Levels of Emotional Distress

Since we know that many people among us have stresses, strains and emotionally distressing events and yet they are anything but Mentally Ill. In fact, some people face deep grief from the loss of a loved one and bounce back even stronger. That is resiliency not illness.

Others face minor problems and losses and lose their composure for weeks. Are they Mentally Ill or just fragile? Maybe a bit of both.

Mental Illness implies that a person has a brain that is sick, diseased and unable to change. Can a person be depressed but not actually physically ill?

One of the main issues facing us as humans is the fact that some people grow up in families and develop an ability to face difficulties and attacks and bounce back. We call it RESILIENCY! People with an ability to bounce back from a strong shock or trauma has a good "shock resiliency" but some people grow up without that ability.

We have some relatives that can hardly stand minor disappointments but handle big issues with calm serenity.
In other words, we are all different.

The 5 Levels of Emotional Distress:

1. Very Healthy, Resilient and Peaceful.

2. Fairly Healthy and Peaceful

3. Distressed and Developing Unhealthy Behaviors

4. Very Distressed: Mental, Emotional and Relational Anxiety

5. Overcome by Stress, Emotional Distress and so Fragile a Disturbance can Overwhelm