Mumbai: Mental health struggles often don’t come with glaring red flags. Instead, they build slowly—through small changes in behaviour, mood, or physical health—until everyday life starts feeling overwhelming. Many people overlook these initial signs, mistaking them for stress or fatigue. But paying attention to early symptoms is crucial for timely intervention.
According to trauma-focused psychologist Mansi Poddar, it’s important to listen to what your mind and body are signalling. Even subtle changes can indicate that your mental health may be deteriorating. Here are 9 warning signs that shouldn’t be ignored and may be a sign that it’s time to seek professional support.
Here are 9 signs to understand if your mental health is suffering:
1) Unable to perform simple hygiene and everyday tasks such as showering, meals, sleeping, brushing teeth, etc.
If easy everyday tasks seem like too much or pointless, it’s more than just tiredness, it’s a warning sign that your mental well-being might be declining. Skipping regular showers, meals, or having trouble sleeping all indicate that your emotional energies are out.
2) Loss of interest and enjoyment in former activities
If previously enjoyable things now come across as dull, boring, or emotionally flat, it may be a sign of depression. This lack of enjoyment, referred to as anhedonia, makes life seem unconnected and drab.
3) A disconnection or indifference from loved ones
You may start avoiding social interactions, ignoring messages, or not caring about maintaining relationships. Feeling emotionally distant or numb around loved ones can be a sign that you’re mentally overwhelmed and withdrawing as a coping mechanism.
4) Absence of ANY feel-good emotions
Not only sadness, but a total absence of positive emotions, no joy, excitement, motivation, or hope, is an absolute red flag. Emotional numbness indicates your brain is turning off the whole range of feelings, and this can cause difficulty with functioning in everyday life.
5) Feeling “something isn’t right, but I don’t know what.”
This vague but nagging feeling that something is not quite right, even though you can’t put your finger on it, is usually your brain’s way of raising the alarm. It could be anxiety, stress, or depression creeping in quietly beneath the surface.
6) Decreasing quality of life
Perhaps your performance at work is flagging, your household is in chaos, or you’re missing essential tasks. A visible dip in how you handle your responsibilities and surroundings indicates your mental capacity is dwindling.
7) Others complaining about your behaviour, responses, and treatment towards them.
Inconsistency of behaviour and hypersensitivity to things. If others start complaining about the way you talk, respond, or act or if you catch yourself snapping, crying, or overreacting frequently, your emotional control could be out of whack. Getting easily upset or irritated is a sign of mental stress.
8) Trouble with thinking and operating, concentrating, being unable to focus, suicidal ideation, feeling fear or unhappiness to an excessive extent
When your mind feels jumbled, cloudy, or dark, it’s more than stress. Trouble thinking, overwhelming fear, or unwanted suicidal ideation are urgent symptoms that call for help.
9) Physical changes in the body, such as weight, dressing, hair loss, under- or over-eating
Mental illness can affect the body. Drastic appearance changes, grooming, appetite, or weight loss without a medical explanation may be to emotional anguish.
Mental health is as vital as physical health, yet it often goes unnoticed until it severely affects our daily lives. Recognising these signs early can be life-changing. Whether it’s emotional numbness, social withdrawal, or a decline in daily functioning, these are not just “bad days”—they are signals that you may need to pause and seek help.
There is no shame in asking for support. Therapy, counselling, medication, or even lifestyle changes can make a significant difference. If any of these signs resonate with you or someone you care about, consider speaking with a mental health professional. Healing begins with awareness, and you deserve to feel whole again.
