Mental Health

Don’t we all wish that mental illness had evident physical symptoms like cold, flu, fever, or maybe red eyes, yellow nails, blue lips, pink earlobes, swollen ankles, and ache in the knee, probably similar more? Sadly, adverse mental health does not exhibit any clear symptoms that can be treated by a regular doctor. Today, the pain is deep, engraved, and blatantly settled in our hearts of the lives we all have lost to depression, self-hurt, self-harm, suicides, and intended accidents. As a community, we would like to come forth and discuss the matter up close and clearly with you all. Mental health is important.      

What is mental health? 

Mental Health, as WHO says it, is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her abilities, has the potential and strength to cope up with the usual stresses of life, can work productively, and is making a crucial contribution to his or her community.

    There are a few physical causes that affect mental health such as drug abuse or birth trauma, leading to mental illness. However, there are more common causes of mental illness and mental health problems like experiencing discrimination, social disadvantage, overthinking, debt, bereavement, long-term or short-term stress, being bullied, domestic violence, and many many more.      

Symptoms

•    Mood Swings

•    Social Withdrawal 

•    Disruptive routine, eating disorders, dramatic change in sleeping habits 

•    Excessive anxiety, fear, constant worry 

Globally, there are more than 264 million people of all ages who suffer from depression. Depression can lead to self-harm, suicide, trigger provocative adverse thoughts and thinking, and mental disorder. Some people often think of ending their lives to end the agony raging within them. To them, we would like to say that mental illness is not a phase, it is a serious health issue which, when addressed timely, CAN BE CURED. Below are a few signs and steps of how an individual falls into depression and eventually becomes mentally ill.

•    The first sign of depression is a hopeless outlook toward life in general.

•    Mental illness takes out the joy from most pleasures and enjoyments of life.

•    An individual suffering from depression experiences more fatigue and thus, sleep problems. Depression is linked with insomnia on many levels, one might lead to another and also vice versa. Together, these two make each other worse. Lack of sleep, consequently, eggs their anxiety. 

•    Anxiety too has different faces, it can be in the form of restlessness, tremble, rapid breathing, heart rate, and more. Symptoms of anxiety are feelings of danger, dread, or panic, heavy sweating, muscle twitching, experiencing trouble focusing on work, or anything for that matter besides the one thing causing the anxiety.

•    Mental illness causes a change in appetite, consequently, affecting weight. Some people gain weight during the time due to anxiety and stress eating, whereas some don't feel hungry at all which causes them to lose weight. 

•    Most people who suffer from mental illness, mental disorder, or depression begin to isolate themselves. They keep their thoughts, their issues to themselves, and confine themselves. Often this occurs due to a rush of uncontrollable emotions and they willingly do not want/like to disturb and disrupt anyone with their issues. 

•    From laughing hysterically to crying uncontrollably, sweating nervously, excessive eating, trouble sleeping, depression can have a toll on the human brain and body. Mentally ill people experience ranging emotions and have an emotional disturbance in their life. 

Importance of raising, mental health awareness

There are over 800,000 people who kill themselves every year. Suicide is the leading cause of death in 15-29 years old. It is a result of mental illness which is why spreading awareness about mental health is more than a one-day job. It requires a lot of contribution, consideration, and help from all social sectors and communities of society to fight the battle and save young lives who are the pillar and strength of any nation. However, none can indeed force the help, have the suffering dragged out of the body, and put an end to it through mere sharing and talking about it. It requires time, patience, and an immense amount of support from the people around to help an individual overcome their mental illness.  

Prevention programs have been identified as a major depression buster. There are a number of effective community approaches to prevent depression. This includes school-based programs to subdue depressive thoughts and enhance positive thinking amongst children and adolescents. Besides this, the intervention of parents whose children have behavioral issues can limit the parental depressive symptoms and improve the results for their children. There are a few exercise programs for the elderly that have been proven to be effective in depression prevention.

To get yourself to stop overthinking and stop feeling sad for no reason, we suggest self-analysis of the situation. Ask yourself a lot of questions and try to find the answers by yourself. For instance, 'Why did I do that?', 'Why am I sad for no reason?', 'Why do I feel tired all the time?', ‘Is the subject causing me so much anxiety and stress worth holding on to?’, ‘How would it affect me if I change my decision today?’, ‘What would happen if I note my depressive thoughts and begin working on things that bring me happiness and peace?’ and so many more. 

Today, we would like to add that no matter how insignificant, self-centered, and petite the world may seem to you, it is not a better place without you in it. Sadness, hurt, and pain is not discovered within, it is inflicted for a reason. Find the reason, fight the reason, forget the reason, and live on. 

#SelfLove #YourLifeMatters