BY SANDRA GUY

A pandemic year’s experience could make anyone’s hair turn gray — or make you feel as though you could pull every hair out of your head.

Is it time to get help? The month of May — recognized for the past 72 years as Mental Health Awareness Month — offers the perfect time to try a “Tools 2 Thrive” assessment and to research professional resources to figure out your situation.

One tool — MHAscreening.org — offers online quizzes to gauge your level of anxiety, depression and other feelings.

If your efforts at exercising, meditating, praying and other coping mechanisms have done little to assuage your fears or anxieties or outright obsessions, experts say you should contact a mental health professional.

Do your thoughts interfere with your life? Are you neglecting yourself or others? Has your appetite, sleep patterns and/or emotional reactions changed dramatically during COVID? Do you feel worthless, irritable or even euphoric, and you know that you’re ignoring what’s really eating you?

Perhaps you’ve been taught that seeking help is a sign of weakness or a waste of time and money. In fact, it’s the opposite, experts say. It’s the most important step you can take to regain joy, meaning and vital relationships.

No pill will instantly change your life. It’s work — hard work, emotionally draining and, yes, sometimes frustrating. It’s worth it.