You may not be physically exhibiting a mental disorder, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) makes us understand that one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives.

With mental disorders also identified as the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide, health experts are urging everyone to check their mental health, but at what point do you take this step?

CEO of Brain and Mind Hospital, Dr Yao Mfodwo, has highlighted some checklists one should be watching out for when he spoke on the Super Morning Show. He starts by noting that "you know yourself better than anybody, so once you notice any change within, you seek appropriate help at the right place, and you would be fine."

 He added, "We as human beings have certain basic things such as our ability to hear, see, sex life, work etc. If there is a dysfunction, they get impacted by our mental state, and the symptoms reflect in loss of appetite, difficulty in sleeping, lack of sexual desire, change in mood and for some, strange thoughts."

Focusing on the dysfunction some persons endures at work, Dr Mfodwo noted, "if there is a dysfunction in work output, whether it is as a result of an accident you had, or you could not write the notes or any other issue, there is s dysfunction, and it could impact your mental state."

Of course, these are not the only instances that affect a person’s mental health. The CEO goes on to list others "another broad range stressor that we ignore a lot is a chronic illness like diabetics hypertension which have now become very common.

"It is stressful for people getting to know that they have these conditions then it is even more stressful for them to know that they have to take medications daily for these and some of these medications have certain side effects. And some of these conditions have complications like stroke. So these are parallel stresses that are going on which have their mental health significance which eventually impacts on the body as well.’’

Dr Yao Mfodwo further notes, "there is something in the body called the hypothermic tricriteria adrenal axes or pathway and that is responsible for a lot of the changes concerning stress.

"There is clear evidence that when there are internal and external stresses, this pathway is impacted significantly, and it manifests in different ways in the body."

So after you have noticed all these changes in your body and health, what do you do? "seek help, seek help, seek help." That’s the utmost advice by Dr Mfodwo. The doctor touched on the mental health of trans sexual persons.

"From research and whatever, being gay, lesbian and bisexual, is not a mental illness matter. However, let me explain with this simple definition ‘a delusion is a fixed false belief that is not amenable to reason, and all those around you can see that what you are doing or saying doesn’t make sense. That is delusional."

Dr Mfodwo added, "so if you say you are black whiles you are white, and everyone can see your features, then your thinking process is delusional."

Noting that there is help for this delusion, Dr Mfodwo concludes, "a lot of these trans staff that people are classifying is simply a delusional staff."