May is National Mental Health Month (MHM).

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What is 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 choices.  Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected.  Many factors contribute to mental health problems.  

The 2017 MHM campaign is titled Risky Business, and will educate the public on habits and behaviors that increase the risk of developing or exacerbating mental illnesses, or are signs of mental health problems themselves. These include such diverse risk factors such as sedentary lifestyles, hyper-sexuality, recreational drug use, internet/gaming addiction, disordered eating, and other obsessive/addictive behaviors.

The intent behind this theme is to raise awareness of the risks that these types of behaviors present—especially to young people—to help individuals detect these early warning signs, and to provide resources for prevention and early intervention.

In addition to the above habits and behaviors, there are other early warning signs of mental illness.  Experiencing one or more of the following feelings or behaviors can be an early warning sign of a problem:

  • Eating or sleeping too much or too little
  • Pulling away from people and usual activities
  • Having low or no energy
  • Feeling numb or like nothing matters
  • Having unexplained aches and pains
  • Feeling helpless or hopeless
  • Smoking, drinking, or using drugs more than usual
  • Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, on edge, angry, upset, worried, or scared
  • Yelling or fighting with family and friends
  • Experiencing severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships
  • Having persistent thoughts and memories you can’t get out of your head
  • Hearing voices or believing things that are not true
  • Thinking of harming yourself or others
  • Inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of your kids or getting to work or school

If you detect these types of habits and behavior in someone you know, the Plaquemines Community CARE Centers has professional counselors available to provide assistance to the residents of Plaquemines Parish.  Give us a call @ 504-393-5750.

Information courtesy of Mental Health.gov.