| Types of Mental Health Issues
Depression
Most of us have experienced a period in life when life has felt meaningless. When, every day feels like a struggle. If someone tells us of all the positive things we have, it feels like they are lying to us or that these are just not good enough. You may question the point of living when you can end the constant struggle with one quick death. The cause is likely to be Depression.
Depression is different from usual mood fluctuations and short-lived emotional responses to everyday challenges. Especially when long-lasting and with moderate or severe intensity, depression may become a serious health condition. It can cause the affected person to suffer greatly and function poorly at work, at school and in the family. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide.
Apart from the low mood and suicidal thoughts, a person with depression would be constantly tired and suffer from unexplainable aches. This further re-affirms the feeling that life is an unending struggle.
If these signs resonate with you, you have already taken the first step toward improving your life by visiting this website. It takes strength to recognise a necessary change and even more strength to seek help for it.
Our trained counsellors are available to help answer any questions you might have about depression or mental health.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal and often healthy emotion. It is a response to an unknown threat. Anxiety is caused by a possibility of something unpleasant happening, unlike fear, which is a response to a definite threat. For instance, if you have a fear of heights, the thought of riding an elevator would produce anxiety, while standing before an elevator would give rise to fear.
However, when a person regularly feels disproportionate degrees of anxiety, it might become a medical disorder that leads to excessive nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worry.
These alter how a person processes emotions and behave, also causing physical symptoms. Mild anxiety might be vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety may seriously affect day-to-day living.
Physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure and nausea, may also develop. These responses move beyond anxiety into an anxiety disorder. Once anxiety reaches the stage of a disorder, it can interfere with daily function.
These can be disabling and may lead to embarrassment. A person embarrassed of their anxiety would be so preoccupied with hiding their symptoms that they fail to recognise it’s root cause. That is why professional help is necessary as it gives an objective perspective to a person’s issues.
However, like fear, anxiety is normal and healthy if managed correctly. If you want to find ways of managing your anxiety, consider professional help.
Stress
Stress is a natural part of life. The expressions are familiar to us, “I’m stressed out,” or “I’m under too much stress.” Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension.
Stress occurs when you perceive that you do not have the resources to cope with unexpected changes. For example, being fired from a job can cause stress when one does not know how to deal with external demands.
Stress activates the body’s fight-or-flight response and is essential for survival. Researchers believe that since humans do not face constant physical threats anymore, our bodies have adapted to activate the fight-or-flight response as a reaction to threats to our self-esteem. Thus, stress makes it possible for us to survive in society.
However, if we perceive similar threats repeatedly, our bodies remain under chronic stress. This can lead to a weak immune system, tension headaches, heart disease, etc. Stress that’s left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
Some level of stress is necessary for optimal functioning, so it does not need to be eliminated. Also, everyone who experiences stress does not fall sick if they learn to manage their symptoms. If you have difficulty managing stress, seek help immediately.
Grief
Grief is a kind of sorrow experienced because of loss. Unlike popular belief, you can feel grief not only by the death of a loved one but also by the loss of a pet, a job or an important role in life, or a home or other emotionally significant possession. The mourning process can be confusing and you may feel that your life will never be the same.
Grief is different for everyone, but most people would agree that dealing with loss can take a toll on your mental health. Feelings of sadness, anger, loneliness, and hopelessness are all common emotions that people experience during the grieving process. These emotions can vary in severity, but for some people, they may be overwhelming. In some cases, grief may even lead to a state of depression.
Many people find it difficult to process their grief because they do not get adequate support. Society expects a grieving person to ‘get over it’ in a specific period. However, everyone’s trajectory and period for healing are different. It is advisable to integrate loss in a meaningful way instead of attempting to find closure.
Although it can be difficult to admit, if you are struggling to move past your grief, you should get professional help. Grief is a difficult experience; you do not have to face it alone. If you are finding it difficult to process grief, seek help immediately.
Grief is a difficult experience; you do not have to face it alone. If you are finding it difficult to process grief, seek help immediately.
Fear
Fear is a normal response to a situation that can physically or mentally harm us and is carried in humans through generations to protect us. For instance, fear of heights protects us from a physical threat; fear of public speaking protects us from a threat to our self-esteem.
The problem arises when such fears are so intense that they limit our functioning. Some people may be so afraid of heights that they refuse to use elevators; or of public speaking, that they refuse to talk to a crowd of more than two. When people live in constant fear, whether from physical dangers in their environment or threats they perceive, they can experience negative impacts in all areas of their lives and even become incapacitated.
When fear is so intense that it immobilises a person, it is called phobia. Rapid heart rate and shortness of breath often accompany phobia that can make them feel embarrassed. Because phobia is more complicated than fear, treating it requires more than just “facing the fear”.
Fear can also be a symptom of some mental health conditions including panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
If you experience fear that immobilises you, consider seeking help. You do not need to live with the limitations and shame associated with your phobia.
| Importance of Mental Health
In recent times, we are hearing the term “mental health” more than earlier, and yet it is not spoken of enough.
So, what is mental health?
The World Health Organization, defines is as, “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”.
In short, mental health represents how we think, feel, and act. It affects how we react to unexpected events and how we relate to others.
Most people think that mental health does not concern them, they believe that they are ‘coping with life just fine’. They do not wish to look at the label of having a mental disorder. But, mental disorders are more common than one thinks. A study found that one in seven Indians are affected by mental disorders—that is one in seven people you know. You may not realise that they have a mental disorder because the signs are often invisible. It takes an exhaustive assessment to make a diagnosis. People themselves may be unaware that they have a mental disorder because we do not have accurate representations of what mental disorders look like.
However, mental disorders do not appear without warning. Factors including family history of mental disorders, physical or psychological trauma, dysfunctional family life, and lack of social support can lead to a full-blown mental disorder. So, if you know someone who have had such experiences, explore mental health care options with them.
Moreover, mental health is not an either-or situation. It is not possible for someone to either have mental health or not have it. It is a spectrum of varying degrees of well-being. Thus, a person needs to take care of their mental health even when they are sufficiently healthy. If you have a concern that affects your functioning or want to explore ways to improve your life, therapy is recommended.
It is imperative that we prioritise mental health alongside with our physical well-being.