When people receive appropriate care for their mental health problems, they do not seek health care in general as often. There is evidence that people with unresolved mental health problems visit general practitioners twice as often as those who receive specialized mental health and psychological care.
Excessive anxiety and stress can contribute to the development of some heart diseases, weaken the strength of the immune system. Psychological problems also increase the likelihood of wrong behavioral choices, which manifests itself in addiction to smoking and drugs, alcohol abuse. There is a close relationship between the psyche and the physical state of a person. Feelings of anxiety, constant stress and tension can lead to poor health.
People who care about mental health tend to achieve great success, both professionally and personally. Mental health is important in terms of communication, especially in the family. It allows you to maintain a healthy atmosphere in the circle of loved ones, to raise children correctly, giving them the necessary care and a psychological model for imitation. Mentally healthy people are more resistant to the influence of negative social factors, less prone to the formation of “bad habits.” Thus, when a person is free from depression, anxiety, excessive stress and anxiety, he is able to live bright life and enjoy it very much.
Only a specialist can fully assess the state of mental health. However, for the current assessment of one’s own state or the state of the psyche of relatives and friends and making a decision on seeking help, it is enough to pay attention to a number of simple criteria.
- Sleep state. Difficulty falling asleep, restless sleep, unusually early awakenings, and, conversely, increased drowsiness, lack of a feeling of rest upon awakening – all these are sleep disorders that may indicate a nervous system dysfunction and lead to its overstrain, which means , increase the risk of mental disorders.
- Health level. Mental performance is characterized by the activity of mental processes: attention, memory, thinking. Decreased mental performance, manifested in the form of insufficient memory functioning, problems with concentration, difficulty making decisions, can be a sign of many mental disorders and diseases.
- Emotional state. The emotional sphere is extremely sensitive to various manifestations of unhappiness. The predominance of negative emotional reactions (bad mood, tearfulness, irritability, anger), their unusual and high intensity, especially in situations of inconsistency with the situation in which they are manifested, difficulties in managing one’s own emotional state – all these are reasons to pay attention to the state of mental health.
- Behavior changes. For any person, there are habitual ways of reacting in different life situations, due to character traits and life experience. A sharp deviation from habitual forms of behavior, an unexpected change in stable attitudes, the lack of an obvious connection between such changes and life events can be manifestations of emotional and mental distress.