This
is another continuation of Part I: How do I know I need help. The last time I provided
a list of the types of problems people have that might help us define more
specifically why we might need some extra support in our life. Today I give a
list of some of the symptoms of some of the common mental disorders –
depression, anxiety, and Bipolar Disorder.
Be
careful not to diagnose yourself which can be very easy to do. Just because we
have a few of these symptoms does not mean we have a mental illness. However,
they may point to a problem that we need some support with or some issues that
we are dealing with. On the other hand, if you find you have a lot of the
symptoms of an illness, more than 5 or 6 for example, then you may be dealing
with something more serious. Keep a list of those symptoms, monitor them, and
go see your GP about them.
SYMPTOMS
OF SOME MENTAL DISORDERS
Symptoms
of depression
Depression
is a horrible illness. It makes you feel so awful about yourself and your life.
It can suck the energy right out of you. You may experience ...
- feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem;
- feelings of hopelessness. Your future looks
doomed and full of “bad” things;
- a general loss of interest or pleasure in
things that used to make you feel
good;
- lower energy or fatigue. It feels like you
have to drag yourself to do anything;- social withdrawal or isolation. You don’t feel like talking to anyone much less
being with them;
- feelings of guilt about things you have done or things you are not doing and
think you should be doing;
- feeling especially irritable or angry towards other people. you wish they would
just go away and leave you alone;
- because of your lower energy you are less active than you used to be. Your
motivation to do things is low or totally absent;
- less productive than usual at work, school or home. It feels really hard to do
anything and much easier to just stay in bed or watch tv all day;
- a change in your sleeping habits. Either you are sleeping less than you used
to, or more. Or maybe you have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep at
night;
- a change in your eating habits. Some people eat more food when they feel
depressed while others have little appetite and thus eat little.
- a change in your weight. If you are eating more then you probably are
gaining weight and vice versa if you are eating very little;
- poor concentration. It has become difficult to focus on anything including
work or school but even reading a book or following a tv show or movie can
become hard too;
- great difficulty making decisions. You feel so unsure about yourself and are
afraid that whatever you choose will end up being the wrong thing to do. This
can cripple you and cause you to not choose anything, or simply become
quite passive
Anxiety is really all about fear and when it is so excessive that it interferes with your life, keeping you from doing the “normal” everyday things of life, you may have a disorder and need help.
There
are a few types of anxiety disorders.
- a sudden and intense fear or terror and often feel a dreadful sense of
impending doom;
- physical sensations such as shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, chest pain
or discomfort, a sensation of choking or being smothered, a fear of going
crazy or completely losing control
as an object or certain situation, that you go out of your way to avoid it.
When this phobia prevents you from functioning “normally”, then you might
want to seek help
- if you have social phobia then you are terrified of being in social situations
and thus avoid them whenever you can. Again this may severely interfere
with your life and you may want to find help for it
Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder
When you have obsessive thoughts and
fears that cause you very
great anxiety and distress then you might need some
help.
If
you are doing things, either to counteract those obsessive thoughts, or because
you feel a great fear about something, and those things seems quite senseless
and just plain weird or strange to you, you might have this disorder. Those strange
actions might be such things as counting things over and over, checking you
have locked your doors ten times in a row, washing your hands many, many times
during the day or any other kind of ritualistic or routine activity. There is
likely some underlying issue you need help with and that is causing you to
think and/or act in these ways.
Symptoms
of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
If
you seem to be reliving some traumatic event over and over in some form, such
as in nightmares, invasive thoughts or ideas and you feel quite frightened and
panicky when these happen you may have symptoms of PTSD. For more information
about trauma, PTSD, and Acute Stress Disorder you can go to the Glossary above
or to Issue #49 August 23, 2011.
Symptoms
of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
You may be suffering from an anxiety
disorder if you ... - have excessive anxiety and/or worry about things you have to do such as
work or school or events to go to;
- can’t stop the worrying no matter how hard you try;
- feel really restless or on edge;
- are very easily tired
- find it really hard to concentrate on things or
- your mind often goes blank;
- often feel irritable;
- have a lot of muscle tension;
- have a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep.
Symptoms
of mania (hypomania is a milder form of mania)
An
important point about these symptoms – you might not recognize them if you are
in a full-blown manic episode. You might be having such a great time that you
don’t want to notice them but other people are telling you that they
notice them and are concerned. If you are at all able, listen to them and talk
to your doctor. You could be at risk for “dangerous” behaviour, for an eventual
fall into a deep depression, or even become psychotic and hospitalized. Some of
the symptoms of mania and hypomania are....
- feeling
so good about yourself and thinking you are such a wonderful person and no
one else is quite as great as you are;
- grandiosity
– even more than simply thinking you are great, thinking you are someone really special, better or superior to everyone else. Heard of
“delusions of grandeur”? This can even be to the point of delusional, where
you might think that you are god or the prime minister/president or that you
can save the world;
- needing less sleep than most people – say 2 to 4 hours a night and you are
up and ready to go again;
- feeling like you can’t stop talking – you’ve got a lot to say cause you’ve got a
lot of ideas and thoughts in your head. Sometimes it’s hard for others to
interrupt you, or get a word in edgewise;
- feeling like your thoughts are racing, just coming one after the other after the
other ..... (and man are they great ideas too!);
- getting distracted so easily by everything – whether important or not;
- being super productive – you get so many things done in a day;
- being a real social butterfly – incredibly active socially;
- being extremely active sexually – which is possibly and probably quite risky;
- spending money like it’s going out of style, often more than you have and
sometimes even investing big amounts without really assessing whether it’s a
sound thing to invest in;
- feeling really irritated and impatient with other people;
Bottom
line .. mania (and hypomania) most often means your judgment of things is not
very good. What seems risky behaviour to others is not a problem to you. Maybe
you wonder what their problem
is. However, mania is a very serious illness and can lead you into very
dangerous territory. If you have many of these symptoms do talk to your doctor.
If
you have a number of the above symptoms you may very well need some
professional help. As they say, see your doctor and tell him or her the
symptoms you have been having.
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