Seven Signs Your Mental Health Is Under Threat

Some clinical entities, such as depression, don't usually occur overnight. Ultimately, they're the manifestation of gradual damage, and of which there are generally signs before the conditions become limiting. You can find out what these signs are in this article.

Reviewed and approved by the psychologist Sergio De Dios González.

Written by Edith Sánchez

Last update: 07 February, 2023

Evaluating your mental health is a complex task. Since it’s linked to what happens inside of you, and it’s you who makes the assessment, there’s always a high component of subjectivity. Therefore, you may either over or under-assess behaviors of your own that are conspicuous or problematic.

Your perceptions tend to be altered when your mental health is compromised. For example, you might not realize that you’ve become withdrawn. If someone points it out to you, you’ll probably chalk it up to being overworked or other people’s unwillingness to listen to you, not a brewing depression.

As a rule, mental health deteriorates gradually and, almost always, imperceptibly. Therefore, as with certain other physical health problems, you don’t realize how serious the deterioration in your mental health is until it’s extremely advanced. To prevent this from happening, take note of the following seven signs that your mental health is under threat.

1. Continuous feeling of tiredness and lack of energy

One of the signs that your mental health is under threat is feeling tired most of the time. You feel as if you don’t have the energy to carry out your normal activities. If there’s no reason for this fatigue, it could be an emotional manifestation.

In fact, depression and anxiety can cause tiredness and fatigue. Therefore, it’s important that you ask yourself if there’s something making you feel sad, or causing you disappointment, pain, or excessive worry. That may be the key.

2. Trouble sleeping

Nowadays, sleeping well has become a luxury. Indeed, sleeping difficulties are widespread. However, it’s one thing to suffer from occasional insomnia but quite another to experience it frequently. If you’re experiencing it often, it’s possible that there’s something making you feel seriously uneasy.

As a matter of fact, you should be particularly mindful if you’re having trouble sleeping. Because sleep is one of the realities that most clearly reflects mental health problems. So, if you frequently suffer from insomnia, you should take immediate action. Don’t ignore it.

3. Procrastination

Procrastination speaks of a certain gap between thought, emotion, and action. It occurs when you indefinitely postpone your activities, tasks, or commitments. That’s because you feel too lazy to do them, or at least that’s what you tell yourself.

It’s normal to postpone certain activities occasionally. For this reason, it should only cause concern if it happens frequently. It could be a sign that you’re setting yourself extremely demanding goals or that you find it really difficult to take action. If this is the case, it has nothing to do with laziness, but with your state of mind.

4. Somatization

The mind and the body form a unit. Therefore, what happens in one dimension ends up affecting the other. Some physical health problems are often associated with mental health problems. If they appear frequently, take note. In particular, pay attention to the following:

• Headaches.
• Skin problems.
• Digestive difficulties.
• Muscle pains.
• Frequent colds or infections.

5. Interpersonal conflicts

It’s common for a deterioration in mental health to manifest itself through an increase in conflict with other people. For instance, you might feel that nobody understands you, or that you’re surrounded by jerks. Maybe this is so, but there’s also the possibility that continuous tension with others is the result of a conflict with yourself that you haven’t resolved.

6. Isolation

If you notice that you’re enjoying the company of people less, and it didn’t happen before, it’s possible that your mental health is under threat.

It’s nothing to do with whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, but with the tendency to isolate yourself from others, due to the feelings of rejection or fear that they cause you. If you realize that this is happening to you, it’s time to take stock.

7. Problematic consumption

Almost everyone occasionally excessively indulges. Indeed, eating or drinking too much from time to time is simply usually down to recklessness. It’s not necessarily problematic. Again, what matters is how often those episodes occur. If they’re frequent, it’s a problem.

Make sure you don’t ignore any of the above signs. Nor any other that cause you frequent discomfort. Finally, if you can’t identify the problem and its solution yourself, the smart thing to do is to ask a professional for help.