Hesperian Health Guides
Common Mental Health Problems
See Helping Yourself and Helping Others for ideas to support your own mental health or to help others. treating mental health problems]]
It is sometimes hard to know if someone has a mental health problem. When you are helping someone, remember:
- Most people have some of the signs listed below at different times in their lives because everyone faces problems at one time or another.
- Different people can react very differently to the same condition or event. A situation that feels manageable for one person may be a crisis for someone else.
- Signs of mental health problems can vary from community to community. Behavior that looks strange to an outsider may be normal within a community’s traditions or values.
Although there are many kinds of mental health problems, depression, anxiety, and reactions to trauma affect many people. Alcohol and drug use can also lead to or be a sign of mental health problems.
Contents
Depression (extreme sadness or feeling nothing at all)
Some people call depression “heaviness of heart” or “loss of spirit or soul.”
Depression is more than “a bad day” and different from the common experience of feeling sad for days or weeks following a loss. Depression is a medical condition that seriously affects a person’s life and ability to function. Having some of these signs for a few weeks without getting better could mean someone has depression.
Signs:
- feeling sad, hopeless, or empty most of the time
- difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much
- difficulty thinking clearly
- loss of pleasure in any activities
- slow speech and movement
- lack of energy for daily activities
- thinking a lot about death or suicide
Anxiety (feeling nervous or worried)
Other common names for anxiety are “nerves,” “nervous attacks,” and “heart distress.”
Everyone feels nervous or worried from time to time. When a specific situation causes these feelings, they usually go away afterwards. If someone stays worried, always fears the worst will happen, or has anxiety for no specific cause, they may need more support. Practices that promote feeling calm can help.
Other signs that can also happen with anxiety include:
- feeling tense, restless, or nervous
- difficulty thinking clearly
- sweating, headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches, or unexplained pains that get worse when upset
Severe chest pain or difficulty breathing is an emergency. Try to help the person stay calm and get medical help.
Panic attacks are a severe kind of anxiety. They happen suddenly and usually last a few minutes or up to half an hour. In addition to the signs above, a person may feel terror and their heart pounding and worry that they may lose consciousness (faint) or die. They may also have chest pain, difficulty breathing, and fear that something terrible is about to happen.
Reactions to trauma
After a person has experienced trauma, they may have one or many of these common responses:
- Going over the trauma again and again in her mind. While she is awake, she may keep remembering the terrible things that happened. At night she may dream about them or be unable to fall asleep because she cannot stop thinking about them.
- Feeling numb or having fewer emotions than before.
- Avoiding people or places that remind her of the trauma.
- Becoming very watchful. If she is constantly looking out for danger, she may have difficulty relaxing and sleeping. She may overreact when startled.
- Feeling very angry or ashamed about what happened. If someone survived a trauma where others died or were seriously injured, they may feel guilty that others suffered more than they did.
- Feeling alone and distant from other people.
- Having outbursts of strange or violent behavior in which she is confused about where she is.
People suffering from reactions to trauma may also feel anxious, depressed, or misuse alcohol or drugs.
Many of these signs are expected responses to trauma. For example, it makes sense to feel angry that something terrible happened or to be watchful if a situation is still dangerous. But if the signs are so severe that a person cannot carry out daily activities or if the signs start months after the trauma happened, the person may need help so these responses happen less often and less strongly, and affect their life less severely.