Do you know what the signs are indicating you or a loved one need mental health services from a professional? Maybe you’re wondering whether you or someone you care about has one or more mental health conditions.
Whatever the case is, taking care of mental health is integral to living a healthy and balanced life. Mental health encompasses a person’s behavioral, emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Searching for mental health treatment options in Jonesboro, Arkansas? Reach out to Alleviant Jonesboro today by calling 870.657.0337 or contacting our team online.
Why Is Taking Care of Your Mental Health Essential?
Mental health can impact how someone acts, feels, and thinks daily. A person’s mental health also contributes to their decision-making process, coping with stress, and relating to others. If you are starting to observe any neutral or negative changes in your overall happiness and relationships, you can do the following as well as seek professional help from a mental health professional:
- Connect with others: Reaching out and opening up to others in your life can give you an intangible but supportive foundation to stand on when you’re feeling low.
- Learn more about mental health: You can visit many resources, such as the local library or the internet, to learn more about mental health.
When you consult with a mental health professional, they will likely want you to undergo a mental health assessment — after which they may diagnose you with the condition that could need professional treatment.
Taking care of your mental health can promote effectiveness and productivity in caregiving, school, or work activities.
What Are Some Signs That You Need to Find a Mental Health Professional?
With professional help, you can adapt to changes in your life, maintain healthy relationships, and better cope with adversity. But, before finding a mental health specialist, you should first look for signs that you may have a condition that needs diagnosis and treatment — such as the following:
- You aren’t performing as effectively at work or school: A decrease in performance is a common sign of struggling with psychological or emotional issues. Mental health issues can impair attention, concentration, energy, and memory. They can result in apathy, which saps the enjoyment of doing anything.
- You no longer enjoy activities you used to have passion for: People struggling with psychological or emotional issues often feel disconnected or alienated from life. Consequently, they lose interest in things, whether socializing or participating in hobbies or socializing.
- You want to improve yourself but don’t know where to start: Therapy can help you become the best person you can be by yourself or in a relationship with others. It can also help you better understand sticky interpersonal situations in which you find yourself.
- Your physical health has taken a hit: Mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression have both direct and indirect effects on our physical health. If you’ve been suffering from adverse health conditions for a long time, you could benefit from the treatment of a trained mental health professional.
- You’re experiencing disruptions in appetite or sleep: Someone who is anxious or in a manic state may experience sleeplessness, while someone severely depressed may sleep all the time. When overwhelmed by stress, some people overeat to dull their emotions, while others find they can barely eat.
- You’re grieving: Overcoming grief of any kind can be a long and painful process, especially if you’ve no one to talk to and share that emotional burden with. Therapy or grief counseling can help someone grieving by providing a compassionate and safe place to process the loss and all the emotions that go along with it.
- You’re having difficulty regulating your emotions: If someone continually feels sad, empty, or disinterested, it may be a sign of clinical depression. Besides depression, uncontrolled anger may also reflect negative feelings about the self or the world or poorly regulated stress responses.
- You’re struggling to build and maintain relationships: Poor mental health may lead to someone pulling back from those close to them, or it may lead to them heavily leaning on others for emotional support. People struggling with psychological or emotional issues may also have difficulty cultivating relationships, working in teams, or communicating with authority figures.
- You’re using addictive substances or sex to cope: When under mental or emotional stress, some people turn to things that are distracting, destructive, numbing, or rewarding to cope. These can temporarily help alleviate unwanted feelings like anxiety, hopelessness, irritability, and other similar emotions. But long-term, they exacerbate these difficulties and often lead to larger problems.
- You’ve experienced trauma: It can affect you negatively if you haven’t fully recovered from past trauma. Psychotherapy allows a person to explore these painful experiences with someone experienced in hearing about these issues — in a confidential space.
When Should You Consider Getting Professional Mental Health Treatment?
Now that you know how to look for signs to find a mental health specialist, it may be easier to figure out if you or someone you care about needs professional mental health help. Overall, if you find that your mental health symptoms are making it difficult for you to get through daily living, you should consult a mental health professional.
Ready To Learn More About Alleviant Jonesboro’s Mental Health Treatment Options?
Contact Alleviant Jonesboro today if you’re looking for mental health treatment options in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Reach out to our team online or call 870.657.0337.