Mental Illness
It is normal for everyone to feel worried, sad, upset, or experience other difficult emotions from time-to-time, in response to different life events and situations. For most people though, these feelings tend to be only temporary in nature, and are often resolved naturally without causing any long-term problems.
However, for some individuals, these negative emotions can become worse over time, resulting in what can become a debilitating mental health condition, such as depression, anxiety, stress or obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors which can ultimately have a detrimental effect on a person’s wellbeing and quality of life.
Many people have mental health concerns from time to time. But a mental health concern becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms cause frequent stress and affect your ability to function. Mental illness symptoms can affect emotions, thoughts and behaviors.
Sometimes symptoms of a mental health disorder appear as physical problems, such as stomach pain, back pain, headache, or other unexplained aches and pains.