Mental Health

Mental health refers to how we feel, think and behave.

Depression

Depression is different from usual mood fluctuations and short-lived responses to challenges in everyday life.

It is a serious and complex mood disorder that affects your body, your mood, your thoughts and your behaviour. When you are depressed you begin to process information differently. You begin to think differently, feel differently and behave differently.

Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:

Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting
Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
Loss of energy or increased fatigue
Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech (actions observable by others)
Feeling worthless or guilty
Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
Thoughts of death or suicide

Depression is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sgn of personal weakness or a condition that can be wished away.

The good news is depression is treatable!

Anxiety

Feeling worried, stressed, and tense at times when under pressure is a normal human response. Everybody feels anxious from time to time. Anxiety becomes a problem when it is intense and prolonged, and when it starts to get in the way of day-to-day functioning.

Common anxiety signs and symptoms include:

Feeling nervous, restless or tense
Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
Having an increased heart rate
Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
Sweating
Trembling
Feeling weak or tired
Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
Having trouble sleeping
Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
Having difficulty controlling worry
Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
Anxiety attacks,
panic attacks.

More good news. Problems with anxiety are treatable!