Importance of Mental Health Awareness
Everybody has mental health that is as important as physical health is. Physical health and mental health always falls in a loop. It is essential to take care of both as one impacts the other. This fast-moving world keeps people engaged enough that makes them forget that they have mental health. It is important for each and every person to be aware of their mental health in order to sustain in whatever work they do and to be as productive in everything they do daily.
Mental Illness
Mental illnesses are simply the changes that happen in a person’s emotional background. It affects the way they think and behave. It can be caused due to the social environment or pressure one is put under in school, college, workspace, etc,. It majorly affects the communication of a person, and also the stability in any relationship in their life. Mental illness is also responsible for how a person views a particular event in their life. So, it always better to normalize and talk about a person’s mental health rather than treating it as a societal stigma.
Read More: An Overview of mental health and illnesses
What causes mental illness?
Just like our bodies has disorders, our minds become unwell at times too. When we look deeper into the subject, the following might be the core causes that a person is suffering from a mental health issue.
- Heredity
When a member of a family develops a kind of mental disorder, there are high chances that other people are affected by it. They tend to develop a similar disorder in themself. It also occurs through genes where a person does not necessarily become ill but lacks the ability to resist the mental illness.
- Traumatic Experiences
This is one of the main reasons behind mental health disorders. When a person faces abuses, physically, mentally, or even verbally, they tend to be affected psychologically. These experiences include accidents or bad occurrences to oneself or the loss of a loved one. When they face such situations, people’s perspective changes thus bringing changes in behavior, hope, and trust.
- Stress or Continuous Pressure
Survival is not as easy as it was before. There are “n” number of things that people stress about. In today’s date, people are less consistent and happy about what they do in their lives or what they have. In short, it is either that they want more or put under a likely situation. For example, a new employee in an office is pressurized to learn more every day as he has the fear of losing his job or a student takes extra classes to score well in the exams. These are continuous pressure that causes stress.
- Physical Health Issues
Physical health is interconnected with mental health. When a person is physically not well, they tend to worry more and more which results in mental health disorders. It is also vice versa. When a person is mentally unstable, they tend to stop looking after their physical health.
- Infections
Certain infections directly affect the brain and bring about changes in behavior. For example, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) can be a result of PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder) which involves the Streptococcus Bacteria.
- Prenatal Damage
In some cases of mental disorders are caused due to a lack of nutrition or supply of hormones from the mother to the kid during pregnancy. It causes early disorders in children such as Dyslexia and Autism.
The symptoms (early and later) and the after-effects:
There are normally four stages of mental health.
These four stages differ from good to worse. The changes that happen are visible and can be easily identified.
- STAGE 1:
In this stage, the person is very healthy. They are calm and steady, with normal mood fluctuations. They eat properly and rest properly. They have their physical, mental, and emotional health in control. They have a great sense of humor and are socially active. Most importantly they are confident in themselves and trust others.
- STAGE 2:
During the second stage, the reactions slowly expose that they are continuously stressed or pressured. They get easily agitated. Even small things make them angry. They are always impatient and nervous. They might become inactive and show less interest even in their favorite activities. They become suddenly sad and for no reason. They might also face difficulty in sleeping.
- STAGE 3:
Stage three is the development of the previous stage. People have noticeable fatigue, poor concentration, and hyper-vigilance. They have persistent sadness and anxiety. They start to have disturbed sleep and distrust in people. They stop enjoying activities that they used to live for. They are less bothered and disconnected from events happening around them.
- STAGE 4:
This stage is so worse that confirms that the person is very much ill and needs excessive care. They are always sad and anxious. They regularly face panic attacks and anger outbursts. They suffer from memory lapses which makes them concentrate less and slowly perform their daily routine. Loss of sleep control is a major symptom, they either sleep more or too little. They avoid or withdraw from people or events and put themselves in isolation. They have suicidal thoughts and ideas. If they are not looked after, these symptoms worsen instead of getting better.
Reasons why it is important to be aware of it:
There are a large number of people who are affected by mental disorders. The number can go beyond your imaginations and they can be around you too. People who are mentally ill often need more care and attention. This little observation can save your loved ones from the biggest sufferings that they could go through the rest of their lives. When you notice and help people out, there are high chances that they open up rather than thinking of mental health disorder as a stigma and being closed.
Some Solutions that would help
Things cannot go out of hand when they are given the right amount of attention at the right time. Some such solutions are given below to help oneself or their loved one during a mental instability.
- Well Being
There are always things a person mentally unstable can do to stabilize themselves. These include planning a proper lifestyle, keeping calm, exercising, learning new things to bring in self-confidence, spending some quality time with people whom they love, and creating something in the field of their interest.
- Therapy
Therapy is always a good thing. It helps the person heal slowly and steadily. It suggests ways to come out of their problems and changes their perspectives towards them. Therapists always suggest something that would make us feel comfortable and heal at the same time.
- Talking
Talking to a person that you trust the most is one of the biggest help you could do to yourself. It brings in relief, gives you a new way to think, and also a genuine view of another person who is a well-wisher.
- Community Support Programs
Community Support Programs helps you interact with people who suffer in a similar way. Through this, people start believing that this is normal and they are not alone. Further, it stabilizes the way of thinking, behaving, and reacting to things.
- Visiting a Doctor
Visiting a doctor would be the first solution when a person thinks that things are out of hand. A psychiatrist or a psychologist would be able to help the person out of their disorder after keenly knowing what has affected them so much and how to repair it.
Above all these things, there is always nothing more a person can ask for other than understanding them during hard times. When you notice a person suffering, it is a better option to stay with them and help them rather than ignoring it.
