Mental Health Signs & Symptoms

Trying to tell the difference between what expected behaviors are and what might be the signs of a mental illness isn’t always easy. There’s no easy test that can let someone know if there is a mental illness or if actions and thoughts might be typical behaviors of a person or the result of a physical illness.

Each illness has its own symptoms, but common signs of mental illness in adults and adolescents can include the following:

• – Excessive worrying or fear
• – Feeling excessively sad or low
• – Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
• – Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
• – Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
• – Avoiding friends and social activities
• – Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
• – Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
• – Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
• – Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality)
• – Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)
• – Overuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
• – Thinking about suicide
• – Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
• – Intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance 

Where To Get Help

Don’t be afraid to reach out if you or someone you know needs help. Learning all you can about mental health is an important first step.  

Reach out to your health insurance, primary care doctor or state/county mental health authority for more resources. You can call 211 for resources on how to get your mental health needs met.

Contact our Warm Line at 925-942-0767 to also find out what services and supports are available in your community.