Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week happens every year and is a chance for us to come together to focus on gathering a better understanding of what it means to struggle with your mental health and what that might look like from an outside point of view. This week aims to tackle stigma and help people prioritize their and others’ mental health.
Two of the most Common Mental Health Conditions:
Depression: Depressive disorder (also known as depression) is a common mental disorder. It involves a depressed mood or loss of pleasure or interest in activities for long periods of time. Depression is different from regular mood changes and feelings about everyday life.
Anxiety: An anxiety disorder is a type of mental health condition. If you have an anxiety disorder, you may respond to certain things and situations with fear and dread. You may also experience physical signs of anxiety, such as a pounding heart and sweating. It’s normal to have some anxiety.
Signs You May Be Struggling With Your Mental Health
- Feeling Sad/Down:
There may be many reasons as to why you might feel low at some point in your life. Any sort of difficult event or experience could lead to sadness or low self-esteem. Sometimes it is possible to feel low without there being an obvious reason. However, it’s important to recognize when your negative feelings are starting to take over your thoughts and everyday life as this may be more serious and may be the cause of a mental health condition such as Depression.
- Mood Changes
Mood swings happen to everyone for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they have no obvious cause, while in other cases they are tied to specific situational factors. It’s when these mood swings are intense or frequent that they become troublesome and a sign of something more serious, like mental health conditions. Experiencing irritation, anger, feeling snappy and easily frustrated, or mood swings that fly from one extreme to the other could be a sign that your mental health is out of whack. Depression and Anxiety can make it harder to self-regulate your thoughts and feelings, which is why you may be more reactive or sensitive than usual.
- Low Self Esteem
If you have low self-esteem or confidence, you may hide yourself away from social situations, stop trying new things, and avoid things you find challenging. Living with low self-esteem can harm your mental health and lead to problems such as Depression and Anxiety.
- Extreme Tiredness
Depression, which research suggests is associated with an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain, is commonly linked with fatigue. The condition is also associated with disturbed sleep, which can also significantly contribute to tiredness. These are symptoms to look out for when you are finding it hard to sleep or you are finding yourself sleeping more than usual.
- Change in Appetite
There are a variety of ways your mental health can affect your appetite especially when you suffer from Depression or Anxiety as you may not feel hungry or have the energy to eat. For others, it may be a case of binge eating comfort food to provide temporary relief from negative feelings. If you notice that you are overeating or undereating to the point where you observe dramatic changes in your weight over a short period of time, it could be time to seek help for your mental health.
Helping Manage Your Mental Health
There are a variety of ways to help manage your Mental Health some of which include;
- Talking to someone you trust
- Make sure to get enough sleep
- Make sure to eat regularly
- Doing activities that you enjoy
- Try to create a routine
These are just a few things to make sure you are looking out for when it comes to yours and others’ mental health. Checking up on yourself and your loved ones regularly is crucial as certain symptoms are hard to spot. It’s important to speak to a professional if you feel it is taking over your everyday life and you may need external support.
Overall, we hope this blog has been useful in learning more about your and others’ Mental Health however, if you are worried about yourself or a loved one then always seek professional advice.
Further information can be found on the NHS website here.
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