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Mental wellness, mental disorders or illness, we hear these related phrases quite a lot today. But there’s a difference – mental illness refers to a wide spectrum of mental health conditions that affect an individual’s mood, thinking, and actions. Dr Sahir Jamati, Consultant Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Masina Hospital, further explains, “People may have mental health concerns from time to time, but mental illness is when ongoing concerns and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect a person’s ability to function. In most cases, these symptoms can be managed using a combination of medications and talk therapy.”
Mostly, family members, close friends, teachers or colleagues begin to recognise changes in the individual’s thinking, feelings or behaviour before a mental health concern becomes a full-blown illness. Learning about these developing symptoms or warning signs can help early intervention, reducing the severity of mental illness. Identifying these signs may even delay or prevent occurrence of a major mental health disorder, prevent hospitalisation and improve prognosis.
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Dr Sahir lists the various signs and symptoms that indicate degradation in an individual’s mental health:
- Extreme mood changes of highs and lows
- Continuous feeling of sadness or lowness
- Excess fears, worries, phobias, paranoia, suspiciousness
- Withdrawal from family, friends, society and loss of interest in activities
- Confused thinking, lack of focus and concentration
- Failure to cope with daily problems or stress
- Unusual or exaggerated beliefs about having super powers; illogical or magical thinking
- Excess of aggression, hostility or violence
- Significant low levels of energy and tiredness
- Sleeping problems
- Lack of enjoyment, fun and happiness
- Increased sensitivity to sound, smell or touch
- Major changes in eating habits (excess or declined eating)
- Excess or low sex drive
- Losing touch from reality – delusional, paranoid or having hallucinations
- Suicidal thoughts
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Note that projecting one or two such symptoms alone may not indicate that the individual has a mental illness, but it may suggest a need of professional evaluation. “If an individual exhibits several such symptoms simultaneously, and these cause problems in functionality, they should be assessed by a mental health professional as soon as possible. People with suicidal thoughts, or thoughts of harming self or others, need immediate attention of a mental health professional. A significant number of mental illnesses don’t get better on their own, and if left untreated, may get worse over time and lead to serious problems,” says Dr Sahir. Remember that social stigma often poses a barrier in seeking professional mental health intervention, and such situations must be assessed carefully before appropriate treatment is made available to the individual.
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