Overview of mental health issues

Mental health is the condition or state od an individual’s emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. It is characterised by the absence of mental illness as well as positive feelings about oneself and others, and the ability to complete everyday tasks.

One’s mental health is an integral part of their overall health.

Depression (Also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression)

Depression is a serious mood disorder. This is a common mental illness.

p>To receive a diagnosis of depression, symptoms need to be reoccurring for at least 2 weeks. The symptoms must cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning and cannot be a result of substance abused or another medical condition.

Signs and symptoms of depression include:

• Persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness
• No longer enjoying activities that you use to enjoy
• Low mood
• Avoiding completing daily activities
• Loss of hope for the future
• Struggling to get out of bed each day or not getting out of bed at all
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty making decisions.
• Struggling to sleep
• Crying often
• Feeling tired
• Lack of motivation
• Irritability
• Excessive worry

Aside from the emotional signs and symptoms, individuals may also experience chronic pain or digestive issues.

The DSM-5 outlines the following criteria to determine a diagnosis of depression.

An individual must be experiencing 5 or more of the symptoms, which must include either a depressed mood or loss of interest. The individual must be experiencing these symptoms over a 2-week period.

DSM-5 Criteria

1. Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.
2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.
3. Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
4. A slowing down of thought and a reduction of physical movement (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).
5. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
6. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.
7. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.
8. Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal response to stress. It is defined as excessive worry and apprehensive expectations. It can be beneficial in some situations as it increases attention and focus.

Anxiety disorders can range from temporary feelings of anxiousness to more intense feelings of fear or anxiety.

To receive a diagnosis of anxiety, symptoms must occur frequently over a 6-month period and must affect numerous events or activities, such as work, school or social interactions.

The DSM-5 outlines that anxiety and worry are associated with three or more of the following symptoms. These symptoms must be present for the majority of a 6 month period.

• restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge
• easily fatigued
• difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
• irritability
• muscle tension
• sleep disturbance such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless and unsatisfying sleep

The anxiety, worry, or physical symptoms must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

There are different types of anxiety. Anxiety disorders include:

• generalized anxiety disorder
• social anxiety disorder
• panic disorder
• phobias
• separation anxiety disorder
• substance or medication-induced anxiety disorder

Irritability

Irritability is defined as the tendency to become angry, frustrated or upset easily. Normally these feelings are displayed over smalls things. Individuals who are irritable tend to have a short temper and snap easily. There are many reasons an individual may become irritable. These include:

1. Sleep deprivation
2. Hormonal changes
3. Drug use
4. Alcoholism
5. Stress
6. Anxiety
7. Grief

Sometimes irritability may also be a sign of another health issue such as depression.

Symptoms of Irritability include:

• Restlessness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Short temper
• Snapping at others
• Aggression
• Agitation
• Frustration
• Lack of patience

Stress

Stress is defined as the mental or emotional strain caused by adverse circumstances. Stress is our bodies responses to stressors. When we are stressed our body releases hormones such as adrenalin. These hormones cause changes to our body which aid us is dealing with the stressful situation.

We all feel stress at some point, but what causes us to be stressed is different for everyone. Knowing what causes you stress will help you manage stressful situations and help your response to stressful situations.

‘Fight or flight’ is the bodies stress response. It allows you to respond to dangerous situations.

Stress is a normal response; however it becomes a problem when you are stressed for a prolonged period of time, you become overwhelmed or you cannot cope with a situation.

Signs that the amount of stress in your life has become an issue include:

• Feeling overwhelmed
• You can no longer cope in the stressful situation or environment
• Feeling on edge
• You cannot stop worrying
• Inability to sleep or constant waking
• Feeling exhausted
• Headaches
• Muscle tension
• Upset stomach
• Difficulty concentrating
• Irritability
• Aggression
• Withdrawal
• Turning to alcohol or drugs to cope
• Thoughts of self-harm suicide

Strategies to help you cope with mental illness

There are many strategies we can use to help us cope with mental illness or signs of mental illness before they become an issue. Here are some examples:

• Meditation
• Mindfulness activities such as colouring in
• Exercising
• Taking your allocated break at work
• Practice relaxation techniques
• Nutritious diet
• Positive affirmations
• Socialising
• Setting yourself realistic and achievable goals
• Deep breathing

These strategies may not work once mental illnesses become an issue. It is important to seek help from professionals if you are not managing with day-to-day life or are struggling to control your emotions or emotional responses to situations.

Compassion fatigue is emotional and physical exhaustion. Compassion fatigue typically affects those who are exposed to other people’s traumas or stressors. It is basically the gradual reduction in compassion over time. It is common in industries where there is a demand to be compassionate. For example, the animal care industry.

Compassion fatigue is characterised by:

• Inability to empathise
• Feelings of helplessness
• Bunout

Signs of compassion fatigue include:

• A lack of ability or interest to care for others
• Mental or physical exhaustion
• Anger
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• Avoidance
• Decreased productivity
• Decreased satisfaction
• Withdrawal

Physical and mental exhaustion can be cause by:

• Compassion fatigue
• Burnout
• Fatigue

We discussed compassion fatigue earlier, so let’s have a look at burnout and fatigue.

Burnout

Burnout is complete mental and physical exhaustion due to prolonged and repeated stress within your occupation or work environment.

There are three signs that make burnout stand out from just stress. These are called the three dimensions of burnout:

1. Feeling exhausted or depleted of energy.
2. No enthusiasm and feelings of negativity towards your job.
3. Inability to perform professionally.

Other signs include:

• Frequent headaches
• Stomach upset
• Low immunity or difficult to recover from things like the common cold
• Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
• Irritability
• Substance abuse
• Depressed

Fatigue

Fatigue is tiredness or exhaustion. Not tiredness as in I am sleepy but when you get to the point of having no more energy. Fatigue is generally due to prolonged mental and physical activity.

Signs of fatigue include:

• Feeling extremely tired
• Becoming tired at the start of an activity
• Lack of motivation
• Inability to concentrate.
• Memory loss
• Slower reaction times
• Poor mood
• Increased risk taking
• Inability to focus
• Increased errors

If your fatigue isn’t caused by serious illness or disease, you may be able relieve fatigue through lifestyle changes. These include a nutritious diet, sleep and exercise.

Substance abuse is the overuse drugs and/or alcohol resulting in health problems and the inability to function in everyday life. This ‘overuse’ is often dangerous amounts. Substance abuse can often be used as a way to cope with stress or mental illness.

Signs that you may be abusing a substance include:

1. Regularly using more of a substance than required
2. Trying to cut down on using a substance without success
3. Spending too much time with the substance. Whether it be getting it, consuming it or recovering from it
4. Craving a substance
5. Using a substance even when you know the danger or consequences of consuming the substance

Signs of substance abuse can differ depending on what substance is being abused. These can include:

• Slurring of speech
• Being unsteady
• Lack of concentration
• Failing to meet responsibilities of work and home life
• Breakdown of relationships
• Withdrawing from social life or leisure activities
• Missing work
• Risky behaviour

There are many treatment options available of substance abuse. These include but are not limited to:

• Lifestyle changes
• Counselling
• Support from family or friends
• Rehabilitation programs

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing your own death. Suicidal behaviour includes:

• Thinking about suicide
• Planning suicide
• Attempting suicide
• Death by suicide

Risk factors for suicide include but are not limited to:

• Financial problems
• Legal problems
• Relationship problems
• Grief or loss
• Physical illness
• Mental illness
• Substance abuse
• Violence, abuse or assault

It is not always obvious that someone is experiencing suicidal behaviours. Some warning signs to look out for include:

1. Feelings of or describing feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and worthlessness.
2. No longer enjoying things you normally do.
3. Withdrawing or becoming distant
4. Emotional outbursts