The symptoms of mental illness can be subtle and hard to recognise. Sometimes, you don’t even notice a change in yourself. However, when many symptoms of mental illness are noticed, it’s important to be proactive and seek treatment.
Here are some signs that you may have mental illness and what you can do about it.
Feeling depressed
Depression symptoms include a lack of motivation and energy, a lack of interest in a hobby, and an inability to stop crying. You may feel that you must live with certain problems, but you don’t have to. Left untreated, depression will slowly get worse, not better, so it’s important to get it seen as soon as possible.
Sleep problems
Mental illness can disrupt your sleep, and common sleep disorder like insomnia is prevalent among mental illness. This can lead to chronic sleep deprivation, which will present itself as fatigue, exhaustion, inability to focus and irritability. Luckily, sleep problems are easy to treat with the right techniques.
Emotional outbursts
Do you ever wonder why you get so angry at the smallest things? Do you ever feel like you are losing control? Struggling to control your emotions is a sign of mental illness and can indicate something quite serious. Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia present with these symptoms and may mean the person may not always be able to distinguish their own thoughts and ideas from reality.
Weight or appetite changes
This is a more obvious symptom of mental illness, as it presents physically after only a short amount of time. Bulimia nervosa sufferers in particular will present with these symptoms, whilst those with body dysmorphia may also struggle to maintain a healthy weight and diet.
Feeling guilty or worthless
All of us go through challenging periods in our lives. With stress, work, and home life, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and forget to take care of ourselves. However, many people with mental health issues fail to acknowledge these “dark times.” These feelings may include but are not limited to an overwhelming sense of emptiness, a fear of the future, an inability to get out of bed, irritability, feelings of sadness, and worthlessness.
Withdrawal
Withdrawing from life, especially if this is a significant change, might indicate a mental health problem. It is possible that a friend or loved one has depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or some other mental illness if they isolate themselves regularly. They may need help if they refuse to participate in social events.
Substance abuse
It is possible to have mental health issues if you use alcohol or drugs as coping mechanisms. The use of substances can exacerbate mental illness. If you know someone who does this, they might need your help. Comfort them and give them the advice to seek medical and mental care as soon as possible.
Coping with Your Mental Health Issues
Handling Unusual Behavior
There are many behavioural symptoms of a mental illness. A person’s demeanour may be described as “extremely reserved” or they can become overly emotional and have outbursts of anger.
Mental illness patients may continue to engage in antisocial behaviour even after treatment has begun. Performing these actions in public can be disruptive and hard to accept. Discuss these behaviours with your doctor or mental health professional. They may give you advice on developing a strategy for dealing with your mental health problems.
Counselling
Mental health issues do not discriminate; they can affect everyone at any time. There are a variety of causes of mental health issues, such as abuse, neglect, and bullying. But it is also important to remember that mental health issues can also develop from internal problems such as stress and anxiety or even from external elements such as death or divorce. No matter the cause, it is essential to know that there are a variety of resources available for you, such as getting professional counselling.
Establish a Support Network
Mental health is a taboo subject in our society. Many people are reluctant to talk about it. They fear that others will judge them or think less of them. Establishing a support network is a great idea to handle your mental stress. It could be your family, close friends, or even your therapists. Building a relationship with a therapist takes work. First, you need to identify what kind of therapy you need. Maybe you want to talk through feelings or problems rationally. Perhaps you’re more comfortable discussing your issues anonymously.
The most important thing is to recognize the signs and get help as soon as possible. The sooner you get help, the better your chances of making a swift recovery.