Mental Health Awareness Month and Mental Illness Awareness Week - Free Depression or Anxiety Tests

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, during which the free National Anxieties Disorders Screening Day is held. Consider what Kim Bassinger, Marc Summers and football great Earl Campbell have in common. They have all suffered from an anxiety disorder, America's most common mental illness. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, nearly a quarter of the American adult population will suffer from an anxiety disorder at some time in their lives. Unlike normal worries, these individuals can experience a variety of symptoms which can include spontaneous panic attacks, endlessly checking and rechecking their actions, persistent, uncontrollable worry and social anxiety, which interferes with their lives.

The symptoms of anxiety disorders are characterized by fear and anxiety that appear for no apparent reason. Anxiety disorders include Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Phobia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Left untreated, these conditions often become accompanied by depression, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts. Although most sufferers never connect with appropriate treatment, effective treatments do exist, which can offer relief within a relatively short period of time.

Mental Health

The first week of every October is designated as Mental Illness Awareness Week, during which the National Depression Screening Day is held. Consider what Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Hemingway, and Brooke Shields have in common. They have all suffered from clinical depression. Depression and manic-depression strike more than 17 million Americans each year, according to figures from the National Institute of Mental Health. Fewer than half, however, actually seeks treatment, despite the fact that treatment can help 80 - 90 percent of those affected.

Common symptoms of depression include feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, restlessness and irritability, changes in sleep and appetite, loss of energy and thoughts of death or suicide. Manic-depression includes feelings of euphoria or agitation. Clinical depression is more than just the 'blues. It is a real, pervasive condition that even has the potential to be life threatening. A sufferer has no better chance to "just snap out of it" than someone, for example, with a seizure disorder simply controlling their attacks.

The screenings initiatives are invaluable opportunities for people, who might otherwise be timid about discussing their concerns or symptoms, to do so without feeling pressured. Click HERE to watch the online video: "The Pain of Depression - A Journey Through the Darkness"

Mental Health Awareness Month and Mental Illness Awareness Week - Free Depression or Anxiety Tests

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How Mental Stress And Anxiety Can Affect Physical Health

When one has a lot of stress and anxiety and they don't know how to deal with it then their body will undergo physical changes as it starts to get hit with a barrage of external anxiety·producing experiences. The natural response for the physical changes within the body is for protection. When suddenly faced with a dangerous situation, the anxious person actually becomes physically prepared to respond by either assaulting the source of stress or running from it. This is commonly referred to as the "fight or flight" response and is accompanied by a release or hormones called corticosteroids. The purpose of these intense hormones is to constrict the blood veins in the outermost parts of the body which drives the extra volume towards the brain and also feeds the larger muscles in preparation for extra reserve strength. The heart starts to rev up, the digestive system halts, breathing is intensified, and muscles get tense.

The fight or flight response plays out in distinct stages of progression. The first stage is the initial alarm stage as just described. If the impending doom one suddenly faces is dissipated just as fast then the alarm stage goes into reverse mode and the physiological changes that were taking place are ceased and the body resumes it's normal functions. However, if the source of anxiety, or danger continues, a secondary stage shows up in more of a confrontational mode. The physical changes in the muscles, digestion, and breathing continue in their elevated state. When this confrontational stage persists due to prolonged anxiety or the threat of danger continues indefinitely, the heightened physical state begins to take it's toll on the body and it becomes overstressed. At this point, many of it's functions start to shut down.

Mental Health

Many people react differently to stress and anxiety by amplifying some of the physical changes mentioned while experiencing none of the others due to the variety of external stimuli and simple hereditary factors. The reactions of some individuals focus primarily on the musculatory system, some on the circulatory, some on the digestive tract, and some simply succumb to full blown panic attacks. Those with the muscle focused reactions are continually stressing the connective tissue in the back, neck, and shoulders leading to tension headaches. Eventually, this stress heads towards the lower back causing the often heard of "lower back pain." This is actually the root of the most prevalent cases of back pain.

These people lose the ability to relax and are constantly plagued by that "nagging backache" and begin endless quests to ease the pain. This becomes a vicious cycle as the source of the pain due to constant stress and anxiety is not addressed but more often, just the relief of the pain itself. People who's stress is more focused in the torso area become affected by colitis, ulcers, and other digestive anomalies due to the constant tension within the stomach and intestinal tract. Individuals who are more affected in the circulatory system by ongoing fear and anxiety become victims to the indescribable pain of the migraine headache. This happens when the extra supply of blood is forced into the brain which increases pressure on the blood vessels in the cranial area. These vessels are then stressed beyond what they are designed for and the migraine headache arrives. In addition, since the blood is redirected from the outer extremities during a prolonged stressful situation, the hands and feet remain constantly chilled.

Ongoing studies indicate long term exposure of reactions to stress and anxiety can suppress immunity making the body susceptible to a host of life threatening conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attacks, strokes and even cancer.

How Mental Stress And Anxiety Can Affect Physical Health

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