It’s easy to brush off mental health issues as just a “bad day” or a “tough time.” After all, everyone experiences some degree of sadness, worry, and compulsiveness from time to time. Mixed emotions are part of being human. The line is drawn at your ability to perform your everyday tasks, according to Gail Saltz, MD, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of Medicine.
“It’s when these things are taken to the degree that they interrupt our ability to function,” says Dr. Saltz, “that they are then are called a disorder.” Learn more in Mental Health: Your GoodRx Guide.
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Warning signs of mental illness.
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Know the warning signs.
For additional resources or to connect with mental health services in your area, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. For immediate assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, or text HOME to 741-741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.