One of the more important aspects of maintaining your overall health is the ability to monitor certain variables and identify warning signs. We go to the dentist to clean plaque and avoid buildup, we go to our PCP for routine medical screenings and to check up on anything that might be out of line. We’ve made great gains in the medical field, extending life expectancy and quality of life by catching things before they go too far.
Unfortunately, many people don’t take the same approach to mental health. Sometimes this is because they don’t know exactly what to look for. Changes to your own mental health may seem hard to identify, but in this post we’ll cover 3 signs that your mental health could use a tune-up.
Loss Of Interest
If you’ve ever found yourself in a sort of mental slump, you can probably relate to the general lack of interest felt even towards things you typically love doing. These feelings can be a fairly easy to notice indicator.
We can all agree that there are certain things like waking up early for work or unloading the dishwasher that are pretty much a drag regardless of your mental state. However, when participating in your beloved weekend hobbies or the things you do in your precious moments of personal time during the work week fail to give you any sort of happiness, that can be a sign of trouble up ahead.
Observations Of Others
When considering any sort of external or internal change in yourself, the observations of others can be useful. To be clear, we are talking about the people who truly know you and have your best interest at heart. This doesn’t include random people on the internet or those who have a reason to cause you emotional distress.
Often times, we fail to notice subtle changes about ourselves because we see and experience our own personal lives every day. It is far easier for us to miss small, progressive changes than someone who only sees us every few days or weeks.
If people close to you make remarks or express concerns about how you seem a little off or begin to inquire about the way you’re doing, you may want to confide is these people or, at the very least, ask these same questions yourself.
Changes In Sleep And Eating
As complex and intelligent as humans are compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, at the end of the day, we are still animals ourselves. Given that fact, it is important to point out that one of the most telltale indicators of poor physical or mental health amongst most animals is a significant change in sleeping and eating patterns.
Some individuals may go on an eating binge while others feel a general loss of appetite. Likewise, mental illness can cause someone to sleep much more than usual while others lie awake night after night. In any case, if you begin to notice serious changes in your normal sleeping and dietary habits, don’t ignore them.
Recognizing the changes in your mental health is the first step. Next up is taking the necessary steps to feel better. Talking to a professional is a great place to start. A coach or therapist can help get you moving in the right direction. Reach out via email to admin@thewellcounselinggroup.com or via phone to 317-471-8996 and get started today.