Mental Health Conditions (Excerpt from the NAMI)

A mental illness is a condition that affects a person's thinking, feeling, behavior or mood. These conditions deeply impact day-to-day living and may also affect the ability to relate to others.

A mental health condition isn’t the result of one event. Research suggests multiple, linking causes. Genetics, environment and lifestyle influence whether someone develops a mental health condition. A stressful job or home life makes some people more susceptible, as do traumatic life events. Biochemical processes and circuits and basic brain structure may play a role, too.

None of this means that you’re broken or that you, or your family, did something “wrong.” Mental illness is no one’s fault. And for many people, recovery — including meaningful roles in social life, school and work — is possible, especially when you start treatment early and play a strong role in your own recovery process.

Mental Illness Warning Signs (Excerpt from NAMI)

Each illness has its own symptoms, but common signs of mental illness in adults and adolescents can include the following:

- Excessive worrying or fear

- Feeling excessively sad or low

- Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning

- Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria

- Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger

- Avoiding friends and social activities

- Difficulties understanding or relating to other people

- Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy

- Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite

- Changes in sex drive

- Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don't exist in objective reality)

- Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)

- Overuse of substances like alcohol or drugs

- Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)

- Thinking about suicide

- Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress

- An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance



10 Common Warning Signs Of A Mental Health Condition:

Specific Conditions

- Anxiety Disorders

- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

- Bipolar Disorder

- Borderline Personality Disorder

- Depression

- Dissociative Disorders

- Eating Disorders

- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

- Psychosis

- Schizoaffective Disorder

- Schizophrenia

Summary (Excerpt from BetterHealth)

- Mental illness is a general term for a group of illnesses that may impact on a person's thoughts, perceptions, feelings and behaviours.

- Mental illness can affect working and personal relationships.

- Medication, counselling or both can help you manage mental illness.