Just how can a determination be made as to who is mentally ill? No temperature reading, no acute pain, no abnormal growth can be looked for as evidence of a serious problem. Yet there are warning signs, and among the common ones are the following:
- Anxiety that is severe, prolonged, and unrelated to any identifiable reason or cause.
- Depression, especially when it is followed by withdrawal from loved ones, from friends, or from the usual occupations or hobbies that ordinarily afford one pleasure.
- Loss of confidence in oneself.
- Undue pessimism.
- A feeling of constant helplessness.
- Uncalled for or unexplainable mood changes – for example, an abrupt switch from happiness to unhappiness when nothing has happened to warrant it.
- Rudeness or aggression that is without apparent cause or which is occasioned by some trivial incident.
- An unreasonable demand for perfectionism, not only in oneself but in one’s loved ones, friends, business associates, and even from things or situations.
- Habitual underachievement, especially if one is adequately equipped to do the work one is called upon to perform.
- The inability to accept responsibility, often manifested by a recurrent loss of employment.
- Phobias.
- Unreasonable feelings of persecution.
- Self-destructive acts.
- Sexual deviation.
- A sudden and dramatic change in sleeping habits.
- Physical ailments and complaints for which there are no organic causes.
If one or more of these warning signs occur frequently or in severe form, a mental illness may be present, and professional help should be sought to evaluate the underlying problem.
