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Mental Health Awareness Watch-out signs and symptoms

Strokes, Mini-strokes (TIAs)

• Loss of consciousness
• Weakness/inability to move one side of body
• Blurred/fuzzy vision or loss of vision in one eye
• Numbness on one side of the body
• Losing control of fine movements / tremor
• Speech difficulties
• Difficulties maintaining balance and/or vertigo
• (Transient Ischaemic Attacks are short lived versions of the above)

Brain Injuries (Brain tumours show similar symptoms)

• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Blurred vision
• Loss of memory re: the accident
• Drowsiness and/or confusion
• Difficulty reading or writing
• Slurred speech
• Change in personality
• Headaches, usually worse in the morning, or progressively worsening, despite painkillers

Dementia (Loss of higher brain function)

• Impaired memory, especially of recent events
• Loss of ability to think
• Noticeably reduced verbal/conversational skills
• Inability to learn new skills or facts
• Loss of emotional control
• Increasing restlessness/tendency to wander
• Behavioural difficulties
• Depression and/or anxiety

Creutzfeldt- Jakob Disease (CJD)

• Infection responsible for brain disease
• Depression
• Unsteadiness and poor coordination
• Seizures
• Impaired vision

Alzheimer’s Disease (Most common form of dementia)

• Limited memory – short term memory of a few minutes may be intact, but long term memory is lost with most recent events being affected first, e.g. able to recall early life events in detail, but very little or nothing from the previous day.

• Inability of learn new facts or use previously learned information
• Loss of language skills
• Inability to perform complex muscular activity, even though muscle function appears normal
• Inability to recognise objects
• Rapid mood swings
• Personality changes
• Wandering off and getting lost, even in familiar surroundings
• Neglect of personal hygiene

Parkinson’s Disease – Neurological condition (elderly)

• Tremor of hand, arm, leg or one side of body stopping from attempting routine tasks
• Both sides of body may be affected over time
• Rigidity of the muscles
• Difficulty initiating movement
• A stooped, shuffling walk
• Expressionless or mask-like face
• Slurred speech
• Depression

Multiple Sclerosis – Neurological condition (infection/gene induced)

• Weakness and numbness of limbs
• Loss of co-ordination
• Urinary frequency, sometimes incontinence
• Blurred vision

• Motor Neurone Disease – slow and progressive
• Bell’s Palsy – virus related, facial impact

Anxiety

• Feelings of general unease and agitation
• Inability to relax
• Disturbed sleep
• Episodes of panic
• Feelings of being unable to cope

Panic Attacks

• Palpitations
• Tightness and pains in the chest
• Difficult or rapid breathing
• Light-headedness and feeling faint
• Sweating trembling and nausea
• Heaviness in the arms
• Tingling in the fingers
• Sense of impending doom/death

Phobias (Irrational or intense fear focused on one thing)

• Acrophobia – heights
• Agoraphobia – open spaces
• Arachnophobia – spiders
• Aviophobia – flying
• Claustrophobia – enclosed spaces
• Hydrophobia – water
• Latrophobia – doctors
• Nosophobia – becoming ill

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Result of accident, illness, assault, abuse, as witness)

• Preoccupation with the event
• Flashbacks
• Anxiety and/or panic attacks
• Depression and poor concentration
• Signs of withdrawal and detachment

Depression (not just about feeling sad or blue!) – Psychological state impacting everyday life

• General loss of interest and apathy
• An inability to cope
• Persistent low mood
• Early morning waking
• Loss of libido
• Loss of appetite
• Low self-esteem
• Guilt
• Anxiety
• Morbid preoccupations
• Thoughts of self-harm

Addictive behaviour (e.g. drug abuse)

• Tranquillizers – e.g. benzodiazepine cause drowsiness, shallow breathing and a weak pulse.
• Stimulants – e.g. cocaine, amphetamines cause extremely excitable behaviour and the shakes.
• Narcotics – e.g. heroin causes confusion, tiny pupils and shallow breathing.
• Hallucinogens – e.g. Magic mushrooms and LSD causes sweating and hallucinations.
• Alcohol – flushed skin, weak pulse, coma at worst!
• Withdrawal from any drug can cause a variety of symptoms: muscle aches, pains, diarrhoea, vomiting.

Bipolar Affective Disorder (NB. 2 types)

• Affects 1 in 20
• Alternating episodes of depression and mania
• Episodes can last for varying lengths of time, usually interspersed with periods of “normality”.
• During depressive phase – see depression above
• During mania phase – see below
• High levels of energy and activity
• Elation
• Delusions of grandeur
• Inability to concentrate
• Lack of insight into the situation
• Spending sprees
• Lack of sexual restraint
• Lack of self-care

Schizophrenia (Affects 1 in 100; life events triggering predisposition)

• Hearing imaginary voices
• Paranoia
• Having irrational beliefs
• Becoming withdrawn
• Agitation
• Rambling thoughts and ideas
• Lack of insight

• 20% of those affected may have just the one. Isolated episode with no further episodes. For the remaining 80%, it is a life-long condition, where periods of apparent “normality” are interspersed with periods of schizophrenic illness of varying severity, often requiring hospitalisation.

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