Self Help Corner

You can help YOU to evolve as well, let us show you how.

SELF HELP CORNER

You can help YOU to evolve as well, let us show you how.

Understanding my Mental Health

Statistics according to MOH

The prevalence of all mental disorders increased by 50% worldwide from 416 million to 615 million between 1990 and 2013…

Understanding my Mental Health

Statistics according to MOH

The prevalence of all mental disorders increased by 50% worldwide from 416 million to 615 million between 1990 and 2013.

Further Understanding The Types of Mental Healths

There is a wide array of mental health disorders that affect individuals across the globe. These conditions can vary greatly in their symptoms, severity, and impact on daily functioning. From anxiety disorders and mood disorders to personality disorders and psychotic disorders, the spectrum of mental health disorders is extensive and diverse.

  • Depressive Disorders
  • Bipolar and Related Disorders
  • Anxiety Disorders (Social Anxiety, Phobias)
  • Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders
  • Feeding and Eating Disorders
  • Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders
  • Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Personality Disorder

Learn More About the Key Facts of Mental Health according to the World Organization of Health

Click on each tile to learn more.

Adolescents and Mental Health

 | WHO, 17 November 2022

Mental health of Older Adults

 | WHO, 12 December 2017

Mental Health at Work

 | WHO, 28 September 2022

Mental Disorders

 | WHO, 8 June 2022

We get it, you want to start working on being a better and happier YOU; but you don’t know where to start. Well guess what? You can start right here by completing our Self Administered Questionnaire to find out what strategies will best suit you on your journey to EVOLVE.

Lets Begin!

Over the past 2 weeks, how many of these can you identify with? Select either YES/NO in correspondence to your answer.

NB. This is not a mental health diagnoses, only trained mental health practitioners can make diagnoses. 

Recognizing Depression

The DSM-5 outlines the following criterion to make a diagnosis of depression. The individual must be experiencing five or more symptoms during the same 2-week period and at least one of the symptoms should be either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

  • Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day.
  • Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day.
  • Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day.
  • A slowing down of thought and a reduction of physical movement (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).
  • Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
  • Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.
  • Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.
  • Recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

To receive a diagnosis of depression, these symptoms must cause the individual clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The symptoms must also not be a result of substance abuse or another medical condition.

GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) can manifest both mentally and physically.

The difference between worry and GAD is that people who are not suffering from GAD can rationalize their fears and resolve them. With GAD, there is no “off” switch. If you are suffering from GAD, you are experiencing a constant state of worry – and you can’t avoid it, because basically, just living is causing you anxiety. Here are some signs and symptoms to watch out for:

Perpetual state of constant worry.

Your brain is stuck in a “what-could-go-wrong” loop. In almost every situation, you’re scanning for potential problems.

Inability to relax or enjoy quiet time.

Like when you're on vacation and it takes the first three or four days to unwind and really enjoy yourself.

Feeling tense all the time.

Quick test: Where are your shoulders right now? Pointing towards your ears and a little tight? That’s the tension we’re talking about. It’s like your body is always in a ready stance.

Muscle tightness or body aches.

This is similar to the above and might also include tightening your jaw or grinding your teeth.

Avoidance of stressful situations.

When you’re constantly running through the whole list of things that could go wrong, it’s not a surprise that you decide not to do some things. That danger ahead sign is always flashing.

Difficulty concentrating.

Worrying can make you jump around from one task to the next and that is bad for concentration. There may also be a physiological reasons.

Inability to tolerate uncertainty.

You need to know what is going to happen and how it is going to happen.

Constant feelings of dread or apprehension.

It’s not uncommon for people with anxiety to say things like, “I’ll be able to relax right after (fill in the blank).” The point is, there is always something out there on the horizon that you’re not looking forward to.

Feeling constantly overwhelmed.

For everything you have to do, there’s a whole list of worries that go along with it, and that can be pretty overwhelming.

Intrusive thoughts of things that cause you to worry.

Even when you try to stop thinking about things that are bothering you, they boomerang back.

Not being able to sleep at all or to sleep well.

This is because you are in a constant state of worry.

Feeling jumpy, on edge, or restless.

It’s almost like your whole body feels reactive.

Stomach upset.

This includes nausea and diarrhea and may be chronic.

Fatiguing easily.

You’re tired...All. The. Time.

Heart palpitations

Feeling like your heart is racing.

Trembles or shakes

Since you’re always anticipating something happening, you train your muscles to be ready for action, and this can lead to that shaky feeling.

Sweating and dry mouth.

Again, this is a response to that feeling that something is about to happen.

Having difficulty breathing or a lump in your throat.

It almost feels like you’re choking.

Feeling lightheaded or dizzy.

This might happen if you hyperventilate.

Persistent irritability.

Being on edge can make you cranky, too.

Cold chills/hot flashes and or numbness or tingling sensations.

As you prepare for a fight or flight response, blood rushes through your body and this brings on a lot of different sensations like hot or cold and tingling.

The physical manifestations – chronic neck and back pain, headache, stomach and abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome – that can accompany anxiety disorder can be mild or severe,” Dr. Seymour explains. “Often anxiety is not the problem; it’s what manifests from it emotionally and physically.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

A diagnosis of PTSD requires exposure to an upsetting traumatic event. Exposure includes directly experiencing an event, witnessing a traumatic event happening to others, or learning that a traumatic event happened to a close family member or friend. It can also occur as a result of repeated exposure to horrible details of trauma such as police officers exposed to details of child abuse cases.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Symptoms of PTSD fall into the following four categories. Specific symptoms can vary in severity.

Intrusion

Intrusive thoughts such as repeated, involuntary memories; distressing dreams; or flashbacks of the traumatic event. Flashbacks may be so vivid that people feel they are reliving the traumatic experience or seeing it before their eyes.

Avoidance

Avoiding reminders of the traumatic event may include avoiding people, places, activities, objects and situations that may trigger distressing memories. People may try to avoid remembering or thinking about the traumatic event. They may resist talking about what happened or how they feel about it.

Alterations in cognition and mood

Inability to remember important aspects of the traumatic event, negative thoughts and feelings leading to ongoing and distorted beliefs about oneself or others (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted”); distorted thoughts about the cause or consequences of the event leading to wrongly blaming self or other; ongoing fear, horror, anger, guilt or shame; much less interest in activities previously enjoyed; feeling detached or estranged from others; or being unable to experience positive emotions (a void of happiness or satisfaction).

Alterations in arousal and reactivity

Arousal and reactive symptoms may include being irritable and having angry outbursts; behaving recklessly or in a self-destructive way; being overly watchful of one's surroundings in a suspecting way; being easily startled; or having problems concentrating or sleeping.

Resources & Tools

We provide the relevant tools to help guide you on your journey of attaining the best YOU there is!

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iEvolve Monthly

Managing my Mental Health

Managing mental health involves prioritizing self-care, seeking support when needed, and cultivating healthy coping mechanisms to navigate life’s ups and downs.