Mental health influences a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour. This affects areas of life such as everyday choices, building relationships, coping with stress and anxiety, overcoming challenges, and recovering from trauma.
Factors contributing to mental health include:
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- Biological, brain chemistry or genes
- Trauma, abuse
- Mental health concerns in family history
Signs that there may be a concern with mental health include:
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- Less involved in enjoyed activities, becoming more isolated from people.
- Noticeable increase or decrease in eating or sleeping.
- Having little to no energy.
- Feeling a sense of helplessness or hopelessness.
- Lack of care for self, others, a feeling of numbness.
- Feeling physical aches and pains that cannot be explained.
- Increased feelings of worry, anger, fear; sense of confusion, edginess, and easily upset.
- Argumentative and yelling with family and friends; severe mood swings.
- Thoughts and memories repetitively running through mind, unable to stop them.
- Increased drinking, smoking; drug use.
- Hearing voices, believing things known to be untrue.
- Thoughts of self-harm or harming others.
- Feeling overwhelmed and incapable of completing daily routines such as hygiene, getting to work, looking after children.
Kari Walton Counselling Services may be able to help you:
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- Recognize and identify what is positive mental health and negative mental health
- Manage thoughts and emotions more effectively
- Feel more energetic and positive
- Develop and strengthen coping strategies for life stresses
- Build and strengthen relationships