What are you experiencing?
Source: Great West Life - Centre for Mental Health and the Workplace
Feeling down
Feeling anxious and uneasy
Feeling hyper-energetic
Feeling unsafe or misunderstood
Feeling like you are "losing it"
If you are in crisis
Feeling down
Feeling empty or nothing
Feeling irritable, anxious
Having difficulty with memory, slowed thinking
Being unable to concentrate or make decisions
Feeling tired, fatigue, exhaustion, lack of energy, lethargy
Having a lack of motivation or interest
Feeling restless or agitated
Feeling tearful throughout the day
Having significant changes in appetite
Not being able to sleep, or sleeping too much
Feeling worthless, inadequate, guilty or shameful
Avoiding social contact, feeling misunderstood, betrayed or victimized
Feeling sad, hopeless or helpless
Using alcohol or other substances as a coping strategy
Having thoughts of death or suicide
Feeling anxious and uneasy
Feeling rapid heart beat
Sweating
Having racing thoughts
Having difficulty with relationships, school or work performance, social activities and recreation
Having excessive, uncontrollable worry about events or activities
Feeling unusually irritable, angry or "jumpy"
Having difficulty sleeping well
Having flashbacks
Avoiding people and places that remind you of events
Having difficulty concentrating
Feeling fear in social situations because you think you are going to be judged or that you will make a fool of yourself
Having excessive, persistent fear of specific objects or situations
Using alcohol or other substances as a coping strategy
Feeling hyper-energetic
Feeling intensely elated, overly energetic, "high," "better than good"
Feeling unusually irritable
Having unusually high self-esteem, feeling invincible
Having a decreased need for sleep without feeling tired
Talking more than usual, feeling pressure to keep talking
Having racing thoughts, many ideas coming at once
Being distracted easily, jumping from thought to thought
Accomplishing or beginning more work than usual, feeling restless
Working all the time without rest or balance
Having heightened sense of sexuality
Having excessive pursuit of pleasure (e.g. financial or sexual) without thoughts of consequences
Having poor judgment, risky behavior, excessive spending, excessive gambling
Seeing, hearing or thinking things that are unusual or bizarre
Using alcohol or other substances or activities as a coping strategy
Feeling unsafe or misunderstood
Feeling that everyone is against you
Feeling that everything you say is misunderstood
Feeling the need to always be on guard
Feeling that you are always being monitored and watched
Feeling constantly judged or criticized
Feeling that you are in danger
Feeling like you are "losing it"
Not feeling like yourself
Being told you are acting differently
Being extra sensitive to lights, sounds and smells
Seeing, hearing or thinking things that are unusual or bizarre
Having problems with memory and concentration
Feeling on the edge all the time
Feeling like you may snap
Feeling overwhelmed most of the time
Feeling ungrounded
Being unable to let things go
If you are in crisis
If you are in crisis, or believe you may harm yourself or someone else, call 911 or your local emergency response service. If you need urgent medical or psychiatric attention, go to the nearest emergency hospital now. Some of the above are signs and symptoms that can be linked to the most common mood disorders. If you are concerned that you are experiencing any of these, visit www.checkupfromtheneckup.ca for a self-assessment that you can take to your doctor.
