The Importance of Addressing Mental Health Issues Early (Plus 11 Warning Signs That Something Isn’t Quite Right)
Identifying and accurately diagnosing mental health and substance use issues early can alleviate tremendous amounts of suffering. For both young people, adults, and their families, early care and effective treatment plans allow all involved to recover quickly, obtain a better education, provide access to meaningful employment, develop relationships, and ultimately lead more productive lives overall.
Mental Health Technologies (MHT) supports universal screening for mental health issues for the same reasons that screenings for our physical health are performed — because it saves lives. We believe that early detection of potential mental health and substance use problems begin to occur where many of us are prone to experience stress, such as at school or work. In addition to teachers and employers remaining vigilant and aware of the warning signs, community leaders and primary care providers should be given the proper training, support, and resources to identify signs of decline in one’s mental health.
We believe that outreach and education are a necessity when it comes to identifying issues and that funding and promotion of said outreach and education are able to arm loved ones and concerned citizens that will help us reduce the severity and overall duration of someone’s mental illness or substance dependency.
Access to an adequate amount of care is vital and resources should be available to promote recovery. Our barriers should be lowered and incentives should be created to better ensure a smooth collaboration between patient, community, and providers.
The 11 Warning Signs of Declining Mental Health
In 2011, mental health experts from around the country gathered to list key indicators that would indicate mental health problems in both children and adults.
They are:
Feeling down or withdrawing themselves for two or more weeks
Becoming suddenly overwhelmed with fear for seemingly no reason, often accompanied by a rapid pulse or hyperventilating
Refusing to eat, binging, or forcing weight loss in an unhealthy manner (such as the use of laxatives).
Intrusive thoughts or burdens that prevent them performing daily activities
Trouble concentrating or being unable to sit still
Extreme mood swings that cause problems within friendships and relationships
Drastic changes in their overall personality or normal behavior patterns
Anger or violence that has the capability of harming others or themselves
Fighting, weapons, or desire to gain retribution or hurt someone else
Repeated drug and/or alcohol use
Verbalizing, plotting, or attempting to harm or kill themselves (Reference 1)
Early Detection Saves Lives
Mental health can be unpredictable and that is why it is so important for patients to seek help right away and for physicians to diagnose in a quick and efficient manner.
At MHT, we have a variety of screening assessments that patients can complete from the comfort of their own homes or sitting in the waiting room before their appointment.
We test for:
Depression
Anxiety
PTDS
Substance abuse
Suicidal ideation
And many more.
With our service, your patients’ answers are automatically uploaded into your office’s electronic medical record and the results are provided to you immediately. If your patient answered a question that would cause concern for their wellbeing, you are alerted right away.
One of our knowledgeable customer service representatives would love to speak with you and answer any questions you may have.
Contact us today for more information.
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