Do you feel tired, low and irritable? Ask yourself these 10 questions to understand more.
“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”
Laurell K. Hamilton, Mistral’s Kiss
At times its difficult to know if the issues and pressures you are facing in life are affecting you to a level that it would be helpful to seek professional help. Emotional or psychological issues can simply start out as a sense of things not been quite right or that you don’t quite feel as involved in things or enjoy life as much as you used to.
Denying or hiding from your problems doesn’t mean they aren’t there…
You may instinctively deny your feelings hiding them from yourself and those around them. You may cope with your personal issues by masking them through increased drinking, drug taking or comfort eating.
Rather than noticing feeling sad, down or low you may initially notice physical symptoms such as; sleep problems, sexual dysfunction, chronic fatigue, digestive problems, headache and backache – which will not respond to usual treatments.
Coping with negative thoughts can become wearing making you more quickly irritated with life in general and within your relationships. You may notice developing an increasingly short fuse with mood swings and outbursts of aggressive behaviour.
You may have started to find it difficult to make decisions, think clearly and get on with things as you used to. Coping with a regular procession of negative thoughts slows down your ability to concentrate and be decisive. If you find yourself drifting in your thoughts with time passing unable to pay that bill or make a phone call, putting off decisions again and again this could indicate there is a deeper issue affecting you.
Feeling overwhelm or that something is wrong in your life may spur you into action in order to feel more in control of things. You may begin to take up or become increasingly obsessed by sporting activities or other pastimes. Some may even take part in increasingly reckless sports or behaviour, such as dangerous driving or road rage, to prove their dominance and sense of control.
Admitting you feel stressed and anxious can feel more comfortable and acceptable than admitting you feel depressed or hopeless. The reality is both are commonly interlinked stress and anxiety often starts first and over time leads to depression. It is very common for both feelings of anxiety and depression to bear down on you at the same time.
Take a quick mental health check
Think about the last two weeks and read the list below to give yourself a little mental health check
- Do you take little interest, or pleasure, in doing things that you used to enjoy?
- Do you feel down, overwhelmed or hopeless about things?
- Do you feel tired most of the time and struggle to motivate yourself?
- Have you noticed a change in your sleep patterns either over-sleeping or having difficulty falling and staying asleep?
- Are you overeating or not eating as well as you used to (usually with a weight gain or loss of 5% bodyweight per month)?
- Are you finding it difficult to concentrate on basic tasks at work, or at home?
- Do you often feel bad about yourself, or feel that you are a failure and are letting down those around you?
- Are you more irritable, or short-tempered than usual?
- Are you consuming more alcohol or drugs or engaging in other reckless behaviours?
- Do you have unexplained aches, pains or other chronic physical symptoms?
- Do you have thoughts you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way?
If the answer is yes to a number of these symptoms it could be helpful for you to talk with a professional.
Be honest with yourself and take positive action for recovery
Many of us believe we have to be in control of our emotions at all times. When you feel hopeless, overwhelmed or down its understandable you may cope with things by denying them or avoiding facing them.
It’s important to allow yourself the opportunity to think about your mental health and take care of it the same way as you would your physical health. If you had been physically rundown and unwell over a period of time you would see the Dr and try to look after yourself. It may be helpful to think about your mental health in the same way. Once you admit its ok to seek professional help you can start to take control of life and limit the chances of your issues developing further.
Rather than feeling ashamed of your issues and denying them the first step on the road to recovery is to acknowledge you have a problem and then face the challenge head on.
Mark Tonkinson
Menstuff
FollowCategory : Addictions & Anxiety & Blog & Bullying & Depression & Manhood & Stress Reduction