According to a 2024 American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll, 43% of US adults say they feel more anxious than they did in 2023. So when Reddit user u/Com412 asked, “What screams ‘I’m not feeling good mentally at all?” I thought it would be helpful to share what they said just in case this could help someone. Here’s what they said below.
Note: This story is not a replacement for mental health professional help.
1.“Speaking from personal experience: Having time to do things you enjoy, but doing nothing, not out of laziness, more like lack of motivation.”
2.“Basic chores not done for weeks.”
—u/_The_Lords_Chips_
“I unloaded my bookshelves to reorganize. I have had three piles of books on my floor for the past two months.
—u/I_love_pillows
3.“Usually, for me, it’s difficulty processing what people are saying and having trouble starting sentences. It’s about to happen tomorrow morning considering it’s Monday tomorrow.”
4.“Zoning out, overthinking, emotionless, exhausted, and oversleeping.”
—u/DeepLoveQueen
“Or not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep.”
—u/AnneLavelle
5.“When you go to the doctor, and you genuinely feel embarrassed answering the mental health questionnaire.”
6.“I know I’m bad off when I’ve lost my appetite. I LOVE food.”
—u/littlemybb
“Same. This only happens during periods of extreme stress. When I couldn’t even eat my favorite foods, I realized how bad it was. I also couldn’t sleep or watch TV/videos at all. Only listen to music and do the necessary tasks each day.”
—u/poppopboogie
7.“Sitting in the shower. Also, not showering.”
—u/DraftPerfect4228
“Sometimes, I wash my hair in the bathtub while having a bath just as horizontally as I can be in a tub. Standing seems too hard.”
—u/brendrzzy
Carlos Barquero / Getty Images
8.“Seclusion and reluctance to start conversations or do activities.”
—u/wyvernofwhimsy
9.“Taking your frustration out on other people.”
—u/WittyBonkah
“Same. I want to be alone when I’m at my worst, and when people try to talk to me, I get angry. I don’t want to, and I try to respond nicely, but sometimes I end up snapping at them (regarding whatever they said to me, not regarding what’s really upsetting me) because it’s just too much anger to hold in.”
—u/customconverse
Yana Iskayeva / Getty Images
10.“When hygiene starts taking a hit on someone who was always presentable. Wearing pajama-like outfits or yoga pants/sweats and hoodies in an office setting when it was never part of your outfits for work.”
—u/Leili-chan
11.“Sleeping all day.”
—u/Cool_Cookie_129
“I have the opposite issue where the worse off I am mentally, the worse my insomnia gets. Honestly, I wish I could sleep all day. Instead, I am sleep-deprived 24/7 and stay up until stupid o’clock, ruminating.”
—u/vicsj
Andrii Lysenko / Getty Images
12.“Constantly holding onto things from the past.”
—u/StraawberryTea
“You hold on to both good and bad things. You can’t let go of negative conversations or events, and you constantly think of better times. I heard before that an abundance of nostalgic feelings for past events is a sign of depression.”
—u/graffing
13.“Being sensitive and constantly crying without explicit reasons.”
—u/SamoyedOcean
Amongst all the posts about feeling nothing, etc., this hits home for me. Just constantly on the verge of crying, and if anything goes even slightly wrong, it feels like the end of the world, and I’m sobbing for hours.
The feeling of complete and total devastation, every day, over absolute nonsense. And being aware that it’s nonsense and feeling like a burden, completely unable to handle life, hating myself so much that I don’t want to exist anymore.”
—u/1115955
Johner Images / Getty Images/Johner RF
14.“When they used to make light of everything, and suddenly all their conversations become serious, or they just don’t engage like they used to. That shift in energy can be a big red flag that they’re struggling internally.”
—u/Janebedazzled
15.“Headache, stomachache, loss of appetite/overeating, extreme weight loss/gain, loss of previous interests, withdrawn more than usual, or even more energy than usual. The last point can often be overlooked. You might think they’re having a great day/week…but, in reality, it’s way worse. They just have to work harder to hide it all so people do not try to worry. Check-in with friends/family. There are so many out there that are NOT OK.”
Are there other signs that may indicate someone isn’t doing well that weren’t listed above? If you feel comfortable doing so, share your thoughts or stories with us in the comments below.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
