Mental Health

Mental Health Concerns

This page explains the difference between mental health concerns and psychiatric symptoms.  It highlights some common mental health concerns and offers links to more in-depth information.

Mental Health Concerns

Mental health concern is a general term that covers a wide range of psychological, emotional, and relational struggles that people experience in everyday life. These concerns can affect wellbeing even when someone doesn’t meet criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis. 

Mental health concerns can be: 

  • Reactions to current life stressors 
  • Manifestations of genetic and biological realities that impact the nervous system
  • Signs of burnout
  • Symptoms of trauma
  • Evidence of moral injury
  • Expressions of an existential or spiritual crisis
  • Problematic consequences stemming from attempts to cope with stress
  • Learned patterns of behavior that do not fit the situation and create new challenges

Concerns v. Symptoms

Mental health concerns describe the lived experience of distress – feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, ashamed, numb, unable to focus, etc. Psychiatric symptoms, by contrast, are specific clinical patterns that help professionals identify when someone may be experiencing a mental illness.

  • A person may have mental health concerns without psychiatric symptoms – for example, feeling burned out, lonely, or overwhelmed during a difficult time in life. This is sometimes referred to as languishing.
  • A person may have psychiatric symptoms while still experiencing positive mental health (i.e., thriving). For example, someone may be diagnosed with a mental health condition, yet feel connected, purposeful, and supported.
  • A person may experience both at the same time, such as someone with depression who also feels isolated, ashamed, or disconnected in ways that extend beyond the diagnostic criteria.

Understanding the difference and the overlap matters because it helps people make sense of their experiences. Every struggle is not proof of a disorder. At the same time, the very real challenges associated with a diagnosable condition should not be minimized.

 Appreciating this distinction also sets the stage for understanding why a diagnosis can be helpful for some people, but not for others.

Common Challenges

Most people become concerned about their mental health when they start experiencing distress, a change in energy, relationship difficulties, or something else that’s hard to ignore.

Some common concerns include:

  • Low mood/ongoing sadness/depression – Emotional lows are a common human experience and may be triggered by disappointment, grief, rejection, hurt feelings or witnessing something unfortunate. While persistent sadness and tearfulness are common, this can also manifest as feelings of emptiness, loss of interest/enjoyment, low motivation, feeling weighed down, loneliness, or emotional numbness.  
  • Anxiety/worry – This can show up as constantly feeling wired or on edge.  It can also involve spending a lot of time thinking about what might go wrong and how to avoid it. It’s not unusual for people to feel like they are “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” 
  • Irritability/explosive anger/rage – This can manifest as frequent conflict with others, ruminating on hurts or injustices, and aggressive behavior.
  • Intrusive thoughts, memories, images, or sensations – Sometimes individuals feel like they’ve been transported back to a point in time when something bad happened or feel like a similar bad thing is happening again. It can also involve upsetting thoughts or feelings that interfere with daily activities.  
  • Chronic guilt or shame – This often shows up as a highly critical inner voice that leaves a person feeling inadequate, unworthy, and at fault for things beyond their control.
  • Self-medication/addictive patterns – This involves automatically or compulsively using substances or behaviors (e.g., sex, shopping, gambling, risk-taking) to cope with stress, overwhelm, unpleasant feelings or memories, or negative thoughts.

Each of these experiences exists on a spectrum. Not everyone who relates to them meets criteria for a diagnosis, and not everyone who struggles will experience them in the same way.

Variations in Experience

A number of biological, cognitive, social, and behavioral factors can influence the severity and persistence of mental health concerns. A person’s experience and functioning tend to change as these factors vary over time.  

Some concerns are mild. They may come and go, depending upon what stressors and supports are readily available. else is going on. In such cases, the person’s daily activities and quality of life is negatively impacted, but they are able to function.  For example:

  • Having trouble sleeping, difficulty focusing, and anxious thoughts during periods when they take on extra responsibilities because due to the flare-up of a partner’s chronic illness
  • Experiencing low mood, fatigue, and difficulty staying motivated during winter months
  • Feeling so anxious at social gatherings, that it’s hard to talk to anyone without drinking

People whose concerns are more persistent and involve more significant negative impact on day-to-day functioning are more likely to meet criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis. For example:

  • Experiencing panic attacks that make it difficult for them to drive, work, or complete other important tasks
  • Feeling sad, exhausted and hopeless to the point where getting out of bed and taking a shower feels impossible
  • Getting drunk every night to avoid intrusive memories, feelings, and nightmares

How a Diagnosis Can Be Helpful

Many people with mental health concerns that rise to the level of a recognized disorder find it helpful to consult with a qualified mental health professional who can make a diagnosis, if indicated. It can be a relief for a person to know that that what they’ve been experiencing has a name and that they aren’t the only one who’s had to deal with it.

A diagnosis can also be helpful because it can:

  • Provide language and understanding that helps them understand and communicate about their experience 
  • Guide effective treatment 
  • Help anticipate and track symptom patterns over time so that they recognize early signs of a problem and develop long‑term strategies for wellbeing
  • In many healthcare systems, insurance coverage for certain treatments requires a formal diagnosis.

A psychiatric diagnosis identifies a pattern of symptoms that clinicians recognize and know how to support. It doesn’t define or judge a person. It certainly doesn’t predict their future. 

It is important to keep in mind that insurance coverage almost always requires that a healthcare provider document a diagnosis in order for assessments and treatment to be covered. 

Insurance Coverage

Many people seeking services from a licensed mental health provider will want to explore whether assessment and treatment is covered by insurance. Most insurers require that a healthcare provider document a psychiatric diagnosis. 

You Don’t Need a Label to Get Support

A diagnosis may open some doors in a healthcare system, but you don’t have to have one in order for you to take your mental health seriously. You also don’t have to be in crisis.

You can seek support simply because you’re struggling, because something feels heavy, or because you want to feel more connected and whole.

A first step may be exploring more information about the mental health topics that seem most interesting or relevant to you. 

This might help you:

  • Make sense of experiences that are upsetting you or creating problems in your life and relationships
  • Feel less alone in what you’re experiencing
  • Identify coping strategies that help without creating new problems
  • Clarify your priorities and identify any changes you want to work on
  • Decide if and when to seek help from others

Learn More

(Note: HealAce is still under constructions.  Links to some items not available yet.) 

Understanding Experiences

  • Low Mood, Sadness, & Depression – Persistent sadness, emptiness, or loss of interest, with ideas for support.
  • Anxiety and Persistent Worry – How ongoing worry and tension may appear in thoughts, body, and daily life.
  • Emotional Numbness and Disconnection – Feeling flat, detached, or disconnected, and ways to reconnect.
  • Stress, Burnout, and Overload – Signs of chronic stress and approaches to restore energy and balance.
  • Chronic Shame/Guilt – Never feeling good enough, worthy, or deserving.
  • Self-Medication, Substance Use, and Addiction – Coping patterns that involve substances or behaviors, and safer strategies for support.
  • Trauma – How impactful life experiences such as abuse, neglect, sudden loss, or overwhelming events can affect your mood, behavior, and relationships. Explore strategies and supports to help you feel safer and more grounded.
  • Psychiatric Diagnosis & Mental Illness

Coping and Support

Scroll to Top