00:00It's no secret, we live in a pretty grim world where people are getting hurt, opinions
00:06are divided, pandemics are breaking out, and there isn't any sign of it slowing.
00:11You know the phrase, lie down with dogs, stand up with fleas?
00:15Well, imagine the world is the dog and the negativity in the world, the fleas.
00:21Being immersed in so much negativity can impact your mental health whether you think so or
00:25not.
00:26If you can protect yourself and your mental health, here are six possible reasons your
00:30mental health is deteriorating.
00:33Past Trauma We've previously posted some videos about
00:36PTSD.
00:37PTSD can be caused by exposure to a heavily traumatic experience.
00:42Because of the severity of this past event, your brain tends to react the same way to
00:47similar situations.
00:49Past trauma can also be a cause of deteriorating mental health.
00:52In 2015, a group of researchers from the University of West England did a study to find out about
00:58the mental health deterioration of people after their home was flooded.
01:02They found that understanding the individual's mental state and concerns pre-flooding were
01:07important to determining how their mental state was impacted post-flooding.
01:11Ultimately, those who already had a number of stressors present before the traumatic
01:16event occurred had more mental health deterioration.
01:21No Mental Health Education In the past decade or so, mental health has
01:25gone from being taboo to so widely accepted that we're able to have YouTube channels
01:30like Psych2Go completely dedicated to mental health education.
01:34Because of this, mental health information education has become more available.
01:38It's become so widely acknowledged that companies like Johnson & Johnson, Google, and RetailMeNot
01:43are creating mental health resources for their employees.
01:46Even high schools are including psychology courses in the curriculum and have counselors
01:50available to students.
01:52Lots of free resources.
01:54Sounds amazing, right?
01:56According to Jennifer Dimoff and Kevin Calloway, even though there's an abundance of resources
02:01available in the workplace, a lot of employees don't take full advantage of these benefits.
02:07When used, researchers found that employees could exhibit behavioral changes for up to
02:11three months.
02:12Whether it's therapy sessions, reading a psychology book, or watching your favorite
02:16Psych2Go video, it's all mental health education.
02:20But using these resources to learn about yourself may be a reason for your mental health
02:24deteriorating.
02:26Increased Strange Behavior
02:28Every mental illness has its own characteristics.
02:31This is why it's pretty offensive to assume someone who has a mental illness isn't intelligent
02:35or sane.
02:36Dr. Caterin Gaskin and Dr. Gavin Dagley did some research for the Australian Commission
02:43on Safety and Quality in Healthcare.
02:45Through this research, they found that an increased loss of touch with reality, or even
02:50an ignorance to consequences, can be a huge red flag of mental health deterioration.
02:56Let's say you have a friend who's had the same daily routine for as long as you've
03:00known them.
03:01It might be a bit weird if they start trying high-adrenaline activities like bungee jumping,
03:05especially if they never showed any interest in them.
03:09Maybe you have a friend who's pretty rational, and one day they start talking about hearing
03:13the mailbox talk to them.
03:16Hallucinations of any kind are not funny, nor a joke.
03:19Please contact a mental health professional if you or a loved one is showing signs of
03:22seeing or hearing hallucinations.
03:26Anti-Hakuna Matata
03:27No worries.
03:28Anti-Hakuna Matata
03:29All the worrying.
03:35According to the American Psychiatric Association, anxiety disorders are the most common of mental
03:40disorders and affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives.
03:45Even though they are treatable, anxiety disorders come with their own set of symptoms.
03:49In fall 2020, an internet-based study was done on self-reported physical and mental
03:54health deterioration due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
03:59Not only was there the concern of getting sick or dying, but there were people being
04:03let go from their jobs, causing financial strain.
04:06Some were working lots of overtime, causing burnout.
04:09Due to job loss or other factors caused by the pandemic, some people were even evicted.
04:15These additional stress factors have caused increased mental health deterioration in these
04:19self-reports.
04:20If you're starting to see more stressful factors in your life, instead of a balance
04:24of work and play, this can be a sign of mental health deterioration, and that it's time
04:29to reprioritize.
04:30Where do you live?
04:33Take a look at your neighborhood.
04:35Is it clean?
04:36What's the crime rate like?
04:39Are there lots of things to do?
04:40In 2007, Daniel Kruger, Thomas Rachel, and Gilbert Gee did a study to determine the correlation
04:47between mental health and one's neighborhood conditions.
04:50This study's findings were very similar to the findings from the COVID-19 study, only
04:55on a smaller scale.
04:56The higher the perceived risk of crime and the lower the functionality of the neighborhood,
05:01the lower your mental health state may be.
05:03Think about it.
05:04If you live somewhere with a higher crime rate, you might be a bit more hesitant to
05:07go do something after work or school.
05:10If you live somewhere where there may not be many things to do, like go to a movie or
05:14bowling, you might not be getting a lot of your basic needs, like social interaction,
05:18met.
05:19What are some other needs that might not be met in this situation?
05:22Let us know in the comments.
05:25Lost your groove.
05:26Let's be honest, it's really hard to be on 24-7.
05:30There are some days that you just can't quite feel like yourself, kinda like you've
05:34lost your groove.
05:36According to Jillian Louise Adams, MD of MedStar Health, this sense of being in a rut can be
05:41one of the biggest indicators of mental health deterioration.
05:45Some of the reasons Adam gives to explain the off-feeling are poor quality of sleep,
05:50no joy, low energy, and even a change in appetite.
05:54But just like Stella and Emperor Kuzco, you can absolutely get your groove back.
06:00Some ways Adam suggests to get back to feeling more like yourself are aiming for 7-8 hours
06:05of sleep per night, exercising for at least 30 minutes, 5 days per week, and finding someone,
06:11a friend, family member, or mental health professional to talk to.
06:14Do you have any personal go-to ways to snap you out of a funk?
06:19Share in the comments, curious minds wanna know.
06:22Life is rough.
06:23As time goes on, the problems seem to level up, but you're leveling up too.
06:28Mental health deterioration is something that can be treated if you notice the symptoms
06:31and causes.
06:33If you relate to these signs, please reach out to a trusted friend or mental health professional
06:37to start taking steps towards building your mental state.
06:41Are there other signs of mental health deterioration that we didn't mention?
06:44Tell us!
06:45As always, keep an eye for Sci for more Psych2Go content.
06:48Until next time.
Comments