What are signs of a mental illness?
Over the past few weeks, I have realized how a lot of people are not aware of the signs of a mental illness. I’ll be honest. I was not aware of many of them until I started my graduate school journey. Mental illness was not talked about in my home. It was something that I learned about as an adult. Now as a therapist, my mission is to make mental health as normal as physical health. When most have a fever or not feeling well, they seek treatment from a doctor. Just like when you’re sick and your friend is like “you need to go to the doctor you don’t sound good”. What if we normalized mental health treatment that way? We contact a counselor when we are not “feeling like ourselves”. We encourage our friends to go when they are not feeling well or we noticed they are not well. Before that can happen, you must learn signs of mental illness.
Below are some signs of a mental illness. Please note that just because you are experiencing any of these signs do not mean you have a mental illness. Please seek help from a licensed mental health professional.
Sleeping too much or too little.
Loss of interest in things you once found pleasure in.
Eating too much or not at all.
Isolating yourself from others.
Racing thoughts.
Suicidal thoughts.
Problems with drugs and alcohol use.
Increase anger or irritability.
Withdrawal from friends and family.
Excessive fear or worrying.
Struggle to concentrate or confused thinking.
Feeling sad or down.