So, What is Mental Health?
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices.
Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. And it’s important to remember that it doesn’t discriminate, in the UK, one in four people suffer from a range of mental health problems such as depression and anxiety, to more rare forms such as schizophrenia and Bi-Polar Disorder.
So, Who Does it Affect?
Well…everyone! Potentially.
It doesn’t matter how much money you have, how educated you are, how fit and healthy you are. Mental health can touch each and every one of us, at any stage of our life.
To all of those like me who overschedule, overthink, overwork, over-worry, and over-everything, please know you’re not alone.
Ryan Reynolds – In a conversation about his battle with Anxiety
And the Causes?
Well, there is a wide range of risk factors, and these are specific to each individual. What effects someone else may not effect you in the same way. There is no one single factor that causes a person to fall into mental ill-health, but it’s often a combination of many factors including:
- Childhood abuse, trauma, neglect.
- Social isolation/loneliness.
- Social disadvantages.
- Bereavement.
- Physical health issues.
- Life events (unemployment/homelessness/relationship breakdown)
- Long-term carer and stresses of that.
- Drug/alcohol misuse.
- Domestic violence, bullying.
- Significant trauma as an adult.
- Physical causes i.e. ABI/dementia etc.
- Parent separating.
- Parental alcohol/drug abuse.
- Experiencing discrimination.
- Educational difficulties.
Is Mental Health Genetic?
Some research suggests poor mental health does run in families. But because we all live such different lives, we can’t know how accurate that is, as a plethora of other factors such as the environment we grew up in, or the ways we were taught to behave and think and cope by our parents may all have an effect.
Some people with chronic mental health conditions have no familial history of mental ill-health.
One things that is universally agreed upon, however, is that drugs and alcohol are highly likely to exacerbate, or bring on, latent mental health issues.
Ok, So What am I Looking Out For?
Signs of poor mental health can vary depending on the specific issue in question, . The below isn’t an exhaustive list, but any of the below issues may indicate that maybe it’s time to have a chat with someone about how you’re feeling.
- Changes in school or work-related performance.
- Changes in weight or appearance.
- Feeling sad or low.
- Self-blame, particularly about things beyond your control.
- Excessive worrying or anxiety.
- Extreme mood changes.
- Avoiding friends and socialising.
- Changes in sleeping habits.
- Changes in appetite.
- Hallucinations or delusional beliefs.
- Repetitive behaviours or routines.
- Substance abuse.
- Hyperactive behaviour.
- Intense fear of weight gain, obsessive about looks.
- Incongruent panics…usually it’s not the thing you’re actually worrying about that’s upsetting you, but it’s the only way you can express your anxiety or fears.
- Frequent nightmares.
- Frequent disobedience or aggression.
- Frequent temper tantrums.
- Self harm or suicidal ideation.
- Crying easily.
- Physical illnesses.
- Lack of energy.
So, What can I Do to Help Myself?
Maybe you’re not quite at the place yet where you feel like you need to seek help, but you recognise that you do need to start making more efforts to be mentally healthy.
Here is a good place to start 👇:
- Talk about how you’re feeling, with your family, your friends, your pets. Anyone!
- Keep physically active.
- Keep mentally active.
- Eat well.
- Drink sensibly.
- Sleep.
- Socialise.
- Ask for help.
- Take a break.
- Do something you’re good at.
- Accept who you are.
- Care for others.
- Having time to play/relax.
- Being part of a family that gets along well (most of the time!).
- Going to a school that looks out for their mental wellbeing.
- Feeling loved/trusted.
- Being hopeful/optimistic.
- Find a sense of belonging.
- Feeling of control over their lives.
- Having the strength to cope when things go wrong (resilience).
Can Mental Health be Cured? Absolutely!
Whilst there are some illnesses that are considered to be life-long, also known as chronic, most people who experience poor mental health make a recovery and never experience such illness again.
Some people may need to learn how to manage their mental illness. But once they have recovered, providing they look after themselves, they’re unlikely deteriorate to the same degree again because you’ll recognise that you’re maybe feeling a little “off”, and you’ll know what steps you need to take to get yourself back on track.
I Can Help You
If you’ve any questions about anything I’ve written here or anything else you’ve read on my website, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you ASAP.
Thanks for reading,
Adam
