Mental Illness

What is Mental Illness?

Symptoms:

Symptoms for any kind of mental illness are stated below:

· Not being able to concentrate

· Feeling fear of something continuously

· Feeling guilt for some past incident

· Not interacting with friend or family

· Not participating in any kind of social activities

· Use of drugs and alcohol

· Suicidal thoughts

· Extreme anger

· Hostility or violence

· Considerable changes in eating habits

· Feeling sad

· Sometimes symptoms of mental illness might also appear as a physical health problem such as headache, stomach pain or unnecessary pains or aches

Causes:

· Inherited traits:

Sometimes people suffer mental illness due to their genes or family history. The genes passes it on from one generation to the next and this way it keeps going on. It is rather more common in people whose blood relatives have had suffered from some kind of mental disorder.

· Brain Chemistry:

There are some naturally occurring brain chemicals called Neurotransmitters that carry signals and messages from one part of the body to other. When neural network carrying any of these chemicals get damaged or weakened, it leads to depression and other emotional disorders.

· Alcohol or recreational drugs:

Overuse of alcohol or any recreational drugs or any recreational drugs can also result in mental disorders. For example, according to a research using cannabis can increase the chances of schizophrenia. Alcohol can cause some of the mental health disorders feel worse.

· Being alone or isolated:

Being alone during a difficult period of time or when suffering from something might also cause mental illness. It makes you feel helpless, it makes you feel bad that no one is there to help you when you need it, it makes you feel that you are not a good person because no one want to be with you. You have to be rather very strong and determined to go through this period of time alone but as nothing is permanent, so keep believing in yourself, be patient and keep believing in God and you shall get through this in a blink of an eye.

· Early life environment:

Early life experiences and environment can really have a huge impact on people and can even increase the chances of them having to suffer through some kind of mental illness. Some of the major early life problems are child abuse, lack of parents attention, inequality between siblings or being bullied by some children in school. These few factors can cause some serious mental health problems to individuals as they grow up.

Diagnosis:

Physical examination:

Diagnosing a mental disorder is a multiphase process. At first the doctor would ask you to perform a physical exam because some of the physical health issues share symptoms with mental health issues which might lead to misdiagnosis. Physical health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, respiratory diseases, over or under active thyroid, peptic ulcers or chronic pain can mimic the symptoms of anxiety. Some of the other physical health issues such as chronic fatigue syndrome, vitamin D deficiency, allergies, sleep apnea, certain cancers or lyme disease can mimic the symptoms of depression.

Psychological Evaluation:

So after going through proper physical examination, we move to the next step that is psychological evaluation. During psychological evaluation a doctor or a mental health specialist talks to you about your symptoms, emotions, feelings, thoughts and behaviour, asks about your opinion that why and when it happens. You may also be asked to fill out a questionnaire to help answer these questions in proper and more detailed manner. After that, your responses are carefully evaluated according to some prescribed guidelines. Your scores in those questionnaires are thought to reflect your psychological state and according to them the type of your mental illness is being determined.

Mental illness being stigmatized:

It really saddens me to say that in many countries all over the world especially Pakistan mental illness is being stigmatized and is being considered a taboo stopping people from stepping forward and consulting a mental health specialist. People suffering from any kind of mental illness rather than consulting a mental health professional or sharing it with their loved ones prefer to keep it to themselves which further worsens their condition as time passes and no longer be treatable. And there is not a single justifiable reason for considering mental illness a stigma or a taboo. While when you get sick, catch cold, fever or any kind of physical illness you contact a doctor. So, why don’t you contact a mental health specialist or psychiatrist when you are going through some sort of stress, depression or mental breakdown? You emotions, feelings, thoughts are being affected, but you still keep it to yourself rather than seeking proper assistance from a mental professional. Don’t your feelings, emotions or thoughts matter? We as individuals and as a society need to change our way of thinking, stop judging people for what they are, stop spreading hatred, stop being jealous of the ones who are successful and most importantly stop considering mental illness a stigma or a taboo and start encouraging people suffering through any kind of mental illness to come forward and seek proper medical assistance. Mental illness is also as much a disease as cancer or a heart disease and should be considered one too rather than thinking of it as a taboo. We should look around at our loved ones, our friends and if you notice any change in their behaviour, we must ask them if anything is wrong and be with them in that difficult period of time because sometimes you don’t really notice any changes in your behaviour as the people around you do. I would finish up by saying that mental health needs to be prioritized just as much as physical health.

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