How To Know If You Have Significant Mental Health Issues

Trigger Warning: This post discusses mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts, self-harm and eating disorders.

Do you feel as if something isn’t right but can’t pinpoint it? Don’t worry you’re not alone as you may be displaying mental health symptoms. In fact, millions of people struggle with these conditions daily.

Mental illness affects everyone at some point in life, whether it’s for a few days or years. It can be difficult to identify due to the many different types of mental health issues. So it’s important to know what mental illness looks like to get support.

I’m not a mental health expert but I know what it feels like to live with depression, anxiety and trauma. I’ve had bouts of depression since becoming a Mum and when I first became chronically ill, grieving the loss of the life and career I loved.

I want others to know they’re not alone with mental ill health so I share warning signs and a mental health symptoms checklist. Then I explore 3 symptoms that get overlooked which could help you identify what mental health treatment you may need.

Some Warning Signs Of Mental Health Issues

They’re are many different mental illness symptoms, but there are some general warning signs for anxiety, depression, and stress; as symptoms vary between people and sometimes even for an individual. The most common symptoms include changes in sleeping habits, isolation and sudden mood swings.

Self-harming is one of the common mental health symptoms but I haven’t experienced this myself but know people who have. If any of these symptoms persist and interfere with your ability to study, work or relate to others, please seek help.

Anxiety disorders involve excessive fear and worry. Some people feel anxious all the time, while others experience panic attacks that come on suddenly. Anxiety may also cause sleep disruption with people struggling to put the day’s worries away.

Anxiety is when you worry about things you cannot control. It can make you feel tense, nervous, restless, and irritable, and avoid social situations.

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Depression is characterised by unwavering sadness and loss of interest in activities that once brought pleasure, it can take over everything and has a significant impact on your life, affecting your eating habits, energy and concentration.

Many symptoms of depression are well known but it can also make you feel sick with guilt, have low sex drive, and lack of energy. If you worry someone you know may have a mental health issue you need to ask a few times how they are and just listen to them fully. Simply be there. Read more about depression warning signs here so you know.

Mental Health Symptoms Checklist

One or two symptoms alone don’t mean you have a mental illness but it may indicate a need for further evaluation. If you experience several at one time and the symptoms are causing serious problems you should see a doctor or mental health professional.

I was a young teenager when I first experienced anxiety but I had no idea that’s what it was. I struggled in social situations and was argumentative. I worried all the time, often laying awake worrying but I thought I was just being fussy.

Then when my baby was born sick and he was in NICU, I was a mess. My husband tried to take me out for a walk but I had trouble breathing. The Dr checked to see if it was a pulmonary embolism but they said I’d had a panic attack.

Once home, I couldn’t cope and my anxiety spiraled. I couldn’t cope and pushed my husband away so I could be in control of what I had to do, being mum to our boys who were both under 2. The traumatic experience was extended and I began having suicidal thoughts so I got mental illness treatment quickly.

I saw a counsellor immediately, which (I didn’t realise) meant they were genuinely concerned I may try to take my life. I was mostly in a daze but doing the mental health symptoms checklist, helped me see the severity of my situation. My past trauma and this one had collided and triggered my anxiety.

Symptoms vary widely depending on the tests, some being free online test. These are helpful to gain perspective, rather than for self diagnosis. The most common issues are in this mental health symptoms checklist. Please only use it as a kick-start to a professional test for mental illness treatment.

Rate these based on how often and strongly you experience these symptoms. Rate from 0 being never and 5 being always:

Remember you will experience some of these in the course of everyday life. It is meant to help you take a few steps back and look at the bigger picture to see if these signs are likely to be caused by depression, anxiety or other mental health disorder.

Being honest with your health care provider is crucial to improving your mental illness symptoms. But if you rated highly for suicidal thoughts or have had any intention to harm yourself or others, seek immediate medical attention. Call 999 (UK), your doctor or speak to your country’s mental health helpline.

Another symptom on this mental health symptoms checklist that needs fast intervention is feeling numb. This is also called Emotional numbing and can leave you desperate. You may want to feel so much that you self harm or seek danger.

Emotional Numbing

If you relate to this you need urgent care!

If you relate to this not feeling; emotional numbing, you’re not alone but you need urgent care. This feeling can be managed with mental health treatment. Read the full article on here.

3 Toxic Mental Health Symptoms That Are Being Overlooked

Some mental health symptoms can be a warning sign for early intervention, but are often overlooked. Everyone has heard of these aspects of emotional well-being but they are not usually associated with serious mental health problems.

These 3 traits can become toxic. Toxic behaviour is when a person’s behaviour and actions cause harm physically or mentally. This is usually a toxic person spreading negative behaviour, stressors or trauma. Toxic behaviour isn’t considered a mental health disorder but is caused by mental ill health.

Sometimes that person can be you! It can happen because others around you also exhibit toxic characteristics, adding negativity and stress to your life. Here I look into 3 traits that can become toxic to yourself so you can get help quickly.

Toxic Stress

Toxic, or chronic stress, occurs when the brain's fight or flight response is triggered too often, for too long, or is triggered by multiple sources. Toxic stress normally only happens when there are many, persistent and severe stress factors.

The stress response is designed to warn us when there is a perceived threat. This activates the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Learn more about the stress response in this blog about anxiety.

If you experience prolonged stressful events you may find a negative influence on your physical health and mental health symptoms, such as substance abuse and inability to focus.

Research shows that supportive, responsive relationships with caring adults, especially in early life, can prevent the damaging effects of toxic stress. Relaxation, like meditation and yoga, counteract high stress levels and reduce the physical aspects of the stress response such as heart rate and breathing.

Change in appetite

Toxic hunger is a physical addiction to a diet high in processed or ‘junk’ foods that are excessively sugary, salty or oily. These ingredients aren’t found naturally and are designed to give you a dopamine high. You become more likely to avoid natural, nutritious food.

Mental health symptoms can lead to a loss of appetite or to binge eating comfort food for short term relief. Toxic hunger symptoms are usually feelings you’ve learnt to interpret as hunger but are actually signs of your body's toxicity:

Headaches

Cravings
Dizziness
Nausea
Shakiness
Irritability
Fatigue
Brain fog

Toxic hunger can be accredited to the time of day, food cravings and alcohol intake. It’s very easy to slip an extra snack in, if you eat outside of your normal routine. Cravings can also be linked to activities, such as having popcorn at the movies, or a kebab after a drink at the pub.

Simply put, this means you need to check your hungry status and ask if you’re really hungry as toxic hunger comes from the head and stomach. Don’t replace mental health treatment with eating your feelings or starving your anxiety.

Toxic Perfectionism

This is often only alluded to on mental health symptoms checklists but the 24/7 world of filters and perfect pictures can easily distort your view of an ‘ideal life’. This can lead to setting goals influenced by the outside world, instead of meeting your needs.

Perfectionists often think that ‘perfect’ is an achievable goal so have unrealistic expectations. If there’s any deviation from the perfect end-point it is seen as a grievous failure. Researchers link perfectionism to mental ill health as you become convinced that others expect you to be perfect.

Once you set yourself these goals, it inevitably leads to an expectation of everyone around you meeting your standards. As nobody can meet these, it makes it difficult to maintain a healthy relationship.

As a recovering ’perfectionist’, I’ve felt empowered to leave certain practices behind by reading Brené Brown’s work. She talks about perfectionism being a shield we use to stop us being hurt but instead we hide fearing we’re going to be caught out as not perfect.

Perfectionism is not about striving for excellence. [It's] a way of thinking and feeling that says this: 'If I look perfect, do it perfect, work perfect and live perfect, I can avoid or minimize shame, blame and judgment.'"
Brené Brown

How Toxic Living Affects Your Mental Illness Treatment?

The hallmarks of a toxic person include unsupportive and unpleasant behaviour, being manipulative, judgemental and controlling. If this is you, you’re living in a cycle of negative self-talk which affects everyone around you.

You will probably experience mental illness symptoms and are likely to have either depression, anxiety, PTSD, BPD, etc. If you recognise this in yourself please seek mental health treatment. You can start practices to kick out toxic behaviour.

My Journey To Balance Journal can help you develop self awareness of your behaviour; develop your values and live by them, grow empathy and compassion; evolve into a person who thinks before they act and explore your vulnerability. Learn more about journaling to re-frame negative self-talk here.

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In conclusion

Mental health symptoms are hard to identify. If you’ve ever felt like there is something wrong with you or tried to combat anxiety or depression, you’re not alone. You can look for warning signs, such as sleep routine or appetite changes, mood swings and irritability; which are all things you can track.

There are many online tests and informative articles to help you. In this article I’ve included a list of the most common issues in a mental health symptoms checklist. However, this is not a replacement for professional mental health support.

Many symptoms get overlooked, here I focused on eating habits, stress management and perfectionism to help you spot if you or a loved one is developing unhealthy or toxic habits that could become toxic and lead to mental health conditions.

I’d like to link to some other key articles that I hope can help you identify the signs and symptoms of mental health issues. This can help anyone experiencing mental illness symptoms so please feel free to share this post with them.

I’m not a mental health professional so this article is based on research and my own experiences. I’ve struggled in the past to ask for help but as soon as I did reach out, I got help. I’ve been lucky to have support at home too so please share this so others can learn what to look out for to be that trusted friend,

If you think it could be time to seek support for your emotional well-being or someone you know may be struggling, it is crucial to seek help from a mental health professional, doctor or by contacting a crisis line. Please check out the links below.

Click here to check out these NHS curated articles and video to help you be kind to your mind.

It’s always okay to ask for help. Seeking help is often the first step towards getting and staying well. Click here to read this Mind guide about getting help for a mental health problem.

The Mental Health Foundation looks out for people like you, by researching how mental health issues affect an array of different people. Their resources are designed to give you information about how to cope with symptoms and even prevent mental illness developing. Click here to read more.

Most people recover from mental ill health with support. There are many UK services, providing therapies and counselling for free. Help with other aspects of life, such as claiming benefits, services to help is provided by a community mental health team (CMHT). Access this via the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Samaritans offer emotional support 24 hours a day - in full confidence. Email jo@samaritans.org.uk or Call 116 123, free in the UK.