The Mental Health Challenges Crash Course

Just like our body, our mind also needs to be taken care of, and just like our physical health, our mental health is an investment that we must make in order to lead a life of quality. Having mental health that is at its peak is characterized as being able to function through your daily life without feeling, thinking, and behaving in ways that give discomfort to yourself or the people around you. It is not a pleasant experience to have difficulties with your mental health, and it can occur to anybody. With proper support, we hope it will get everyone through those tough times.

Anxiety

When we feel scared or nervous about things that are just about to happen or could possibly happen, we experience anxiety. This reaction is actually natural for humans to make us more alert if we feel like there is danger. Anxiety also happens when we try to deal with distressing occurrences. The hormones cortisol and adrenaline take credit for the “fight, flight or freeze” response that happens to our bodies. These are released when we experience such happenings in order to preserve ourselves.

Depression

Depression is a condition that makes a person experience extreme sadness for a long period of time, making it hard to carry on with everyday activities. Loss of interest in everything and feelings of worthlessness also come with it. If mild, depression does not hinder a person from performing daily tasks, but generally, low mood is experienced. In a more extreme degree, it can lead a person to think about suicide.

Substance Use And Abuse

Recreational drugs and alcohol are substances that people ingest in order to experience pleasure. In a lot of cases, substances such as nicotine, alcohol, heroin, cocaine, and ecstasy are said to make users feel better. Usually, taking these substances, which may be legal, illegal, or controlled, credits its reason to peer acceptance initially. Continuous use of recreational drugs and alcohol may lead to substance abuse.

Eating Disorders

Eating problems affect people’s lives to a considerable degree. This may either be eating too little or eating too much. In general, it’s a faulty connection with food. Consuming food is for the health and nutrition of our bodies and not having enough or having too much is bad for our health.

PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is experienced by people after a stressful event. Trauma is normal after witnessing something that is not normal. It is the body’s reaction to the distress. It is normal to experience bodily and mental disturbances after the event, but after a month of still experiencing them, this could already give credit to a diagnosis of the disorder.

Self-Harm

Resorting to harming one’s self when dealing with stressful situations or getting hurt is self-harm. People who engage in this behavior often find temporary relief after harming themselves. They credit this as a coping strategy, which is why it can easily lead to addictive behavior. Once self-harm has been done, it would be difficult to stop the behavior. Cutting, burning, picking on or scratching the skin, hitting, and pulling on hair are some ways people harm themselves.

Sleeping Problems

Sleep is the time our bodies rest and our minds reboot. Without it, we will have trouble going through our daily activities. When we are tired due to lack of sleep, the struggle we experience during the day will lead to low self-esteem. In turn, we get stressed or anxious. It then becomes a cycle because these feelings will lead to another night of sleeplessness. Sleep problems can either be too much sleep, uneasy sleep, or too little sleep. Since functioning gives credit to sleep as its stimulant, it is a must that we get enough.

Stress

Stress is a typical feeling that we all experience in varying degrees. If one cannot find a way to cope with stress, however, it can lead to mental health problems. The lack or the poor management of it can worsen the situation and can aggravate one’s condition. With this in mind, we should all find coping strategies that will aid us in dealing with whatever comes our way, and at the same time, develop emotional resilience.

Based on materials from Mind

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