What are mental health warning signs? Kalil and psychiatrists explain

Identifying when emotional suffering exceeds the healthy limit is a challenge for parents, teachers and the person themselves. On CNN Vital Signs this Saturday (4), at 7:30 pm, psychiatrists Guilherme Polanczyk and Camila Magalhães Silveira debated with Dr. Roberto Kalil about the main warning signs for mental health problems in children, adolescents and adults.

Psychiatrist and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of USP (FMUSP), Guilherme Polanczyk, highlighted that there is a continuum between health and illness, and that feelings such as anxiety, sadness and anguish are part of anyone's life. "We all have them, and it's good that we have [these emotions]. We have to have them and talk about them," he said.

According to him, it is precisely when dealing with these emotions that a strong emotional structure is developed to face the challenges of the world.

The problem, explained Polanczyk, arises when this suffering and negative thinking exceed what is considered normal and begin to prevent the individual from carrying out their daily activities. "Most likely we may have an anxiety disorder, an established mood disorder," said the psychiatrist.

For the psychiatrist, the most important and evident sign is the change in behavior pattern. "He or she came a certain way, behaved a certain way, and suddenly things changed," he explained.

In this context, dialogue between parents, school and the young person is essential to understand what is happening internally with the person and identify when they really need professional help.

Emotional exhaustion
Psychiatrist at Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Camila Magalhães Silveira, considered the use of the term "epidemic" to describe the constant exhaustion that many people report.

"Given everything we are talking about, I think exhaustion is a good word to define fatigue and anguish in this scenario, not an epidemic. We need to change the logic and know how to identify what is really serious", he said.

Silveira also drew attention to a side effect of the increase in discussions about mental health: the hyper-identification of people with diagnoses.

According to her, although the greater debate on the topic has contributed to breaking the stigma, there has also been an excess of people identifying with diagnostic phenomena and seeking medications and treatments to improve performance in everyday life.

The psychiatrist highlighted the importance of knowing how to identify truly serious cases, taking into account changes in habits related to the use of screens, sleep, nutrition and performance expectations.

The texts generated by artificial intelligence on CNN Brasil are made based on video cuts from the newspapers in its programming. All information is investigated and checked by journalists. The final text is also reviewed by the CNN journalism team. Click here to find out more.

Source: CNN