What are mental health problems?

Mental health problems include a wide range of experiences: some problems may be quite mild or moderate, while others may take on a more severe form, affecting a person’s ability to cope with day-to-day living. You may have heard about some of the more common problems, such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, schizophrenia, psychosis, stress and bipolar disorder.

Some common early signs of a mental health problem are:

• Losing interest in activities and tasks that were previously enjoyed.

• Poor performance at work.

• Mood swings that are very extreme or fast and out of character for you.

• Self-harming behaviour, such as cutting yourself.

• Changes in eating habits and/or appetite: over-eating, bingeing, not eating.

• Loss of, or increase in, sexual desire.

• Sleep problems.

• Increased anxiety, looking or feeling ‘jumpy’ or agitated, sometimes including panic attacks.

• Feeling tired and lacking energy.

• Isolating yourself, socialising less; spending too much time in bed.

• Wanting to go out a lot more, needing very little sleep, feeling highly energetic, creative and sociable, making new friends rapidly, trusting strangers or spending excessively – this may signal that you are becoming 'high'.

• Hearing and seeing things that others don't.

• Other differences in perception; for example, mistakenly believing that someone is trying to harm you, is laughing at you, or trying to take over your body.

(Mind.org.uk)