Mental Health

1. Mental Health

2. What are Mental Disorders? • Mental Disorder- An illness that affects the mind and reduces a person’s ability to function, to adjust to change, or to get along with others. • Recognizing- Mental health experts see abnormal thoughts, feelings, or behaviors as signs or symptoms, of a mental disorder.

3. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) • Usually appears in childhood • May have difficulty in school, at home, and in social settings. • Symptoms: doesn’t pay attention to details, is disorganized, easily distracted, has trouble working quietly, interrupts others, etc. • When treated with better nutrition, routines, and/or medication, results may be immediate and dramatic.

4. What Causes Mental Illness? • Environment • Experiences (early/recent) • Self-esteem • Physical Causes • Body chemistry (ex: tumor) • Disease • Toxins and drugs (exposure) • Heredity • Genetic

5. Warning Signs • Anxiety- fear caused by a source you can not identify or a source that doesn’t pose as much threat as you think. • Depression • Sudden change in mood or behavior • Physical complaints • Psychosomatic (influenced by emotional factors) • Poor performance

6. Classifications of Mental Disorders • Neurosis • Anxiety disorders, depression & phobias • Common and easily treated • Personality • Dissociative disorders • Not curable • Psychosis • Schizophrenia • Difficult to function in the real world

7. Anxiety Disorders • General Anxiety Disorder: Constant feeling of anxiety and fear with physical symptoms like increased heart rate, shortness of breath, perspiration, shaking, and diarrhea • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Persistent recurring thoughts accompanied with the need to repeatedly perform some action, such as repeatedly washing one’s hands.

8. Anxiety Disorders Continued • Panic Disorder • Intense feelings of terror that occur suddenly without cause • Panic Attacks- fast heart rate, rapid breathing, suffocation, sweating, trembling, chocking sensation, chest discomfort or pain, nausea, dizziness, fear of losing control, out of body sensation. • Phobia • Persistent fear of something: Hydrophobia (fear of water), claustrophobia (fear of small, enclosed spaces), Agoraphobia (fear of public places)

9. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder • People who survive a life-threatening event may develop PTSD. • With this anxiety disorder, people may have flashbacks, nightmares, unable to sleep or concentrate, situations that remind them of the event produce anxiety and they begin to avoid those situations. They may feel guilt because they survived and others did not.

10. Mood Disorders • Mood Disorders: • One mood is experienced almost to the exclusion of other feelings • Usually for a long time and interrupts a person’s ability to complete daily activities. Depression is the most common. • Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depression) • Experiencing exaggerated feelings of euphoria, irritability, depression; exaggerated mood swings; reckless behavior • Depression • Experiencing feelings of sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness for an extended period of time

11. Depression • Clinical Depression- feeling sad or hopeless for months. It can cause problems in one’s school, home and social life. • Depression can lead to substance abuse, serious behavior problems and suicide. • Signs: Changes in appetite, sleep patterns, loss of energy, loss of interest in activities, hopelessness, boredom, guilt, thoughts of death or suicide and more. • Risk Factors- A major life change, a parent or a close biological relative with a mood disorder, or a previous bout of depression. • Treatment- possible medication and counseling.

12. Self-Injury • 1 example of self-harm is cutting (cutting is the use of a sharp object to cut deep enough to bleed) or burning the skin. • Self-injury is an unhealthy way to deal with emotions, stress or traumatic events. • People who self-harm try to cover their scares with long sleeves and pants. • Those who use self-harm to cope need to seek help from a trusted adult and mental health professional.

13. Suicide • Suicide- is the intentional killing of oneself. • Risk Factors- Mood disorder (like depression) is a major risk factor. Previous attempts or a family history, feeling of hopelessness, lack of access to mental health professionals, being influenced by family, peers or celebrities. • Protective Factors- school and close relationships with family and friends. • Cluster Suicides- A series of suicides within a short period of time within a peer group or community.

14. Other Disorders • Dissociative Disorders- A person believes that sometimes he or she is really someone else. • Impulse-Control Disorder- Cannot resist the impulse to drive, act, stop a behavior. • Amnesia • Loss of Memory • Multiple Personality Disorder • Having two or more distinct personalities, which can show different physical conditions and are often the exact opposite of each other

15. Eating Disorders • Behaviors that are the result of deep emotional problems related to self-image and self-esteem. • A mental disorder that reveals itself through abnormal behaviors related to food.

16. Bulimia • Uncontrolled eating binges followed by purging, or removing the food from their bodies. • Possible Signs- unable to control eating binges, eating too much food too quickly, eating in private, cycles of weight gain and loss, bathroom visits right after eating, hording or storing food. • Health Risks- Dehydration, kidney damage, a lack of vitamins and minerals, stomach acids erodes enamel from teeth, and/or depression. • Causes- Similar to anorexia, plus use food as a way to feel better but are concerned about gaining weight. • Treatment- Encourage the person to seek help of a mental-health professional.

17. Anorexia Nervosa • Doesn’t eat enough food to maintain a healthy body weight. • Excessive dieting resulting in a state of self-starvation Health Risks- Can starve to death or lose essential minerals causing the heart to stop suddenly and leading to death. Possible Causes- Lack of a chemical that regulates mood, low self-esteem, or a strong desire to please others Treatment- In hospital with doctors, nurses, dieticians, mental health experts and family members help to address the problems.

18. Binge Eating Disorder • Regularly have an uncontrolled urge to eat large amounts of food. - Health Risks- excess weight gain and unhealthy dieting- a risk of diabetes, high blood pressure. They try extreme diets that promise weight loss, the hunger triggers more binges which can trigger more dieting (yo--yo effect) - Possible Causes- Binge eating to avoid difficult emotions, temporary relief, can cause guilt and depression. - Treatment- They need to eat more slowly and deliberately and to address the underlying emotional problems.

19. Personality Disorders • Traits that negatively affect a person’s ability to get along with others • Aggression • Behavior that displays an inner conflict between being dependent and being assertive, which results in erratic moods • Paranoia • Consistent mistrust of others for no reason • Antisocial Personality Disorder • Showing a preference to remain distant from others

20. Other Disorders • Organic Disorders • Mental and emotional disorders resulting from a physical cause • Schizophrenia • Impaired perceptions, thinking processes, emotional health, and physical activity • Hypochondriasis (A Somatoform Disorder) • Believing and showing signs of serious illness without any physical cause

21. Seeking Help • When to seek professional help: • Prolonged feeling of depression and hopelessness • Feeling that life is out of control • The inability to concentrate and make decisions • Difficulty getting along with family and friends • Intense fears • Persistent difficulty sleeping • Emotional problems coping with a physical illness • Inability to stop destructive behaviors like drinking, overeating, and abusing drugs

22. Therapy • Medication • Talk Therapy • Group Therapy • Play Therapy • Alternative • Relaxation techniques, meditation, music therapy or art therapy

23. Professional Careers in Mental Health • Psychiatrist • Prescribes medicine • Psychologist • Diagnoses and treats • Substance Abuse Counselor • Counsels people with drug and alcohol addictions • Psychotherapy- insight (to better understand why a person acts a certain way) Cognitive and behavioral therapy. Drug therapy and Hospitalization.

24. People With Healthy Personalities… • Are self-disciplined • Are trustworthy • Like themselves • Are responsible • Will help others

25. People With Healthy Personalities… • Feel valuable • Get along well with others • Express emotions in healthful ways • Solve problems in a constructive manner • Have a philosophy and purpose of life

26. Optimism • Make a list of all the positive things you expect will happen to you in the future. Then list any of the bad things that you think could happen in the future as well. Now look at your lists. Have you described more positive things or more negative things? How could you revise your lists to look at each negative event with optimism?