The 3rd in a serious of blogs about mental health and awareness of mental ill health, based on my own experiences and assignments I have completed for my mental health studies.
Social stigma about mental illness, can reduce people’s ability to live in the community and face every day life.
Mental health problems can also have an impact on:
Every day tasks such as personal hygiene and physical health,
Not being able to have restful, healthy sleep resulting in the person feeling fatigued, listless and tired.
Relationships with those close to them, or those in the work or social community. This can be due to the irritability of being tired, the exhaustion of fighting low mood or frustration as people do not understand how they feel nor know what to do.
The ability to remain focused and be able to concentrate, which can also affect work or completing tasks in the home.
Eating well, at all times. This can be due to the low moods and tiredness helping the person to believe they need the quick fixes and highs of nutrient-poor food (such as sugar) or the mental and physical exhaustion of having to prepare food, so again the nutrient-poor food becomes the food of choice.
The lack of self-worth, self-esteem and confidence may further drive someone into their shell, to the point where they avoid social interaction to the point of isolation.
All of the above, and many others, can have a knock-on effect on each other.
I hope this has helped you recognise how someone with poor mental health can cope with every day life and the awareness helps you to reduce some of the stigma of poor mental health, which we are going to expand upon in the next blog.
If you would like to discuss any mental health concerns, or book on the one of the first aid for mental health and mental health awareness accredited courses, please just call on 01889 808388 or email tracey@plumessencetherapies.co.uk for a no obligation chat.