Throughout this month I’ve been focussing on Mental Health Awareness; writing articles, posting art and sharing experiences of my own personal journey with mental illness.
Today I’m going to speak about – RECOGNITION:
- Recognising what mental health is
- Different warning signs of mental health risk
- The importance of recognising warning signs & mental health risk
This will be the first post of a three-part series – Managing Mental Health & Where to Get Help
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What is Mental Health?
Mental health is the condition of a person’s psychological and emotional well-being, it is a level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness and the “psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment”.
Mental health means having good ways to deal with your feelings and how to enjoy life, even when things are hard. Having a healthy mind and body are both very important. Everyone has good days and bad days. A bad day doesn’t mean you have a mental illness, but you can still improve your mental health.
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RECOGNITION
Recognising the signs of Mental Health risk?
5 Warning Sign Groups: Mental Health Risk
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A Change in Personality or bodily function. If someone is acting like a very different person, or not acting or feeling like themselves;
Hearing or seeing things that no-one else can hear or see
Experiencing recurrent physical symptoms such as aches and pains or unexplained illnesses
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Uncharacteristic Anxiety, Anger, or Moodiness;
Mood swings or a consistently lower mood.
Being more irritable, over-sensitive or aggressive.
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Social Withdrawal and Isolation;
Withdrawing from social activities or spending less time with family and friends.
Having difficulty following a conversation, remembering things or concentrating.
Disturbed sleep, perhaps not getting enough sleep or sleeping too much.
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Lack of Self-Care or Risky Behaviors;
Risk taking that can cause harm to self or others, physically hurting oneself or others
An overwhelming sense of fear with no explanation, physical discomfort, fast breathing
Lack of care for personal appearance or personal responsibilities
Eating less than normal or overeating, perhaps losing or gaining weight
Increased use of alcohol or other drugs
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A Sense of Hopelessness or Feeling Overwhelmed;
Feeling overwhelmingly sad and withdrawn for longer than two weeks
Crying regularly, constant fatigue, lack of motivation for everything
Losing interest in Hobbies/favourite activities enjoyed by a person
Talking about not wanting to live
A loss of interest in doing things you previously enjoyed
The imporatance of recognising Mental Health risks
Now we’ve looked at some of the warning signs of mental health risks let’s now consider, ‘The importance of RECOGNISING Mental Health risks’.
There are different signs that present themselves in every individual, some are easy to pick up on and others are harder to notice. These warning signs usually go on for weeks, to months and if a person is left without help or unable to receive help it can carry on for years without treatment and a confirmed diagnosis of mental illness.
In order to have a good quality of life, it’s recommended that both physical and mental health is to be balanced and looked after. In many cases, people can be in situations beyond their control where they’re not able to have a balanced view of mental health, therefore needing medical assistance and care. The earlier mental health risks are noticed the earlier help can be provided by a mental health professional.
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Mental Health is something that continually changes as you get older. Speaking up about your struggles and even RECOGNISING that you do need help with your mental health is such a massive step. Even if you haven’t reached the stage of verbalising your needs, rest assured you are heading in a great direction and doing so well for acknowledging your struggles.
That concludes my first post for this section of, Managing Mental Health & Where to Get Help
Part 1: R ecognition ✔
Part 2: E — — — — — — — — —
Part 3: D — — — — — — — — —
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Thanks for stopping by.
Laura,
XOXO
Laura Spoonie Blogs 
Great post!
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Thank you! I’ve been really enjoying speaking up and advocating for mental health awareness and MI. I never thought mental health would be an area I focussed on especially writing posts etc., but then again I guess life experience is the biggest teacher.
Can’t wait for Part 3!!
L.S 🌻🙏
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