As a direct result of COVID-19 many in our community are currently suffering from poor Mental Health Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. MENTAL HEALTH WALK Sunday 22nd November 2020 Brennan Park Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, you’re thinking, mood, and behaviour could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:
• Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry
• Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse
• Family history of mental health problems
Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to enjoy Good Mental Health. Pool Mental health can manifest in a number of ways – from Depression, Anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress, Bipolar, Anorexia, Bulimia to name a few. But we can help by being able to identify early warning signs –
• Eating or sleeping too much or too little
• Pulling away from people and usual activities or yelling and fighting with family and friends
• Having low or no energy or having unexplained aches and pains
• Feeling helpless or hopeless, or unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared
• Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual
• Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships
• Having persistent thoughts and memories you can’t get out of your head or hearing voices or believing things that are not true
• Thinking of harming yourself or others
• Feeling numb or like nothing matters and therefore inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school
We can further help by helping our friend/family member
• Get professional
• Keeping them connected with others
• Stay positive
• Get physically active
• Helping others
• Get enough sleep
• Develop coping skills