Forms of emotional distress like mood swings, anxiety, and stress are a normal part of life. Most times when you experience them, you can cope and bounce back. Sometimes, however, you may need help from a professional psychiatrist Atlanta. The signs of emotional or mental distress are not always obvious and can be difficult to pinpoint. Below, we look at five possible signs that you should seek therapy and counseling.
1. Reduced Quality of Performance
One of the most common signs of emotional or psychological issues is a decrease in your performance in school or at work. Mental health problems can affect your energy, memory, concentration, and attention, resulting in reduced interest and enjoyment in your work. In turn, this can lead to errors, low productivity, and subpar work. If you work in sensitive environments like a hospital or factory, this state of mind could prove dangerous for you or others, making it important that you ask for help.
2. Difficulty Regulating Emotions
Everybody feels angry, anxious, or sad at some point. However, you should always monitor how intensely and how often you experience these emotions. Anger, for instance, can be indicative of depression. It is often missed in male patients because anger and irritability are wrongly assumed to be typical masculine traits. Uncontrolled anger could also result from a poor response to stress and negative feelings about yourself. Therefore, you should talk to someone if you experience intense and uncontrollable emotions all the time.
3. Sleep or Appetite Disruptions
Mental health problems can profoundly affect your appetite and sleep. If you are in a manic state or anxious, you may experience sleeplessness. On the other hand, someone who is depressed may sleep all the time. Some people also overeat or cannot eat when in emotional turmoil.
4. Lack of Interest in Previously Enjoyed Activities
People dealing with emotional or psychological problems often feel alienated and disconnected from life. They then lose interest in activities or hobbies they previously found enjoyable. Referred to as perpetual disinterest, this problem is often accompanied by feelings of emptiness and caused by grief, depression, or chronic childhood neglect or abuse. Other signs that you might be experiencing a mood disorder like depression include apathy about the future, isolation, and wishing you were not alive.
5. Difficulty Building and Maintain Relationships
Your mental health can affect your relationships in several ways. It could cause you to pull back from the people close to you, become insecure, or heavily lean on others for emotional support. Additionally, you may find it difficult to work in a team, cultivate relationships in school or at work, or communicate with your colleagues, subordinates, or superiors. This could negatively impact your pre-existing and new relationships. As such, you should consider seeking help from a counselor.
Asking for help can be scary – you may worry that your friends and family will treat you differently if you seek therapy and counseling. However, realizing you need help and getting it is brave and the team at Psychiatric Consultants of Atlanta is ready to support you through that decision. Contact the Atlanta office to set an appointment with Bryon K. Evans, MD, or his team today.