Mental Health

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects the way we think, feel and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, build relationships and make choices. Mental health is important in all stages of life, from childhood to adolescence and to adulthood.

During your life, if you have mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior may be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including:

*Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry.
*Life experiences, such as trauma or abuse.
*The Family history of mental health problems.

Precursory signs;
You do not know if you or someone you know about mental health issues? Experiencing one or more of the following feelings or behaviors can be a harbinger of a problem:

*Eating or sleeping too much or too little
*Stay away from normal people and activities.
*Have little or no energy
*Feeling numb or as if nothing mattered
*Having unexplained pains
*Feel helpless or hopeless
*Smoking, drinking or using drugs more than usual
*Feeling unusually confused, forgetful, nervous, angry, upset, worried or frightened
*Shouting or fighting with family and friends
*Live serious mood swings that cause relationship problems
*Having persistent thoughts and memories, you can not leave your head
*Listen to voices or believe things that are not true.
*To think about hurting oneself or hurting others
*Inability to perform daily tasks such as looking after their children or going to work or school

Mental Health and Wellness;

*Positive mental health allows people to:
*Realize your full potential
*Deal with the stress of life.
*Work productively
*Make meaningful contributions to their communities.
*The means to maintain positive mental health include:

Get professional help if you need it
Connect with others
Stay positive
Become physically active
Help others
Sleep enough
Developing coping skills