Mental Health Symptoms To Not Ignore
There are hundreds of symptoms that can indicate a mental health issue is developing, but it can be difficult to know when to pay attention to them and when they are not a concern. Here is a relatively simple way to be able to assess whether you are experiencing mental health symptoms that you should not ignore and for which you may want to seek help.
First, these are the five general aspects of your life where you would be most likely to notice difficulties:
- Mood
- Energy
- Sleep
- Sex drive
These five areas are highly affected by fluctuations in stress, hormones, physical health and illness, trauma, and genetic predispositions toward mental health issues. Often problems in any of these areas can affect a person’s behavior and ability to function cognitively, emotionally, socially, and physically. To assess for mental health symptoms that you should not ignore, look for these 5 things within those five areas above:
- Extremes: For example, mood or energy too high or too low, appetite out of control or non-existent, sleeping all the time or only a few hours, hyperactive sex drive or non-existent.
- Rapid shifts: Mood alternates between high, low, or normal rapidly. Sleep is unpredictable and shifts between insomnia and hypersomnia quickly.
- Abnormality: Something about your symptoms in a particular area is very different from how you normally are, or you believe it is simply not normal.
- Dysfunction: It is preventing you from functioning normally in some important area of your life (work, school, home, personal life, relationships).
Concern: Others close to you are expressing concern about your habits, presentation, or behavior. You may not always be able to assess the first 4 things on this list accurately if there is a mental health issue occurring, so it pays to listen to those close to you and ask why they are concerned.
Dr. Anita Sanz, PhD, Psychologist
Why Is Forgiving So Hard?
You Are Wired to NOT Forget What Hurt You You know you need to do it, you know it would free you to let it…
How To Accomplish Anything
How Do You Make Dreams Real? You want to write a book, learn how to cook vegan, make a new group of friends, or climb…
Should Psychotherapy Sessions Hurt?
“No pain, no gain!” Is psychotherapy supposed to hurt? Is it necessary to wear waterproof mascara to every session? Are you going to be a…
It’s Snark Week!
You know them… snarky people. The masters of that combination of sarcastic and cynical that ends up being smugly critical and absolutely unbearable to human beings…
Decide on the Daily
Everyone is looking for a good “life hack,” something that makes life easier and better. Here is one that definitely does both: it’s what I…
How to Catch More Zzzzz’s
Elusive Sleep Insomnia for many people has become a frustrating fact of life. 30% of the population suffers from it, and more than half of…
- Well Being (59)
- Life Hacks (20)
- The Big Picture (9)
- Health (10)
- Relationships (13)
- Holidays (7)
- Therapy (43)
- Anxiety (11)
- Depression (16)
- On The Couch (16)
- Life Planning (5)
Related Posts
Someone I Love Is Being Deployed: How Do I Cope?
Another Way to Manage Your Anxiety
