Mental Health Symptoms You Should Discuss With Your Family Doctor

When most people think about going to their family medicine doctor, they think about doing so strictly for physical health issues like an acute illness. However, family doctors are trained to provide comprehensive healthcare to adults and children alike. And one of the areas of medical care that patients often do not bring up to their family medicine doctor is their mental health. Get to know some of the mental health symptoms you might be experiencing that you should discuss with your family doctor. Then, you can be sure that you are getting the best care possible for both your mental and your physical health going forward. 

Constant Worry

If you are feeling constantly worried and apprehensive, whether it is about something specific or just a general feeling of worry, you should bring this feeling up to your primary care doctor. While it is normal to worry about things sometimes, like money or work, it is not normal to obsessively worry about something to the point where it impacts other aspects of your life. Additionally, feeling a general and overall sense of being worried for a prolonged period of time is also problematic. 

When you feel constant worry, you may be suffering from some type of anxiety disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common mental health condition that has constant worry as one of its key symptoms. Other symptoms can include irritability, trouble concentrating, and frequent unwanted thoughts. 

Feeling Blue

Another mental health issue that you should bring up with your family doctor is a general sense of feeling blue. If you have just been down lately for no reason and cannot shake your mood, you could be suffering from clinical depression. Clinical depression can be brought on by specific incidences and events like the loss of a loved one. However, when depression is clinical rather than situational, it lasts for a prolonged period of time (longer than is considered typical for a specific situation). 

Clinical depression is also characterized by feelings of hopelessness, feeling lethargic, a loss of interest in activities, and a lack of joy or emotions at all regarding things that used to be important to you. A person who is clinically depressed may also have trouble focusing or concentrating and may even struggle to get out of bed.

When you are experiencing any combination of these symptoms, you should schedule an appointment with your family doctor right away. Depression can be debilitating, but it is treatable. Your family doctor can help you get the medication and other treatments you need to beat your depression symptoms and prevent them from getting any worse. 

Now that you know a few of the mental health symptoms you should discuss with your family doctor, call them today to schedule your next appointment. For more information, contact local clinics like Vidant Health.