Taking care of our mental health is critical to achieving a healthy and balanced life. However, daily life struggles and choices affect our physical, emotional, psychological, and social well-being leading to mental health challenges. Joblessness, financial crises, work stress, relationship issues, bad lifestyle choices, etc., are plunging many into depression, emptiness, anxiety, chronic stress, etc. While it may be normal to undergo such conditions sometimes, they can develop into serious mental health problems over time.
Therefore, knowing when and how to seek mental health help is critical. When your situation moves from management to crisis level, self-help methods may not be enough for you. At that point, you may need to speak to family and friends or specialists like Sherief Abu-Moustafa for help. But how do you even know that your situation is getting worse to take action? Let’s look at some factors that affect mental health and when and how to seek help.
Factors that affect our mental health and wellbeing
- Poverty
- Unemployment
- Violence and abuse
- Isolation
- High-stress level
- Lack of family/friend support
- Poor physical health
- Stable and supportive family environments
- Diet and lifestyle choices
- Drug and alcohol use
- Biological factors
Why good mental health is critical
Mental health wellness is vital to ensuring the general health of men and women. Your state of mind determines how you handle life activities. That aside, your mental state can affect almost all other parts of the body. For example, depression and anxiety can result in other health conditions, including chronic headaches, sleeplessness, gastrointestinal problems, and heart problems. Good mental health is therefore critical to ensure:
- You have a good relationship with others; in how you interact, cooperate, relate, and participate in social activities.
- Improved physical and emotional wellness
- You don’t harm yourself, as mental health problems are associated with suicides.
- Crime reduction, as people with poor mental health conditions are highly likely to commit a crime.
When to seek mental health help
Anyone can experience poor mental health at any time. You can be in a very good mental state today, but subsequent activities and happenings can affect you greatly. For example, being in a joyous birthday celebration mode and suddenly hearing the death of a loved one. This will turn that jubilant mode into a crushing sorrowful one, and depending on your relationship with the person can impact your mental health negatively.
This is a very normal life occurrence. However, how you manage it and how long it last determines what next step to take. The following signs show you need mental health help.
- When you begin to worry more than usual
- Loss of interest in life and its activities
- Easily get agitated or aggressive over simple issues
- Anxiety and fear taking over your life
- When your thoughts are becoming difficult to cope with, and it’s affecting your daily life activities.
Where to seek mental health help
Seeking support (telling someone about your condition) is the first step towards getting better. With that being said, whom you speak to matters as it may improve or aggravate the condition. When you need help, you can speak to
Family and friends
Your family and friends are one of the first people to share your condition with. Some of them may have links to other professionals or have been through your situation before, hence, can share their experience and solutions. By speaking to them, they can help you
- With the necessary information, you need to find a solution
- Encourage and support you through your healing process
- help you out with things you may need
However, if your family and friends are direct contributors to whatever mess you are facing, look elsewhere. For example, if financial stress from these people is what’s leading you to mental health distress, speaking to them about your situation may yield little or no results.
Talk to a professional
If you have no close or trusted friends and family to confide in, speak to a professional. You can start with your GP, who may be able to help you or refer you to a mental health specialist. In case your family and friends made recommendations, you can try that out. The specialist will
- Diagnose you by asking critical questions to be certain about your condition
- Prescribe a treatment or therapy
- Offer other supports that may enhance your recovery process.
Peer support
People with similar experiences can offer success stories on how they came out or are managing their condition. They are not judgmental, empathize with you, and give out necessary information and suggestions to make you feel better.
Take home
Mental health problems should be given all the necessary attention due to the devastating effects it has on the individual and an entire society. No need to procrastinate in seeking help because the more you delay, the more deteriorating it becomes. Speak about it, seek help, and you will receive the treatment you deserve.
