STRUGGLES BEYOND OUR SIGHT: MENTAL HEALTH AND WHAT IT IS
There are many times in which we have fallen ill to a certain disease or condition. We usually go to the physician’s office to get checked, and afterwards stride to the pharmacists to get our medication.
However, have you ever sought to know or feel at times like you were sick and ill mentally on a particular day? Or were you able to feel it coming on like a common cold or stomach problem with a few symptoms?
Better yet, what would do if you could read people's minds?
Anyway, those are only in the movies. For now, let’s
talk about mental health to learn more about this.
What is mental health?
In
a couple of instances, we have felt stressed, disappointment, frustration,
anger, excitement, elation and many other states, which have come from various
places in our day-to-day lives. Ultimately, they have distracted the way we
think, feel and behave, which makes us seem to stray aware from what we
typically are on an average day.
For example, you think you are not going to
meet a famous person you have admired for a while, and then they surprise you
by coming to your school, and you are excited. You have an exam on a certain
day and someone stole your revision book, and you are enraged. Likewise, you
are driving on the road and someone knocks your car and drives off, leaving you
furious.
Therefore,
just like physical health can be affected by disease, disorder or dysfunction,
which impairs our breathing, walking, eating and many more, our mental health
can be impaired by disorders, day-to-day stressors and experiences which are
severe, and causes us to think differently, experience complicated emotions and
eventually behave differently.
According
to the World Health Organization (WHO), Mental Health is described as
the state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of
life, realize their abilities, learn well and work well and contribute to their
community.
The
peak state of mental well-being is where we would all ideally wish to be. This
means we would be unconflicted and be able to properly function our day-to-day
activities, however, due to the changes in our own selves as well as
environment some issues often tend to affect our mental health in one way or
another. This can happen regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity.
These
changes ultimately, can give rise to mental health issues that can be
unbearable and difficult to manage. Some of the factors that can possibly
affect mental health are:
-
Socioeconomic factors:
Various socioeconomic conditions can expose individuals to stressors that can
lead to mental health issues. This can include poverty and unemployment, which
can lead to financial stress, and be a huge risk factor to lead an individual
to have deteriorating mental well-being, and ultimately health issues
-
Childhood adversity: Individuals who have experienced adverse
conditions during their upbringing in childhood are highly likely to develop
problems with their mental health. Some of these adverse conditions can involve
parental loss through neglect or death, which can leave children vulnerable to
life stressors they are too young to handle, others can include experiencing
violent parental fights and conflicts that can leave children vulnerable to
traumatic scenes, abuse from predators who disguise themselves as helpers.
-
Biological factors:
This involves the impact of one’s biological changes in their body which can
create changes which influence a person’s mental health. This can include, a
family’s genetic history which involves transfer of mental illness or behaviors
from generations. Others can develop from development of physical ailments
which could be terminal and lead to deteriorating mental well-being.
Given
mental well-being is a state in which we are clear in our thoughts, emotions
and behaviour and at times it gets affected by certain factors, this brings
about a couple of mental disorders/illnesses that exist and often affect our
mental health.
Types of mental disorders
Mental
illness can be defined as health conditions that involve changes in thinking
and thoughts, emotions and behaviour or a combination of these three aspects
that are affected.
These
changes lead to significant alterations in an individual’s relationships, work
and personal relationships including family and marriage.
Some
of the mental disorders include:
- Anxiety
disorders: Anxiety happens to everyone from time to time but
for someone with an anxiety disorder, they have excessive and irrational
anxiety which may not seem obvious or have a logical reason. Some of the
disorders include, generalized anxiety disorders, social phobias,
panic disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) and post-traumatic
stress disorders (PTSD).
- Behavioural
disorders in children: Children often have unexplainable
moods and behaviours, however some of them may be outside the norm for a
certain age and at times stem from temporary stressors in the child’s life.
Some of the behavioural disorders include, Oppositional Defiant Disorder
(ODD), Conduct Disorder (CD) and Attention Deficiency Hyperactive
Disorder (ADHD).
- Bipolar
disorder: This type of disorder is characterized by extreme
high (mania) and low moods (depressive). The types of bipolar disorder include,
Bipolar 1, which involve longer lasting depressive episodes than mania. Bipolar
2, which involve less severe mood shifts than bipolar 1, but often becomes
chronic (on going and having relapses). Finally, cyclothymic disorder,
which has less severe symptoms of both bipolar 1 and 2, but mood shifts are
present.
- Depression:
It is a mental disorder characterized by low mood, loss of interest and
enjoyment in activities once enjoyed and reduced energy. Types of depression
include, major depressive disorder and at times can exist with others such as bipolar,
dysthymic and cyclothymic disorders, postnatal depression and seasonal
affective disorder.
- Dissociation
and dissociative disorders: These types of disorders, involve
a mental process where a person disconnects from their thoughts, feelings,
memories and sense of identity. Types of dissociation and dissociative disorders
include dissociative amnesia, depersonalization-derealization
disorder and dissociative identity disorder.
- Eating disorders: This type of disorder is characterized by the individuals suffering dissatisfaction with their body, mood disorders and drastic habits with their consumption of food. Types of eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, which is characterized by restricted eating, weight loss and fear of gaining weight. Bulimia nervosa which is characterized by binge eating and followed by excessive efforts to lose the weight gained by the food due to shame. Binge eating disorder, which involves recurrent periods of consumption of large amounts of food.
- Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder: It is characterized by obsessions and
compulsions. Individuals experience, recurrent and persistent thoughts, images
or impulses that are intrusive and unwanted (obsessive), on the other hand,
they also perform, repetitive and ritualistic actions that are excessive,
time-consuming and distressing (compulsions). Obsessions could involve, fear of
being contaminated with germs in environments, excessive concerns with religion
and morality, while compulsions could involve excessive hand washing, always
having to practice rigid rules and routines to daily practices and placement of
objects in their surroundings.
- Paranoia:
It
is characterized by the persistent fear and feeling that someone or people are
“out to get you” or that you are the subject of persistent, intrusive attention
by others. The three types of paranoia include, paranoid personality
disorder, which is the mildest type, and individuals can often perform
daily activities despite their mistrust of the world. Delusional (paranoid)
disorder, which involves the individuals behaviour being dictate by a delusion
(false belief) which they have, for example, the narrative could be they have
been trusted by God to stop all the evil in the world and stop demons
controlling countries. This delusion could lead to irrational acts and
behaviours. Lastly, paranoid schizophrenia, which is the most severe,
involves an individual, having strange delusions which have them believing
their thoughts are being broadcasted on radio and hallucinations (auditory,
visual and tactile), which makes the world very confusing for them.
- Post-traumatic
stress disorder: It is a disorder that often develops
after an individual has experienced a traumatic event causing them to
frequently have trouble overcoming and managing the emotions and thoughts that
the traumatic experiences brings back.
- Psychosis:
Individuals
with psychosis, often experience delusions, hallucinations and confused
thinking. Due to this experience, they often are unable to distinguish what is
real and what is not, in their environment. Types of psychosis, include, brief
reactive psychosis, which arise due to stressful events but do not last
long. Drug induced psychosis, which is caused by the indulgence in drugs
which can eventually impair someone’s perception of reality. Schizophrenia,
which involves psychotic symptoms. Bipolar where psychosis can occur. Lastly,
psychotic depression which can involve depression that is severe and cause
psychosis
- Schizophrenia:
It
is a complex psychotic disorder, characterized by disruptions to thinking,
emotions and perceptions of reality. Individuals may have hallucinations,
delusions and impaired thoughts. A key symptom of schizophrenia is psychosis
which involves delusions and hallucinations and makes it hard for them to
perceive what is real in their environment.
They
are many other mental disorders but the following described are only some of
the most common ones.
Despite
the presence of these mental illnesses, they are people trained to deal with
them and help individuals to get back to their normal lives.
This
may firstly begin by a psychiatrist making a clear diagnosis after performing
relevant tests, after which adequate prescriptions of medication are made.
Additionally, psychotherapies may be used to
help the individuals cope with the life changes that come with living with a
mental disorder.
At
times, certain lifestyle changes can help people living with a mental disorder
have a better quality of life.
Conclusion
Mental
health, just like physical health, is something that needs to be taken care of
and managed in order not to fall into an unhealthy situation.
It
is a part of everyone’s everyday life, and aspects of it, are something not to
feel ashamed about, should they need attention to be managed.
Despite
its nature, which may seem unsuspecting to people around you, it is always good
to seek a professional when things seem unusual and uncomfortable.
References
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154543
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2005/03/low-ses
https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness
Comments
Post a Comment