Real Life Real Faith Men of Faith July/August Issue | Page 23

live in a hole somewhere, completely isolated from the world, if you don’t know of someone,
heard of someone, or you yourself have seen someone affected by a mental illness/disorder. I
also talked about in a previous Men of Faith Magazine Article about knowing the symptoms of
mental illnesses/disorders. Be educated men! What does it even look like? What does a person
with a mental illness/disorder look like…act like? Let me help you get started with
understanding why there is a need to become more educated on mental health and the effects of
not having a healthy mind. There is a very thin line when determining how problematic disorders
such as anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bi-Polar Disorder, etc. are
in the lives of the people that are affected by them. This thin line is typically determined by how
long symptoms caused by these illnesses/disorders last; how much people affected change from
their usual self when dealing with these illnesses/disorders; and how severely the symptoms
caused by these illnesses/disorders affect the lives of the people dealing with these
symptoms. When dealing with mental health and mental illnesses/disorders it is a must to look at
how much the symptoms affect daily living (family involvement, work, engaging in normal
everyday activities, etc.).
Let’s look at depression again being that it is one of the common mental illnesses that we as men
tend to ignore or overlook. In a previous article I wrote about the symptoms of depression. Let’s
revisit these symptoms.
 Feeling sad or "empty"
 Feeling hopeless, irritable, anxious, or angry
 Loss of interest in work, family, or once-pleasurable activities, including sex
 Feeling very tired
 Not being able to concentrate or remember details
 Not being able to sleep, or sleeping too much
 Overeating, or not wanting to eat at all
 Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts
 Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems
 Inability to meet the responsibilities of work, caring for family, or other important
activities.
When looking at this list let’s keep in mind that it doesn’t matter what others would admit to
when it comes to you displaying any of these symptoms…the important issue at hand is whether
you would honestly admit to whether you have ever had these symptoms. And to add to
this…you must keep in mind that these are symptoms to depression. All mental
illnesses/disorders have their own symptoms and how they may affect a person, which are case
by case. That is why we must be educated to know what it is that we may be feeling or why it is
we feel the way we feel. My goal here is to peak your interest in educating yourself on mental
health. Doing so can help you prevent bad things from occurring in not only the lives of others in
your life that you care for…but also prevent bad things from occurring in your life for not taking