Mental health is the general way you regulate your feelings, thoughts, and behavior.
There are no standards to measure what is ‘normal’ for you in contrast to what could be a concerning symptom in someone else, but inadequate mental health could adversely affect:
- How do you get along with people?
- Your output and effectiveness
- Your motivation, enthusiasm, and overall energy level are
- Your interests in activities, hobbies, things, topics of your interest, and other situations.
In fact, a lot of people with no history of depression or despair before 2020 have been diagnosed with some form of mental issues since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world.
For some, healthy habits help gain back mental health and stability, maintaining their equilibrium.
For others, such situational triggers can cause downward spirals leading to anxiety, depression, and despair.
Learning the early symptoms or tell-tale signs of poor mental health, and taking action can help to get early intervention can help reduce the severity of an illness.
This way, it may even be possible to delay or prevent a major mental illness altogether.
One should be mindful of the symptoms and tell-tale signs of poor mental health. Seek help from mental health support services as early as possible.
Some of these tell-tale signs and symptoms can be described as follows:
10 Signs Your Mental Health is Getting Worse
You feel Increased Sensitivity, Irritability, or Emotional Outbursts
Heightened sensitivity to sights, sounds, smells, or touch; avoidance of over-stimulating situations, experiencing irritation and anger; feeling snappy and easily frustrated, and getting mood swings that fly from one extreme to the other, could all be a sign that your mental health is suffering.
Depression and anxiety make it harder to process your thoughts and feelings, which makes you unusually reactive or sensitive.
Everyone becomes annoyed from time to time, but consistent irritability is a red flag for a deeper underlying problem.
If you lash out at people around you or are bothered by minor issues, it could be the time to take a step back, check on your mental health, and seek help from mental health support services.
Everyone goes through a lot of different moods, but sudden and dramatic changes in it, such as extreme anger or distress, can be one of the symptoms and tell-tale signs of poor mental health.
If you are experiencing heightened sensitivity to sights, sounds, smells, or touch, and you find yourself avoiding over-stimulating situations, feeling irritated or angry, and easily frustrated with mood swings that swing from one extreme to the other, it may be a sign that your mental health is suffering.
Depression and anxiety can make it harder to process your thoughts and feelings, which can cause you to become unusually reactive or sensitive. While everyone becomes annoyed from time to time, consistent irritability is a red flag for a deeper underlying problem.
If you find yourself lashing out at people around you or feeling bothered by minor issues, it may be time to take a step back, check on your mental health, and seek help from mental health support services.
Everyone goes through different moods, but sudden and dramatic changes, such as extreme anger or distress, can be symptoms and tell-tale signs of poor mental health.
You notice Changes in Feelings, Thoughts, or Behaviour
Mental health disorders often start out as subtle changes in a person’s feelings, thinking, and behavior.
Going through significant changes could be a symptom that they might be developing a mental health disorder.
If something seems “off,” it could be a good time to start the conversation about getting help.
You have Low Energy, Enthusiasm, Focus, and Lack of Motivation
If you struggle with poor mental health, you will often find yourself underperforming because you just cannot concentrate on even the smallest of things.
Feeling lethargy is one of the most prevalent signs of poor mental health.
Feeling mentally or physically fatigued makes it hard to concentrate, follow conversations, or do spontaneous thinking.
If you have such low energy that it’s hard to find the motivation to get out of bed, this might be one of the symptoms and tell-tale signs of poor mental health, and you should probably seek help from a counsellor that provides emotional support to people.
The brain goes into survival mode and puts energy only towards things that keep you alive, such as eating, drinking water, and sleeping.
You are unable to focus on other vital responsibilities. You may place things such as hygiene on the back burner, most likely lacking the energy for them.
All these are red flags that require you to address them and seek help from mental health support services that provide emotional support to people.
It may look lazy to others that you are not showering or brushing, but in reality, you might just lack the energy to do so.
You may also encounter a general feeling of apathy—a loss of desire or initiative to engage in activities.
You experience a Loss of Joy
Life is bound to bring sadness at times. It’s normal to have bad days, every now and then.
However, if you routinely find less contentment and happiness in activities that you used to enjoy, it could be one of the tell-tale signs or symptoms that something’s not quite right.
For example, if you used to enjoy playing the guitar or taking a hike, but feel disinterested in such activities now, these can be signs of poor mental health and it may be time to seek help.
This could often lead to an unusual drop in functioning, at school, work, or in social activities or difficulty in performing familiar tasks.
A drop in functioning is a red flag that you need to seek help from mental health support services, especially if you feel despair.
It can be a tell-tale sign of depression. If you experience constant sadness and despair that you aren’t able to shake off, it is one of the symptoms that your mental health is suffering, and you need to seek help immediately.
Your Sleep is Disrupted
If you constantly experience sleep problems such as sleeping too much or sleeping too little, this could be a big red flag that you’re experiencing depression or anxiety.
Having difficulty falling or staying asleep, waking up and being unable to fall back asleep could be a sign of a mental health problem.
Frequent oversleeping is a sign as well, demonstrating that your body is highly fatigued and you might feel burnout.
Lasting changes to sleep patterns are tell-tale signs and symptoms of a mental health disorder.
For example, insomnia could be a sign of anxiety or substance abuse. Sleeping too much or too little could indicate depression or a sleeping disorder.
You're Experiencing Cravings and Substance Abuse
If you experience cravings for sugar or certain foods, caffeine, or nicotine, it is one of the tell-tale signs you need to seek help.
If you have a substance abuse problem and are experiencing cravings to use again, it is a red flag that your mental health is in decline, and you need to immediately seek help and assistance.
Using substances to cope, such as alcohol or drugs, can also contribute to mental illness, so seek help and support from mental health support services, especially those that provide good emotional support to people, and even from your counselor as early as possible.
You're feeling Worried or Anxious
Everyone gets worried or stressed at times, but anxiety and worry could be signs of poor mental health if the anxiety is constant and interferes all the time with your routine.
Symptoms of anxiety may include a racing mind, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, headache, sweating, trembling, feeling dizzy, restlessness, and diarrhea.
All these signs of poor mental health are red flags that mean you need to seek help and get in contact with mental health support services.
You have Weight or Appetite Changes
Depression, despair, and anxiety can affect the way you eat in several ways. Stress and anxiety may result in a loss of appetite, as you may not even have the energy to eat.
On the other hand, the patient may binge eat “comfort foods” that provide temporary relief from depressing thoughts and feelings.
If you notice dramatic changes in your weight over a short period because of the way you eat, it could be time to seek help for your mental health.
Fluctuating weight or rapid weight loss could be one of the warning signs of a mental health disorder, such as depression or an eating disorder.
If you gain or lose weight suddenly, declining mental health could be the culprit. Food is often used as a coping mechanism, just like drugs and alcohol.
You're Isolating Yourself from Friends and Family
Taking time for yourself is essential. Not everyone has those long-running social batteries, and introspection is an important aspect of life that is acceptable and even desirable at times, but isolating yourself beyond a point and avoiding friends and family can indicate a problem.
It is crucial to maintain social contact. It boosts your mood and helps you avoid being swallowed by inner, irksome thoughts, which are red flags for deteriorating mental health.
If you find yourself avoiding social contact, consider checking on your mental health to see if something is causing it.
Bipolar disorder, social anxiety disorder, psychotic disorders, depression, and despair, all of them, cause a certain amount of social isolation.
You feel Distant from Reality
If you are struggling, your thoughts can easily swallow you whole.
You could feel like you are living in an entirely different world from others, making you feel disconnected from the people around you and reality.
Your behavior may become too cynical and negative for your growth. This is again a red flag to seek help immediately.
Thoughts like “I’m worthless”, “It’s all my fault”, “No one will ever love me” or “I’m a failure” are straight red flags of depression and despair or other such illnesses.
If you are frequently criticising or blaming yourselves, you might need immediate support.
You should seek help as quickly as possible. You may even begin to engage in self-deprecating behaviors, like making jokes about how terrible you are or continually taking the blame for things.
If such thoughts are severe, a person may express a feeling of wanting to hurt or kill themselves.
This feeling could mean the person is suicidal and needs to urgently seek help. They should immediately get in contact with a mental health counselor.
At the end of the day, you are the most important person you need to take care of. You are responsible for your own happiness.
Not only that, but you are also capable and deserving of happiness, no matter who you are or what you have done.
Recognize that happiness is within your control and that you can love yourself enough.
Understand your worth, and have kind and loving thoughts in your head to help keep leveling up your life and the happiness in it.
