Transcript Mental Illnesses

Understanding
Mental Health
& Mental Illness
What is
Mental Health??
Mental health refers to the maintenance of
successful mental activity.
This includes maintaining productive daily activities
and maintaining fulfilling relationships with others.
It also includes maintaining the abilities to
adapt to change and to cope with stresses.
• Mental health and mental illness are
complicated terms, partly because
there are lots of different causes of
mental health issues and a whole range
of different symptomsfor each one.
There are some simple things that you
can do to help look after your mental
health.
• Generally speaking, our mental health refers to
our state of mind and our ability to cope with the
everyday things that are going on around us.
Someone with ‘good’ mental health usually feels
capable of dealing with the different everyday
situations that they find themselves in. When we
have a mental illness, this process is often a lot
more difficult.
• Mental illnesses are really common people
between the ages of 14-25 will experience
mental illness.
• Keep in mind that this is a simplified
definition of mental health and that it’s
totally normal for everyone to have mental
health issues - that is, to go through ups
and downs. It is only when the difficulties
start to hang ‫ شنق‬around for a while and it
feels like nothing can make them go away
that they may be considered a mental
illness
• It is definitely NOT easy being a teenager!
• Sometimes it’s tough to avoid feeling
stressed, and pressure can build up in
many areas of life (socially, in school, at
home, and while making big life decisions)
• Worrying about these pressures is
NORMAL.
• But feeling VERY sad, hopeless or
worthless might be a sign of a mental
health problem.
Mental illness can occur when the brain
(or part of the brain) is not working well
or is working in the wrong way.
When the brain is not working properly,
one or more of its 6
functions will be disrupted
Behavior
Thinking
Perception
Physical
Emotion
Signaling
Symptoms can include
Thinking difficulties
or problems
focusing attention
Extreme emotional
highs and lows
Sleep problems
When these symptoms
significantly disrupt a person’s life,
we say that the person has a
mental disorder
or a mental illness.
So, what are the
CAUSES
of mental illness??
Well, the causes of mental illness are
COMPLICATED!!
+
Genetics
→
Environment Brain Disorder
What do we know about the
causes of mental illness?
The symptoms of mental
illness are a result of
abnormal brain functioning.
Mental illness is a brain
disorder.
Mental illness is rarely if
ever caused by stress alone
What do we know about the
causes of mental illness?
It is not the consequence of poor
parenting or bad behavior.
It is not the result of personal
weakness or deficits in personality.
It is not the manifestation of
‫الحقد‬malevolent spiritual intent.
Only in exceptional cases is it caused
by nutritional factors.
It is not caused by poverty.
What causes mental illnesses?
• Diagnosing a mental illness is no easy
task as there are a huge range of factors
that need to be considered. It’s impossible
to pinpoint the exact cause of a mental
illness, and it’s often likely to be a
combination of a few different things.
Some of the things that may contribute to
mental health issues are:
• Biological factors – mental illnesses can be passed on
genetically from parents to their children. Hormones are
another biological factor that can be responsible for
changes in our mental health.
• Early life events – traumatic events that happened
when we were younger, such as neglect or abuse, can
have a strong influence on our mental health later in life.
• Recent life events – there are lots of events that can
affect our mental health, such as persistent stress from
study or work, or a traumatic event such as the loss of a
loved one.
• Internal factors – mental illnesses can also be
influenced by thoughts and feelings that come
from inside of us, as opposed to from our
surroundings. This can include things like our
body image and self-esteem.
• Misuse of drugs – drugs, including alcohol,
have all sorts of different effects on our brain
and the results are very unpredictable. One of
the common effects of consuming too many
drugs is a negative impact on our mental health.
Many mental illnesses begin during
childhood and persist into
adolescence.
Some of these include:
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD)
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
(GAD
BUT… some illnesses begin
during adolescence.
The illnesses that most often
begin during adolescence
include:
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Major Depression (MD)
Schizophrenia
Bipolar Disorder (BD)
Panic disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder
Eating Disorders
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Addictions
Common signs of mental illness
• There are some things to look out for
when it comes to detecting a mental
illness. However, it’s also really important
to remember that a lot of the tell-tale ‫عالمة‬
‫ إنذار‬signs of mental illnesses are just a
part of life at some point or other for the
vast majority of us. Some of the signs are:
• Loss of interest in activities that you normally
enjoy doing
• Feeling worried
• Constantly being in a bad mood
• Having trouble sleeping, or sleeping way more
than usual
• Crying for no apparent reason
• Feeling ‘down’
• Lack of motivation
• Having trouble concentrating
• Changes in eating habits
• Having trouble performing at school or at
work
• Substance abuse
• Having trouble coping with or participating
in everyday activities
• If you’re experiencing any of these, it
doesn’t necessarily mean that there is
something serious going on, but it’s worth
having a chat to someone you trust about
it. If you have been experiencing many of
these symptoms over a long period of
time, it’s a good idea to chat to someone
you trust and set up an appointment with
your GP to talk it over.
What do we know about
people with mental illnesses?
• Most people with mental disorders live
productive and positive lives while receiving
treatments for their mental illness.
• Some people have severe and persistent
mental disorders which respond poorly to
current treatments (as in all other illnesses)
• Mental illness does not respect any
boundaries of race, class or geography.
• The majority of people have a friend, ‫المعرفة‬
acquaintance or family member who has or
has had a mental disorder.
Mental health problems can be treated!
If you feel VERY sad, stressed or worried, it might help
to talk to someone about how you are feeling.
Do you ever…
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Often feel very angry or very worried?
Do reckless‫ تهور‬things that could harm you or others?
Feel grief for a long time after a loss or a death?
Think your mind is controlled or out of control?
Use alcohol or drugs?
Exercise, diet and/or binge ‫حفلة‬-eat obsessively?‫هواجس‬
Hurt other people or destroy property?‫ممتلكات‬
Do you ever…
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Often feel very angry or very worried?
Do reckless things that could harm you or others?
Feel grief for a long time after a loss or a death?
Think your mind is controlled or out of control?
Use alcohol or drugs?
Exercise, diet and/or binge-eat obsessively?
Hurt other people or destroy property?
If you feel any of these
things, it might help to talk
to a parent, teacher, school
counselor or physician.
How to look after your mental
health
• Although mental illnesses are not always
avoidable, there are some simple things
that we can do all year round to look after
our mental health:
• Exercise (it releases endorphins which can
improve your mood)
• Surround yourself with supportive people
• Put aside some time every day to relax
• Do the things that you enjoy doing
• Stay in touch with your friends and family
• Take advantage of technology. ReachOut has
several mobile apps that makes taking care of
'you' easier.
What do psychiatric-mental
health nurses (PMHN) do?
• Psychiatric mental health nursing is a specialty
within nursing. Psychiatric mental health
registered nurses work with individuals, families,
groups, and communities, assessing their
mental health needs. The PMHN develops a
nursing diagnosis and plan of care, implements
the nursing process, and evaluates it for
effectiveness.
• .assess, diagnose, and treat individuals and
families with psychiatric disorders or the
potential for such disorders using their full scope
of therapeutic skills, including the prescription of
medication and administration of psychotherapy.
• PMH often own private practices and
corporations as well as consult with groups,
communities, legislators, and corporations.