for long or concentrate well in the classroom. It’s difficult for a child to understand what they’re feeling and explain it properly to an adult, so it can be difficult to diagnose children with the correct disorder. Disorders in children, such as ADHD, are often common with symptoms like hyperactivity. However, it’s easy to misdiagnose a child who may just be going through a difficult patch of childhood. It’s important to get all the information from parents and teachers first.
Disobedience
This is another symptom that has strong links to mental health in children. However, unsurprisingly, many children are labeled ‘bad eggs’ instead of getting the proper diagnosis and treatment. Every child will have times when they misbehave and test their boundaries. Some children will take it even further, pushing teachers to limit, because they’re dealing with bad situations at home. But, if a child is being disobedient because of a mental health issue, the behavior will persist, even if the child expresses a desire to stop. Children like this will often act out because they aren’t capable of describing their feelings.
Suicidal Thoughts
Having suicidal thoughts is a serious issue and it should be dealt with as quickly as possible. It’s one of the most common signs of a mental health issue, in both adults and children. Suicidal thoughts go deeper than depression. If you or someone you know is experiencing a voice that tells them life isn’t worth living and they should kill themselves, professional help is a must. These kinds of thoughts are not something to be ignored. Talking about them is the best way to resolve them.
If you recognize any of these signs in yourself or someone else, always consult a doctor and arrange for treatment instead of struggling by yourself.
