By 2020, mental illness is expected to be the second biggest health problem affecting Malaysians after heart diseases (The Sun Daily, 2018).
According to the latest National Health and Morbidity Survey, every 3 in 10 adults aged 16 years and above in Malaysia suffer from some form of mental health issues (The Sun Daily, 2018).
What are the warning signs of mental health issues? How do you know if someone is just having a bad day crying and staying in the room or facing some serious mental health issues? Is your friend really worrying and being anxious too much? Is he just joking about wanting to die or serious about it?
Mental health issues are piled up little by little, time after time. They do not just suddenly appear. Most of the time people who are close to you could tell if you are a little "weird"in your thoughts, emotions or behaviours if you are deteriorating in your mental health.
I hope that by sharing some warning signs you will be able to prevent yourself or your loved ones from developing mental health issues, or to look out for them if they are suffering inside.
Learning about developing symptoms, or early warning signs, and taking action can help. Early intervention can help reduce the severity of an illness. It may even be possible to delay or prevent a major mental illness altogether. - American Psychiatric Association
19 Warning Signs of Mental Health Issues
1. Sleep Changes
The individual either sleep too much or too little, or sleeping at odd hours. He or she may even face insomnia.
2. Decline in Personal Care
Out of a sudden the individual's personal care declines, such as not showering for days, messy house, piled up dirty dishes in the sink, cockroaches seen in the living room and etc.
3. Appetite Changes
One may be eating too much or too little. He or she may refuse to eat.
4. Weight Changes
Eating too much or too little causes one's weight to increase or drop dramatically.
5. Unexplained Pains in Body Parts
The individual may feel some kind of pain, in some cases, a stabbing pain in the body, such as the stomach and the back that are unable to explain and without any evidence found.
6. Blurry Vision
Feelings of anxiety can affect the senses, like the eyes, making it harder for the eyes to focus. When you are anxious, the body will put you in the "fight or flight" mode, causing your pupils to dilate so that more light could come in. However, the vision may be blurred as it does not necessarily make vision easier.
7. Mood Changes
Everyone has different moods, but drastic or sudden change in moods, such as extreme anger or sadness are indicators of mental health issues. In addition, the feelings can shift back and forth.
8. Feeling Guilty or Worthless
The individual may feel guilty because of a small issue, such as forgetting to greet someone or some other small cases which are clearly illogical. The person may feel like they are useless and worthless.
9. Anxiety or Fear of Everything
Anxiety is a normal feeling that we all have. However, if the person is feeling anxious and could be extremely fearful for no reasons, it is a sign of mental illnesses.
10. Suicidal Thoughts
Wanting to die and expressing about wishes to die is another warning sign of mental illnesses. The person could be suffering inside that no one knows about. Seek immediate help if you or your loved ones are suicidal.
11. Illogical or Distorted Thoughts
The person may have unusual or exaggerated beliefs that are clearly illogical, like a child's logic but stuck in an adult's body, such as "I would get an A grade if I listen to enough rock music."
12. Unable to Concentrate
Inability to stay focused and remember details may be some warning signs of someone deteriorating in mental health, because the mind is too flooded with hormones of stress and anxiety.
13. Drop in functioning
As one is unable to focus and their lifestyle disrupted, he or she may also drop in their functioning, such as school, work, marriage, parenting and so on. He or she may experience a sudden drop in his or her college grades, unable to keep up with work demands, unable to maintain relationships and so on.
14. Delusions and Hallucinations
Delusions are unshakable beliefs in something that isn't true or based on reality. Whereas hallucinations are experiences in which you see, hear, feel, or smell something that does not exist. Clearly, if you or your loved ones are facing delusions and hallucinations, they are facing mental health issues. Please seek help from mental health professionals.
15. Lost of Interest in Favourite Activities and Withdrawal
With all the distress, guilt and worthlessness, distorted thoughts, as well as lack of energy from sleep and appetite changes, one may not feel like engaging in their favourite activities like they used too - known as apathy. The individual may also isolate himself or herself from their loved ones.
16. Feeling Disconnected with Self
One may feel a sense of derealisation, a feeling that one's surroundings are not real, like you are outside of your body and watching yourself like a movie. This is a form of "coping" but also a sign of mental health issues.
17. Odd Behaviours
Known as Catatonia, it is a significant decrease in someone's reactivity to their environment. This can involve stupor, mutism, negativism or motor rigidity. The person could be seen with odd behaviours, such as posing in a weird pose for a long time in the middle of a walkway.
18. Substance Abuse
To cope with what is going on with the individual, he or she may even engage in substance use excessively.
19. More Hygienic than Usual
One may experience himself or herself to be more hygienic than usual, this is a sudden change and he or she is not behaving like they used to in the past, with new behaviours such as always uses hand sanitizer after touching everything, using a tissue to open a door knob and so on.
However, these are just some guidelines.
Please take extra care of your mental health, get some rest if you have any symptoms stated above.
One may also require further diagnosis from a mental health professional if he or she is experiencing some symptoms above.
If you are suffering inside, don't be afraid to seek help. You are not alone. There is treatment available and recovery is possible.
Better days will surely come.
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