What Are the Five Signs of Mental Illness?
Welcome to the topic “What Are the Five Signs of Mental Illness?”
Many signs may lead up to various mental illnesses. The most common ones to look for in your loved ones are:
- Extreme Paranoia and Anxiety
- Long-term Sadness
- Drastic Changes in Mood
- Social Withdrawal
- Changes in Eating and Sleeping Patterns
Here is a brief explanation of how all these signs lead up to a mental illness:
1. Extreme Paranoia and Anxiety:
When a person gets extremely paranoid and anxious, it can be due to multiple reasons, some being bearable and easier to overcome and some having terrible and drastic impacts on the patient’s life, causing them harm in an unbelievably bad way. This can get mentally draining, leading to severe depression, bipolar disorder, and many other mental health problems.
When a person faces a traumatic incident, it can have a scary impact on their life which can lead to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). PTSD can disrupt everyday life in a matter of moments if once triggered. Being paranoid about a bad incident in life is extremely hard and cannot be neglected. It is a subconscious feeling that can worsen the mental state.
2. Long-term Sadness:
When a person is going through a mental illness and the mental health is taking a dip drastically, it is undeniable that they will be super sad and low all the time. They will feel emotional at the minor inconveniences, and all of that does nothing but add to the intensity of their mental illness.
Just like when a person is going through depression, little ups and downs get to their head, and they can latch onto that sad feeling for weeks and months. This state of all-time low can cause more damage than we can imagine. Being sad becomes a part of their personality. They find it hard to escape those depressing feelings because, without proper care and diagnosis, every other incident or setback leads them back to where they initially were.
What Are the Five Signs of Mental Illness?
3. Drastic changes in moods:
Bipolar disorder, or we can call it a “sudden or drastic changes in moods,” is also a sign of having a mental illness. It is improbable not to get mood swings when a person is going through a rough patch in life and has mental instability. It gets tough for such mentally drained people to control their emotions and be rational in most situations.
When a person is experiencing a mental illness or, let us say, going through depression, they go through a state of excessive frustration from constant over-thinking and stress. Because of all the frustration and negative energy around them, they cannot stay sane for long, and carrying that emotional baggage leads them to have various disorders.
4. Social withdrawal:
Social withdrawal is when a person starts avoiding people and activities that they had enjoyed at some part of their lives. Social withdrawal is often caused when a person is going through a mental illness (mainly depression). It becomes challenging for people to interact and socialize because they feel worked up even after a few minutes.
This happens because the negative energy makes them feel insecure and tired of everything and everyone. They are unable to express themselves completely and face difficulty in socializing entirely. The sudden drastic mood swings ruin the vibe of the social circle that they are a part of. So ultimately, they feel safe and better alone in the comfort of their homes and do not feel the need to mingle with people.
5. Changes in eating and sleeping habits:
It is an absolute fact that if a person goes through a mentally challenging time, they will have physical problems. There’s a famous saying “a healthy mind creates a healthy body.” And to keep the mind healthy, being physically fit is important too, so in one way or another, if any one of the systems of your body get damaged, the others will get disrupted too.
Going through a mental illness takes a toll on mental health and body health, and people feel restless, tired, and very weak during that phase. The unfortunate one’s going through depression start losing sleep and ultimately destroy their appetite to a greater extent. Because of all the frustration and stress, it gets tricky for them to relax and chill for a while.
How to Move Towards a Stable Mental State:
1. Self-diagnosis:
All of these signs mentioned above of mental illnesses can be self-diagnosed when the illness has just started. The earlier the diagnosis, the sooner it gets treated. The term self-diagnosis indicates that the affected person who is experiencing all the symptoms should go and seek a cure for his sound mental health from a professional. Ignoring the problem is only going to aggravate it, and one should be vigilant enough about himself and his surroundings.
2. Surrounding yourself with Observant People:
When observant and conscious people surround a person, it is very beneficial for mental stability. They can pick the slightest change in their daily routine, behavior, moves, and habits as they keep a keen eye the whole time. The slightest shift in character shows them the red flags regarding mental health issues, and they can consequently take necessary steps to rectify those problems.
3. Seeking Professional Help:
When a person starts showing these symptoms, it is more than clear that he might be falling prey to a mental illness. Luckily, the severity of the condition is relatively lower at the start, so proper care can alleviate the situation preventing the person from a long-term disease.
Conclusion
The severity of mental illnesses can vary significantly from person to person. Different people have different coping mechanisms that they use to deal with situations like these. But negligence is the root cause of making things worse for yourself. With all the above factors in check, the patient is more likely to move towards better if diagnosed at an early stage. It can all be cured under professional care and observation. Hence, leading to a remarkable and healthy recovery with no setbacks.
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