Balanced care and coping guide 353

Mental illness rarely stays still. Left untreated, it tends to shape itself around a person’s life, their work, their relationships, their body, and their sense of what is normal. That is part of what makes it dangerous. People often imagine a dramatic collapse, some obvious crisis that makes the problem undeniable. More often, the decline is gradual. Sleep worsens. Focus slips. Irritability becomes constant. Alcohol use creeps up. Someone who once managed bills, meals, and