Living with a mental; health problem.

<p>If you believe someone you know is displaying a change in behaviour or mood which you feel may be potential red flags of poor mental health/mental illness.  </p> <p>Many people have mental health concerns from time to time. </p> <p>But a mental health concern then becomes a mental illness when ongoing signs and symptoms affect your ability to function independently.  </p> <p>Anxiety</p> <p>Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.</p> <p>Biologically speaking, anxiety is a triggering of the fight or flight response to prepare us mentally and physically to deal with a perceived threat. </p> <p>It is believed to have evolved to keep us safe and in Palaeolithic times, anxiety was crucial to our survival to protect ourselves from the many dangers in the wild.</p> <p>At any sign of danger, our body's sympathetic nervous system was activated due to a sudden release of stress hormones, including adrenaline and noradrenaline, boosting oxygen to our limbs that allowed us to flee from danger.</p> <p>This 'fight or flight' response resulted in an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate, which left us trembling.</p> <p>However, whilst our world has changed around us, and we no longer need to be on our guard from say, wild animals and human enemies, we still remain hard-wired to protect ourselves.</p> <p>However, Anxiety disorders, keep us on a permanent high alert and prompt us to feel panic and fear at ordinary, everyday events. Psychologically, they set off a sense of dread and alarm; physically, they speed our hearts and pulses, makes us sweat, shake, or feel dizzy with worry.</p> <p>Anxiety disorders include generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety and panic attacks, all of which can impact an individual's life.</p> <p>Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder where you regularly have sudden attacks of panic or fear. </p> <p>A panic attack is a sud