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# Answering The Deep Questions About Mental Health

- August 23, 2024
- Posted by Kristen Edwards

02 Mar

## What Are Questions About Mental Health?

Let’s start with a definition of mental health, or more specifically, what it isn’t. In his paper The Mental Health Continuum: From Languishing to Flourishing, positive psychologist Corey Keyes (2002) emphasizes the importance of not oversimplifying the mental health notion, writing:

“Mental health is more than the presence and absence of emotional states.” After recapping the definition of a condition from the clinical literature, he reminds us: “[a syndrome is] … a set of symptoms that occur together.”

Finally, Keyes contends that we might reject the notion that syndromes are solely about suffering. Instead, he claims that we can see mental health as: “a syndrome of symptoms of an individual’s subjective well-being” as well as “a syndrome of symptoms of positive feelings and positive functioning in life.”

## Deep Questions About Mental Health

T Relevant questions can help you understand others’ well-being and promote the benefits of mental health. These questions will also help you:

- Show sympathy for someone who is hurting.
- Open a discourse regarding their mental status.
- Encourage them to reflect on their overall well-being.
- Prompt or encourage them to seek professional aid if needed.

Let’s look at some instances to help us understand these questions better.

## Examples of Common Mental Health Risk Assessment and Evaluation Questions

After asking, “How are you feeling?” in a mental health conversation, where do you go from there? Professionals may find it helpful to screen their clients for any disorders or distress. The Anxiety and Depression Detector (Means-Christensen, Sherbourne, Roy-Byrne, Craske, & Stein, 2006) is a five-question assessment tool for depression and anxiety disorders. You may wish to modify any of these questions to make them more applicable to your client.

- Have you ever been involved in a tragic incident that had a huge impact on your life? Examples include becoming the victim of an armed assault, seeing another person’s sorrow, enduring a sexual assault, or living through a natural disaster.
- Have you ever felt agitated, anxious, or nervous?
- Have you had a week or more of lower-than-usual interest in activities you normally enjoy? Work, exercise, and hobbies are some such examples.
- Have you ever had a ‘attack’ of fear, anxiety, or panic?
- Do you feel anxious or uncomfortable with others?

These are just a few examples, and they are mostly focused on detecting any indicators of anxiety or sadness. The are not designed to measure prospering, life satisfaction, or happiness. Now let’s examine these questions.

## Mental Health Interview Questions for Counselors

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When it comes to starting a conversation on mental health, open-ended inquiries are always a good idea. According to Connell, O’Cathain, and Brazier (2014), seven quality-of-life domains are especially important for a counselor seeking to initiate dialogue with a client: physical health, well-being, , autonomy, choice and control, self-perception, hope and hopelessness, relationships and belonging, and physical activity.

### Physical Health

These types of questions deal with sentiments including anxiety, restlessness, sleep, discomfort, and somatic symptoms. Examples of prompts to study this domain may include:

- Tell me about your sleeping habits for the last X months. Have you seen any changes? Having difficulty sleeping? Restlessness?
- How would you define your appetite for the last X weeks? Have your dietary habits changed in any way?

### Wellbeing (and Ill-Being)

These questions examine sentiments of anxiety, distress, motivation, and energy. The ‘lack of unpleasant sentiments of ill-being’ was understandably associated with a greater rated quality of life Connell et al., 2014). Sample prompts could include:

- Could you tell me about any moments in the last several months when you’ve been affected by poor mood, tension, or sadness?
- How often have you felt little pleasure or interest in the activities you normally enjoy? Would you tell me more?

### Autonomy, Choice, and Control

Questions about independence and autonomy were linked to quality of life factors such as pride, dignity, and privacy. Potential questions could include:

- How often in the last X months have you felt in control of your moods or your life?
- How often have you been concerned by your inability to stop worrying?

### Self-Perception

Self-perception questions are about patients’ confidence, self-esteem, and their belief that they are capable of doing what they want. Counselors may wish to ask the following questions:

- Tell me about how confident you’ve been in your abilities recently.
- Let’s chat about how often you’ve been satisfied with yourself in the last X months.

### Hope and Hopelessness

These questions inquire about the patient’s future expectations, hopes, and goals, as well as the steps they are taking to achieve them.

- How often have you felt pessimistic about the future in the last few weeks?
- Can you tell me about your future goals and dreams? What thoughts have you recently had about working toward those goals?

### Relationships & Belonging

These questions ask about how the client thought they ‘fit in with society,’ were supported, and had meaningful relationships. Examples include:

- Describe how supported’ you feel by those around you, whether they are friends, family, or outsiders.
- Let’s talk about how you’ve been feeling about your relationships lately.

### Physical Activity

The more purposeful, meaningful, and beneficial the client sees their actions to be, the better. The counselor can ask questions like:

- Tell me about any significant activities or initiatives you’ve recently been involved in. How much do you enjoy these?
- How frequently have you done activities that are meaningful to you or your life?

## Other Mental Health Questions

Here are some more useful questions you can ask people suffering from mental health challenges.

Depression: How concerned were you about fatigue or low energy in the past two weeks? How concerned are you by thoughts of failing yourself or others?

Anxiety: How anxious or dreadful have you felt in the past two weeks, as if something terrible could happen? How often have you been restless and couldn’t sit?

Young people’s mental health: How frequently have you felt fidgety or unable to sit still? Have you become less interested in school?

The questions listed above are not exhaustive. We have several questions regarding mental health to help you or a loved one learn more and find treatment.

## Conditions

- What are prevalent mental health concerns?
- How do I identify mental health symptoms?
- What distinguishes mental health issues from normal stress and sadness?
- Can someone have many mental health problems?
- Does age influence mental health conditions?
- Is there a hereditary component to certain mental health problems?
- Does physical health affect mental health?
- How do mental health issues impact daily life?
- Is it possible to completely recover from mental illness?
- How frequently are mental health disorders incorrectly diagnosed?
- How common are mental health conditions?
- Can mental health problems emerge suddenly?
- Is mental health different between age groups?
- Can untreated mental health issues worsen?

## Therapies

- What types of mental health therapies are available?
- How does medication benefit mental health conditions?
- Are there any natural therapies for mental health?
- How successful is cognitive behavioral therapy?
- When do therapeutic outcomes generally appear?
- Are there any side effects from therapy?
- How should I choose a therapist?
- Does treatment address all mental health issues?
- What role do family and friends have in therapy?
- How frequently should therapy occur?
- What happens during a therapy session?
- What happens if therapy does not work?
- Is online treatment effective?
- Is therapeutic information private?

## Support

- How can we help someone who is dealing with mental health issues?
- What should I say to someone who has a mental health problem?
- How effective are support groups?
- How can one discuss mental health concerns?
- Is professional assistance necessary while helping someone?
- Are there any excellent books or resources for understanding mental health?
- What happens if someone refuses to help?
- How do supporters care for their mental health?
- What role do schools play in terms of support?
- What is the impact of community support?
- Can early intervention and support help?
- Can supportive environments facilitate recovery?
- What shouldn’t I say when offering help?
- What are some coping skills if my support for a mental health condition is denied?

## Relationships

- How do mental health difficulties affect romantic relationships?
- Do chats about mental health improve relationships?
- How may disagreements stemming from mental health issues be managed peacefully in a relationship?
- How do mental health difficulties impact friendships?
- How can partners help one another’s mental health?
- How can I set appropriate boundaries in relationships to enhance mental health?
- How can I properly support a partner going through a mental health crisis?
- Can counseling help a single individual with a mental disorder?
- How can I look after my own mental health while caring for a loved one who is suffering from mental illness?
- Does a parent’s mental health affect their children?
- What’s the best way to start a talk about mental health with my family?
- Can relationship problems cause mental health issues?
- Can strong connections assist in managing mental health issues?
- How can mental health affect interpersonal relationships?

## Prevention

- Can early intervention prevent mental health disorders from worsening?
- Can lifestyle modifications help avoid mental health issues?
- Can organizations avoid employee mental health issues?
- How can you identify early indicators of mental health distress?
- Can regular check-ups improve mental health prevention?
- Can some acts help prevent mental health issues?
- Can schools identify and prevent mental health problems in students?
- Can mindfulness and stress management help avoid mental health conditions?
- Can communities assist with preventative efforts?
- How does public acceptance of mental health affect prevention?
- Can healthy relationships help prevent mental health issues?
- How can you prevent mental health disorders if you are genetically predisposed?
- Does nutrition have a role in prevention?
- Can mental health screening technologies promote prevention?

## Final Thoughts

Understanding and supporting mental health involves empathy, informed investigation, and a holistic approach. Mental health difficulties and individual experiences are complex and must be acknowledged. Effective management includes therapies, support, and prevention. Open communication and education are essential to improve mental health awareness and care in our communities. We hope these Deep Questions About Mental Health has given you a great insight about this issue and how to address it. Read this blog for short term disability mental health and let us know about your experience in the comments sections.

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