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Essay on mental health awareness
Essay on mental health awareness
Essay on mental health awareness
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Mental Health Care in the US Having an understanding of mental health is a vital aspect to maintain the overall health of an individual. Mental health care is underfunded and misunderstood, so many individuals may not receive the care they need. Some individuals may not recognize that mental health and physical health are correlated. Mental health, according to the World Health Organization, is referred to as a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community (Healey & Evans, 2015). Mental health illnesses such as stress or depression may lead to the abuse of drugs, tobacco, …show more content…
ICD-10, the primary care version of the mental disorders classification, was designed by an international group of general practitioners, family physicians, mental health workers, public health experts, social workers, psychiatrists and psychologists with a special interest in mental health problems in primary care (WHO, 1996). There are three groups of mental illnesses. These include psychotic, nonpsychotic, and mood disorders, each with a wide range of characteristics. The main psychotic disorder is schizophrenia, which is a brain disorder affecting a person’s thinking, language, emotions, social, behavior, and ability to perceive reality accurately. The cause of schizophrenia is unknown to this day, but it is now seen to be a generational in families (Healey & Evans, 2015). The emphasis of treatment includes the maintenance of stress, reducing disconcerting symptoms to diminish reoccurrence of such …show more content…
A panic disorder is when you have panic attacks brought on by excessive anxiety and stress. Treatments for panics are concentrating on long term management as an alternative to short term relief. Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD), includes performing ritualistic activities and can include upsetting repetitive thoughts on a daily basis. The best treatments for OCD is cognitive behavioral therapy as well as taking antidepressants. Another type of nonpsychotic disorders is general anxiety that comprises of extensive worrying and can cause a person to unrealistically stress over a situation. This disorder is fairly easy to maintain, you can practice stress relieving techniques and try not to consume too much caffeine or alcohol. There is also a phobia disorder. Phobias are present in about 13.3 percent of the population, and is defined as persistent fear of harmless objects or harmless situations that causes people to avoid them. Many individuals may not pursue assistance for their condition but some try to overcome them. In order to overcome a phobia, patients may be gradually desensitized to that specific phobia and may also go through behavioral therapy. Another common disorder is posttraumatic stress disorder. Individuals who face a traumatic situation at some point in their life, such as war, death of a parent, or a serious
Panic disorder- sudden intense and unprovoked feelings of terror and dread. People who suffer from this disorder generally develop strong fears about when and where their next panic attack will occur, and often restrict their activities as a result.
Mental illness plagues one out of four American citizens. Mental illness varies greatly from person to person. The spectrum of mental illness includes many illnesses including, depression and anxiety as well as some more serious illnesses such as Down syndrome. All mental illness plays a role in how this person is going to function in society. These individuals have unique needs and individual strengths that need evaluated for proper care.
People with a psychosis have difficulty dealing with day to day. Living in poverty or an abusive environment places serious strain on an individual’s mental health (Association, 2001). There is thought to be three causes to mental illness (Association, 2001). The first is genetic and some researchers suggest the mental illness is inherited (Association, 2001). Psychological is the second and this is when the individual expresses low self esteem which can lead to depression. The third is socio-cultural, or stressor of life. This is when the family structure or ways of communication could induce abnormal behaviour (Association, 2001).
Mental health can be seen as a continuum where illnesses are defined as patterns of behaviour that cause psychological suffering, distress and disability preventing adequate functioning with the potential of risk of harm to the self or others (Martins-Mourao, 2010, p. 92).
Severe anxiety, which can be described as an episode of terror, is referred to as a panic attack. Panic attacks can be extremely frightening. People who experience panic attacks over a prolonged time period may become victims of agoraphobia, which is a psychiatric disorder that is closely associated with the panic disorder. Patients with Agoraphobia avoid certain places or situations such as airplanes, crowded theaters, a grocery store or anyplace from which escape might be difficult. It is said that Agoraphobia can be so severe that it has made certain individuals housebound.
Bearing in mind that an anxiety response is a result of various factors, there are different types of anxiety disorders. The most common type of anxiety disorders as described as specific phobias, social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). According to Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) (2016), specific phobias affect about 19 million adults in the U.S, while SAD affects 15 million, PD affects 6 million, GAD affects about 6.8 million, OCD affects about 2.2 million and PTSD affects 7.7 million adults respectively. Considering that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S, yet only about one-third of those suffering receive treatment (ADAA, 2016).
Anxiety disorder is a type of abnormal behavior characterized by unrealistic, irrational fear. These types of disorders are diagnosed two as often in women as in men. Although these disorders can be very chronic and serious, they are easily treatable. Generalized anxiety disorder is when people experience fear and worry that is not focused on one specific aspect; nevertheless, they suffer greatly with headaches, dizziness, heart palpitations, and insomnia. Obsessive-compulsive disorder, better known as OCD, involves persistent, unwanted, obsessions and irresistible urges to perform compulsions in order to relieve anxiety. Unlike other anxiety disorders, OCD consists more of anxiety and worry rather than fear itself. Many people who experience OCD are aware that there is no motive behind their actions, however their anxiety is heightened when they try to ignore the compulsions. People with such anxiety disorders often experience sensitivity to other people’s views as well as worry over their surroundings.
Mental health is just as important as physical health in a person’s life. Mental health is critical to a person’s well-being, their ability to live a productive life and to keep a healthy family and interpersonal relationships. Mental health does not just affect the mind it also affects people’s physical health. Some physical health diseases can cause a mental health disorder and vice versa. Mental health disorders are associated with the occurrence, development, and outcome of some of the today’s most chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. When people go untreated from a mental health disorder are at a higher risk for many unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and drug use, violent behavior, and suicide.
Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. Every person experiences some form of anxiety in his or her lifetime. Anxiety helps us deal with tense situations like using our flight or fight reaction, study harder for an exam, or keep focus on important deadlines. Anxiety can be useful until it gets to the point of interfering with everyday life. Some people explain it as not being able to shut the anxiety off. When anxiety becomes an excessive, irrational dread of everyday situations, it becomes a disabling disorder (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). Each year, anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009). There are five major Anxiety Disorders they include Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Phobias.
A panic disorder is when one person has reoccurring bursts of anxiety and fear resulting in adverse physical symptoms that can last for many minutes (American Psychiatric Association & American Psychiatric Association 2013). These attacks can happen to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. The disorder is closely related to other disorders and often times are paired with other disorders such as agoraphobia (American Psychiatric Association et al. 2013). This disorder is debilitating to the people that it affects but can be treated and lived with. Often time’s individuals with this disorder live a good life but sometimes the individual’s have such intense attacks that they can barely leave the house for fear of having an attack.
In general, mental health has been defined as multifaceted based on six dimensions behavioral, cognitive, socio-political, effective, spiritual and psychological. In addition, mental health comprise of spiritual and emotional resilience that help an individual to continue surviving after sadness, disappointments and pains have occurred(Thomas, 2016). However, mental illness in refers to a mental health problem that involves the changes in
Mental disorders are rapidly becoming more common with each new generation born in the world. Currently, nearly one in two people suffer from some form of depression, anxiety, or other mental health problem at some point in their lives (Editor). With so many people suffering from their mental illnesses, steps have been taken in order to get help needed for these people but progress has been slow. In the medical world, hospitals are treating those with physical problems with more care than those with mental problems. Prescription drugs can only do so much helping the mentally ill go through their daily lives and more should be done to help those who need more than medicine to cope with their illness. Mental health should be considered just as important as physical health because of how advanced physical healing is, how the public reacts to those with mental illness, and due to the consequences that could happen if the illness is not correctly helped.
It is deeply alarming that ignoring mental health is systematically ignored as an important part of health promotion. This is shocking because, in theory, mental health is recognized as an important component of health, the close link between physical and mental health is recognized, and it is generally known that physical and mental health share many of the same social, environmental and economic components. We know that facilities dedicated to those with mental health problems are more vulnerable to the resources of physical diseases in many parts of the world, and it is essential that mental health promotion should not be equally affected
Mental illness is the condition that significantly impede with an individual’s emotional, cognitive or social abilities (Savy and Sawyer, 2009). According to (Savy and Sawyer, 2009) neurological, metabolic, genetic and psychological causes are contributing factors for various types of mental illness like depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse and progression of condition. An elaborate system known as DSM-IV-TR gives a classification system that acts to separate mental illness into diagnostic categories based on the description of symptoms of illness (Savy and Sawyer, 2009). The exact primarily causes of mental illness are complicated, however, it seems to occur in a psychologically and biologically prone individual, in the trigger of environmental and social stress (Elder, Evans and Nizette, 2007).
Today, the numbers of people with mental health issues are considerably high. The problem increases the national and global social and economic burdens as governments try to find means of empowering the people with the issue and solve the problem. Today, one in five adults in the United States has a mental health problem (“Mental Health Facts,” 2016). “Mental Health Facts” (2016) also states that the adults that received mental health services are about 60%. Only 50% of the youth with mental health issues received mental health services in the previous year. Further, mental health issues are also related to drug use and addiction. Of all the mental illnesses and disorders, depression affects the most people and has the biggest burden globally. Due to the increasing burden and the gap in service utilization, the mental health policy seeks to address several factors. Some of the key issues to address include early diagnosis of mental disorders, provision of appropriate and adequate intervention a particular problem, education and counseling for the family members, and research to help reduce the numbers and reverse the trend. Another key area of focus is the use of mass media to create awareness about mental health issues and help clear the