MENTAL HEALTH

WHAT DOES IT ENTAIL?

• The WHO stress that mental health is “more than just the absence of
mental disorders or disabilities.” Peak mental health is about not only
avoiding active conditions but also looking after ongoing wellness and
happiness.
• They also emphasize that preserving and restoring mental health is
crucial on an individual basis, as well as throughout different
communities and societies the world over.
MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION OR
ILLNESS????
Highlights
• Mental health can affect daily living, relationships, and physical health.
• However, this link also works in the other direction. Factors in people’s lives,
interpersonal connections, and physical factors can all contribute to mental
health disruptions.
• Looking after mental health can preserve a person’s ability to enjoy life. Doing
this involves reaching a balance between life activities, responsibilities, and
efforts to achieve psychological resilience.
• Conditions such as stress, depression, and anxiety can all affect mental health
and disrupt a person’s routine.
• Although the term mental health is in common use, many conditions that
doctors recognize as psychological disorders have physical roots.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
Common mental health
disorders
The most common types of mental illness are as follows:
• anxiety disorders
• mood disorders
• schizophrenia disorders
ANXIETY DISORDER
• Generalized anxiety disorder: This is a chronic disorder involving
excessive, long-lasting anxiety and worries about nonspecific life
events, objects, and situations. GAD is the most common anxiety
disorder, and people with the disorder are not always able to identify
the cause of their anxiety.
• Panic disorder: Brief or sudden attacks of intense terror and
apprehension characterize panic disorder. These attacks can lead to
shaking, confusion, dizziness, nausea, and breathing difficulties.
Panic attacks tend to occur and escalate rapidly, peaking after 10
minutes. However, a panic attack might last for hours.
In some cases, a person can treat an anxiety disorder at home without clinical supervision. However,
this may not be effective for severe or long-term anxiety disorders.There are several exercises and
actions to help a person cope with milder, more focused, or shorter-term anxiety disorders, including:
• Stress management: Learning to manage stress can help limit potential triggers. Organize any
upcoming pressures and deadlines, compile lists to make daunting tasks more manageable, and
commit to taking time off from study or work.
• Relaxation techniques: Simple activities can help soothe the mental and physical signs of anxiety.
These techniques include meditation, deep breathing exercises, long baths, resting in the dark.
• Exercises to replace negative thoughts with positive ones: Make a list of the negative thoughts that
might be cycling as a result of anxiety, and write down another list next to it containing positive,
believable thoughts to replace them. Creating a mental image of successfully facing and conquering
a specific fear can also provide benefits if anxiety symptoms relate to a specific cause, such as in a
phobia.
• Support network: Talk with familiar people who are supportive, such as a family member or friend.
Support group services may also be available in the local area and online.
• Exercise: Physical exertion can improve self-image and release chemicals in the brain that trigger
positive feelings.
Early signs
There is no physical test or scan that reliably indicates whether a person has developed a mental illness.
However, people should look out for the following as possible signs of a mental health disorder:
• withdrawing from friends, family, and colleagues
• avoiding activities that they would normally enjoy
• sleeping too much or too little
• eating too much or too little
• feeling hopeless
• having consistently low energy
• using mood-altering substances, including alcohol and nicotine, more frequently
• displaying negative emotions
• being confused
• being unable to complete daily tasks, such as getting to work or cooking a meal
• having persistent thoughts or memories that reappear regularly
• thinking of causing physical harm to themselves or others
• hearing voices
• experiencing delusions
STRESS MANAGEMENT

•NOW LET’S TALK!!!!!