Do not ignore the signs of mental illness when they set in. In adults and adolescents, warning signs of mental illness 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

-Changes in sex drive

-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)

-Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)

-Thinking about suicide

-Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress

-An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance