What is Mental health.
Life affects everyone differently. Everyone will go through a difficult time at some stage. Emotion is the human way of dealing with struggles we face, and sometimes negative emotions can be a healthy response to challenges we face.
Mental health includes our emotion, 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 through adulthood. Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behaviour could be affected.
Most common causes of mental health.
There are many things that can ‘trigger’ our mental health in a negative way. People react differently to different situations. Some might react to fear positively and look to overcome it, where others will hide from fear and do their best to avoid it. Our minds work in the exact same way, some are more resilient to situations where heightened emotions are present.
There are a few common influences on mental health:
- Our personal lives and relationships
- Money, work or housing
- Life changes
- Health issues
- Traumatic events
- Smoking, drinking, gambling and drug misuse.
Early Warning Signs.
If you are not sure how to spot the symptoms of someone who is suffering from mental health. Here is a clear list of early symptoms that someone could be suffering with. Be aware that someone could be suffering with one or more of these symptoms more regularly then you think!
- Eating or sleeping too much or too little.
- Pulling away from people and usual activities.
- Having low or no energy.
- Feeling numb or like nothing matters.
- Having unexplained aches and pains.
- Feeling helpless or hopeless.
- Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual.
- Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried or scared.
- Yelling or fighting with family and friends.
- Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships.
- Having persistent thoughts and memories you can’t get out of your head.
- Hearing voices or believing things are not true.
- Thinking of harming yourself or others.
- Inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school.
You would have to be aware that some of these symptoms are more severe than others deepening on the individual. It is also good to note that some of these may be common part of someone’s character and therefore may not signify a poor mental state. It is always good to check and simply ask ‘How are you?’.
Best remedies.
Depending on what type of mental health diagnosis you receive will depend on the best remedies. Your treatment depends on the type of mental illness you have, its severity and what works best for you. In many cases, a combination of treatments works best.
If you have a mild mental illness with well-controlled symptoms, treatment from your primary care provider may be enough. This could be a family member or a member of medical staff. Some of the best home remedies are:
- Avoid alcohol and drug use.
- Stay active.
- Make healthy choices.
- Don’t make important decisions when your symptoms are severe.
- Determine priorities.
- Learn to adopt a positive attitude.
- Stick to your treatment plan.
However, often a team approach is appropriate to make sure all your psychiatric, medical and social needs are met. This is especially important for sever mental illness, such a s schizophrenia. Some of the medicines that can be prescribed for mental health are the following:
- Antidepressants
- Anti-anxiety medications
- Mood-stabilising medications
- Antipsychotic medications
You are not the only one.
Mental Health is not an independent battle. It is always good to talk about it and make sure others know what you are going through, it helps!
Talking to friends, family or medical professional will help you understand what you are going through. It will also help you understand how it an be fixed and how you can help others that are going through the same thing. Here is a list
With positive mental health you can reach your full potential and be happy about working hard. Keeping positive will allow you to deal with life’s everyday stresses without them affecting your week. Simply being positive will help yourself and those around you feel better. Encouraging others to be happy and positive will help the ones you care about and help prevent poor mental health.
To find out more about how to deal with mental health please click here.
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