What are the symptoms of mental health problems?

There is no unified standardized template for the manifestations of mental health problems. They are usually mixed with abnormal signals at the emotional, cognitive, physical, and behavioral levels. Many times, they are mistaken for purely physiological problems or "bad personality," and the opportunity for early intervention is missed.

A while ago, when I was doing psychological counseling at a middle school, I met a sophomore girl who was a typical example. Her mother took her to the gastroenterology departments of three hospitals at first. Three gastroscopes could not find any organic problems. She always complained that her stomach hurt and she vomited everything she ate. Later, by chance, we talked about how every time the pain occurred, it was stuck a week before the mock exam. Only then did she discover that not only did she have physical pain, but she could also focus on the blackboard during class. She sat for forty minutes but couldn't remember a single word. Her grades, which were previously among the top ten in her grade, slipped to outside the thirty thirtieth time three times in a row. She repeatedly said, "I don't feel any pressure. I just don't want to touch the books. I can't breathe when I see the exam room." This is actually a physical reaction caused by anxiety, which is a very typical but easily ignored manifestation of psychological problems.

Many people's understanding of psychological problems is still based on explicit emotional expressions such as "emotional breakdown, wanting to cry, and being unable to think clearly." However, in fact, many people's abnormalities are in the direction of "retracting", which makes it harder to detect. For example, an Internet product manager who came to me for consultation before was well-known. He was able to live in the company for a week before the project was launched. Suddenly he got off work on time every day for three months in a row. His boss praised him for finally learning to adjust his state. It was not until he fainted at home and was sent to the hospital that he discovered that he was suffering from severe depression and severe sleep deprivation. I said that during that time, "It was like my soul was floating outside my body. I had to do all the work by hand when I asked for work. I didn't feel anything. The food didn't taste good, and the fun was boring. I just wanted to stay up until I went to bed." This state of blunted perception of things around me and no ups and downs in emotions is actually a very typical sign of a depressive episode.

In fact, there is no 100% unified view in the industry on the boundary between "normal emotions" and "really having psychological problems." Some experts believe that as long as the abnormal performance has affected the normal state of going to school, going to work, and interacting with people, it should be taken seriously. Some experts insist that continuous abnormalities for more than two consecutive weeks can be included in the assessment scope. They are afraid that a person's occasional low mood will be directly labeled as a mental illness, which will increase anxiety in vain. When I do community science popularization, I often tell everyone that you don’t need to randomly label self-evaluation scales online. For example, you don’t want to go out or can’t eat in the week after a breakup or job loss. This is a normal emotional release. There is no need to scare yourself. However, if this state continues for more than two weeks and has not improved, and you even have uncontrollable thoughts of self-harm, or you often get angry at people around you, then it is best to find a professional psychiatrist or psychological counselor for evaluation in time.

To put it bluntly, the symptoms of psychological problems are different for everyone. Some people have a fever and others have a cough. There is no absolute control list. If you notice that the recent state of yourself or the people around you is "not quite right, completely different from before", then it is probably an early warning signal from your body. Don't bear it.