Mental Illness
The term that refers collectively to all mental disorders, which are health conditions characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning. – U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, SAMHSA
Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions of the brain that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.
Serious mental illnesses include:
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major depression,
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schizophrenia
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bipolar disorder
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Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
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Panic disorder
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Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
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Borderline personality disorder
Possible Mental Illness Warning Signs:
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Change in thinking, mood or behavior
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Confusion, poor concentration, indecision
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Depression, apathy, sleeping pattern changes
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Anxiety, fear, withdrawal
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Inappropriate emotion responses to people or events
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Feelings of losing control
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Addiction to chemicals, people or events
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Thinking or talking about suicide
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Delusions, hallucinations
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Violence
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Illegal substance abuse and alcoholism
Mental illness, like other medical conditions, can be managed and prevented from being a barrier to success.
Mental illnesses cross all demographics. Mental illnesses can not be attributed to personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing. You cannot blame a person for contracting a mental illness any more than you can cancer or type I diabetes.
Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can reduce their symptoms by educating themselves on their illness and actively engaging in a plan to treat the illness.
Mental Illnesses treatments can be categorized as somatic or psychotherapeutic. Somatic treatment generally refers to pharmaceutical therapy. Psychotherapeutic treatments involve individual, group, family/marital, and behavioral therapies.
Most studies suggest that for major mental health disorders, a treatment approach involving both drugs and psychotherapy is more effective than either treatment method used alone.
The availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends, and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery. |
