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Physical
health changes all the time because it depends on so many
things like…
- Whether
you're eating and sleeping well
- Whether
you have a virus or an infection
- Whether
you're doing a lot of exercise
- How
you're feeling in yourself
Mental
health also changes all the time and it depends on all kinds
of different things too, like…
-
Whether you're feeling good about yourself
- Whether
you're getting on with your family and friends
- Whether
there are lots of things stressing you out
- Whether
you're feeling physically well
- Whether
you're sleeping and eating well
Some
people may feel great without doing much exercise, others
need to do lots of activity to feel healthy. Some people can
cope with loads of stress without feeling under pressure -
they may even enjoy it! But other people begin to feel anxious
and unhappy if they have a lot of stress to cope with.
There
are lots of things in life which can be stressful, and there
are different ways of coping with these. A certain
amount of stress can be useful in giving you energy, and if
there weren't any stresses at all, we'd end up as vegetables.
But generally speaking, the more stresses of different kinds
which you have to cope with, the more likely you are to feel
anxious, or down, or not 'normal' for you.
When
should I worry about my mental health?
Some
things in life are great, and exciting and pleasurable, and
other things difficult and hard to deal with. Your
moods and emotions are ways of showing how you're feeling
and coping with the things you're going through. Because of
this its not surprising that sometimes your moods may be 'up
and down'. You'll probably recognise this in your friends
and family too, particularly if they're going through difficult
times.
Most
of the time, you'll probably be able to carry on with everyday
life even when things are difficult - but you may find different
ways of coping and dealing with things until life gets easier,
and these ways may not always be helpful in the long run.
For example
- you
may be sleeping more or less than usual
- eating
more or less than usual
- not
able to concentrate like you normally do
- you
may be short tempered or angry
- you
may feel you want to drink or smoke more
- you
may want to escape from the difficulties by avoiding other
people, or getting drunk or stoned, or having lots of sex
- you
may be feeling very anxious and panicky about things
- you
may lose your self confidence and worry about things which
normally wouldn't bother you.
- you
may be spending more and more time 'in your head', and finding
it hard to get back to reality
There
may come a time when you find that these ways of coping become
problems too
You may also feel so stressed or worried that you can't carry
on doing the things which you normally have to do.
If
you recognise this, it will help to talk to someone about
the things which you're going through. It may not
feel easy to do this, but sharing your difficulties, or getting
more information, will help you to feel less on your own.
You
could…
-
Talk to a friend or someone in the family
- Talk
to someone at college or university (a tutor, or a counsellor,
or a mentor)
- Talk
to your GP
- Find
out more information about your difficulties and what could
help you with them - use the information on this web-site,
or contact the numbers given.
- Talk
to a helpline
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