Signs and changes
When people start to suffer from mental ill health they often show some signs before things get too serious.
If the individual and their supporters know about these they might be able to get help quicker.
This means people should not have to suffer for too long or get worse before getting some help.
Problems with sleeping, with keeping clean, changes to their personality (if they were normally happy but now they are sad all the time) and talking about the same person all the time or carrying the same object all the time might be important signs
People suffering from mental ill health will often show (exhibit) more than one of these signs as the problem becomes more obvious.
These are some of the common signs.
Sleep problems (both sleeping too much and not sleeping enough)
Changes in appearance (wearing the same clothes, or unusually smart or unclean)
Fixation on subjects and/or objects (always talking about one person/taking one photo wherever they go)
Behaviour change (person was lively but is now quiet, person was quiet but now loud)
Feeling threatened (without a cause)
Irritability (easily upset or angry, no focus on tasks)
Sometimes mental ill health occurs because of 'triggers' in the individuals life.
These include key dates such as birthdays, religious festivals, anniversaries (especially the anniversaries of deaths of people close to them), increased stress (from change of placement, daytime activities, new staff members or new people living with them) or not taking (non-compliance) with medication
It is important that those who know the person really well are looking for these signs. They are often difficult to spot in people who have a learning disability or behaviours that are not signs of a mental health problem are wrongly seen as such. To find more information about some of these signs click here.