5 signs of poor mental health that you should not overlook

We all want to enjoy good mental health but, considering that it is a very subjective concept, sometimes it is difficult to know if you really already have it. We are enjoying ourselves or, on the contrary, we could be suffering from a silent but very harmful discomfort for our way of relating to others and the world.

Each culture understands what good mental health is in its own way, but fortunately there are diagnostic taxonomies international organizations that suggest what mental health is and what is not, indicating that there are a series of signs of poor health mental.

Throughout this article we are going to talk about what low mental health is and what could be the signs that tell us that we should try to improve our psychological state.

• Related article: "The 16 most common mental disorders"

What do we understand by poor mental health?

We all want to enjoy good mental health and we want to have everything possible to guarantee it. Nevertheless, Maintaining this type of health can be very complicated, especially since the very idea behind it is quite subjective and difficult to define

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Proof of this is that in each culture the idea of ​​what it means to be healthy psychologically speaking is very diverse, interpreting as something perfectly normal a behavior that in another could be seen as a sign of worry. From when or at what point did we go from having good mental health to presenting low and poor health?

Mental health is closely linked to the cultural and should not be understood as dichotomous, but rather dimensional. You have a greater or lesser degree of mental health, and it can also vary throughout your life because things happen to us, as human beings that we are, phenomena, situations and experiences that alter our emotional stability.

But despite being gradual and that putting the limit between being mentally healthy and not being mentally healthy is complicated, yes We can affirm that there are a series of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that serve as signs of poor health mental.

• You may be interested in: "Clinical psychology: definition and functions of the clinical psychologist"

What are the signs of poor mental health to look out for?

In very general terms, we can define good mental health as that condition in which we enjoy general well-being in terms of cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects are refers. We enjoy this well-being when our way of thinking, feeling and behaving does not imply a psychological deterioration or bring us suffering.

But nobody is well 24 hours a day. Our mood can be a real roller coaster, accompanied by all kinds of dysfunctional behaviors and thoughts that the only thing that brings us is overwhelm, frustration, stress and anxiety. "Normal" people can suffer moments of extreme psychological disturbance, what we would call normal having a very bad day and, worth the redundancy, it is totally normal.

However, if you live every day like this, if what was a bad day becomes our daily routine, our daily bread, then there is a problem.

Regrettably, people who live immersed in dysfunctional thoughts, emotions and behaviors practically every day of their life they are so used that they think that this is normal, and they do not consider that it is a sign of poor mental health, Although that suffering may be the tip of the iceberg of something serious, a disorder that prevents them from living a happy, functional, productive and satisfactory.

Every mental health problem has its own signs and symptoms, although we can mention an extensive list of several of them like the ones that come next:

• Changes in diet
• Changes in sleep schedules
• Inability to cope with day-to-day problems
• Feeling of disconnection
• Withdrawal from normal activities
• Unusual or magical thoughts
• Excessive anxiety
• Sadness, depression or apathy
• Suicidal thoughts or statements
• Thoughts of hurting others
• Substance abuse
• Extreme mood swings
• Excessive anger, hostility, or aggressiveness

But, In addition to all these signs, we can highlight the following five that we will see below, which we will explain in more detail to understand why they could be a sign of low mental health. Keep in mind that the presence of only one of them does not indicate that there is a psychopathology, and that in any case the diagnosis is only made by mental health professionals.

1. Procrastination

Procrastination is that of "do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today" but vice versa: postpone what you can do now for later. It is something that everyone does at some point in their life, such as postponing pending tasks and obligations, and dedicating the time to any other more enjoyable activity or, even that, do nothing with the excuse that we need to rest a little.

Delaying tasks is not something we should be concerned with in itself, since we all do it. However, we should be concerned that we do it every day, at all hours, for any minimally important task. The problem here would not be the momentary laziness we may feel or lack of will, but rather a problem of insecurity and perfectionism.

When tasks are perceived as too complicated the person does not feel capable of complete them or has such a high self-demand that he prefers to postpone them to make them better, with more energies. If you are one of those who procrastinate very often, you may need to consider working on your mental rigidity.

• Related article: "The 3 types of procrastination, and tips to stop procrastinating"

2. Chronic tiredness and exhaustion

Fatigue can have multiple causes, and one of them would be having an affected psychological state. If we are constantly tired and it does not seem that the cause is organic, there is a possibility that it is caused by some problem of low mental health.

The feeling of exhaustion and apathy can be manifestations of depression, although it can also occur with a high level of anxiety.

3. Extreme disorder and disorganization

Disorder and disorganization is understood by some as a reflection of the state of our mind, a representation of how unordered we have our thoughts, emotions, concerns and ideas.

Physical chaos is a sign of mental chaos, and it is known that disorderly people tend to be more dissatisfied with their lives and are less productive. Added to this, disorganization can lead to anxiety, distractions, and even sleep disturbances.

• Related article: "Time management: 13 tips to take advantage of the hours of the day"

4. Somatization

The mind and body are very connected and this is not a mystical statement or anything like that. Stress, anxiety, depression and, ultimately, any form of psychological distress can leave us a deep mark not only in the mental but also in the body, somatizing in the form of certain symptom. Among the most common to which we can attribute low mental health as a cause we have.

• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Headaches
• Skin problems: itching, dermatitis ...
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue
• Muscle pains

5. Discussions with our social environment

A sign of low mental health is being constantly angry with the world and the people who inhabit it.

Our way of relating to others can be a sign of how healthy we are psychologically and, if we have conflicts with the people who make up our social environment, there is probably a reason behind.

Aggression and irritability can be symptoms of depression, anxiety, or an inability to control anger.. In addition, thinking that everything that others say to us or do to us is done to harm us is also a symptom of psychological problems.

Interpreting the world in a hostile key is a bias whose cause behind is very poor and low health mental, and can make us isolated from others since they can get fed up with our way of treat us.