A significant percentage of mental health victims fail to seek professional help because they do not recognize the red flags or think the treatment might not help. In other instances, the stigma individuals associate mental illness with and the inaccessibility or inability to afford treatment may prevent victims from seeking help. Unfortunately, failure to seek help might worsen the symptoms, leading to suicide in adverse cases. Fulshear Medical Associates medical team asserts that mental illness is nothing personal. The various mental health conditions, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), can affect you, regardless of your age or socioeconomic status.
What mental health issues are you likely to have?
Like cancer or heart attack, mental conditions are real and valid ailments. You can be a victim because of a history of the disease running through your family, substance abuse, unusual brain chemistry, or a response to a traumatic event like death.
Mental health problems that might affect you include:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Depression
- Bipolar disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Panic disorders like anxiety
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Mental illnesses are not weaknesses. Your brain controls your system’s processes and functions. A malfunction of the organ will affect your thinking, emotions, relationship skills, and intelligence. Whether family history or brain malfunctions, mental health issues need a proper diagnosis to help the medical professional design the best treatment.
Why is it crucial to seek help with mental health issues?
Mental illnesses will adversely affect your thinking and reaction to situations. The conditions do not discriminate. Anyone, regardless of their age, social status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or spirituality, is a potential victim of mental health. Mental problems have many forms. While some conditions, like phobias, are mild and might only interfere less significantly with your everyday life, other issues like schizophrenia and chronic depression might need special care in a health facility.
Having a positive attitude toward mental health helps you:
- Cope effectively with stressful life events
- Contribute positively to the community
- Realize your full potential
- Enhance your work productivity
The various ways you can enhance positivity include:
- Develop coping skills
- Stay positive
- Avoid being alone
- Get enough sleep/rest
- Seek professional help early
- Be physically active
What early signs should you look out for?
Knowing early signs of a mental condition might help you understand when professional assistance is necessary. Warning signs you should watch out for with mental health issues include:
- Feeling useless or sad. Feeling sad is common. However, severe and persistent signs distinguishing normal mood swings from depression are not normal.
- Chronic fatigue. Your body is likely to shut down if it experiences emotional overload. Emotional distress might prevent you from doing the things you once enjoyed.
- Withdrawal. Issues like depression and social phobia might force you to spend extended periods alone instead of reaching out and spending time with other people.
- Severe mood fluctuations. Extreme mood fluctuations are common with illnesses like bipolar. Your behaviors might range from high energy levels to depressive symptoms like lack of motivation and suicidal thoughts.
Other symptoms might include ongoing worries, nightmares, substance abuse, and unexplained weight loss/gain.
Mental health problems affect people differently. Thus, two people with a similar diagnosis will experience the condition differently. Contact a mental illness expert to know how the conditions affect your everyday life.