The commonality of mental health issues throughout the United States is astronomical. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, approximately 1 in 4 adults suffer from some genre of mental disorder and about 9.5 percent of adults in the US will encounter hardships with a depressive illness. In addition, roughly 18 percent of people between the ages of 18-54 years old have some type of anxiety disorder. To fully observe Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM), one must understand the signs and symptoms as well as take care of oneself and their loved ones.
If you or someone you know is in immediate need of assistance, trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 by dialing 9-8-8.
The Mayo Clinic has provided a set of signs and symptoms below:
- Feeling sad or down
- Confused thinking or reduced ability to concentrate
- Excessive fears or worries, or extreme feelings of guilt
- Extreme mood changes of highs and lows
- Withdrawal from friends and activities
- Significant tiredness, low energy or problems sleeping
- Detachment from reality (delusions), paranoia or hallucinations
- Inability to cope with daily problems or stress
- Trouble understanding and relating to situations and to people
- Problems with alcohol or drug use
- Major changes in eating habits
- Sex drive changes
- Excessive anger, hostility or violence
- Suicidal thinking
The type of symptom(s) an individual has will determine which mental illness diagnosis would apply. If you or if anyone else has expressed experiencing any of these symptoms, then know that there are actions you can take. ComPsych offers resources that provide insights into things you can do to help relieve stress and can help the effects of mental disorders:
- Building Exercise Into Your Busy Schedule: Exercise has proven to be a great stress reliever and a sure way to increase energy levels. Learn how easily you can combat stress by implementing a daily exercise routine without interrupting your busy schedule.
- Achieving Balance: In the workplace, we may tend to tack on more than we can handle because we aim to please, we don’t want to delegate tasks and there is no clear boundary in place. Find out more about the adjustments you can make to aid in mental wellness.
- Suicide Awareness: In the spirit of taking care of others, understand what signs to look for in friends and family members that maybe contemplating suicide. Also, be prepared to take the correct course of action along with knowing what to say.
- Self-care For Stress Relief: See how you can get the most out of life while still managing your day-to-day duties.
Most of us go through our daily lives believing that stress is normal and simply something we have been predestined to deal with. If we are not careful and neglect to educate ourselves on symptoms of mental illness, we too can fall in the crevices of this debilitating disease. Please try your best to take care of yourself and your loved ones.