Mental Health

Mental illness is characterised by abnormal behaviour and talk causing distress and suffering to the person and  the people around.

Other symptoms are:

depression,

insomnia or excessive sleeping,

impulsive actions,

feeling of hopelessness,

serious thought of suicide,

unreasonable phobias,

partial or complete loss of memory,

self-destructive behaviour ,

delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations ,

vocal and social dysfunctioning.

About 1% of the world population suffers from serious mental  illness and 10% from mild mental disorders.

Mental illness are of 3 types:

Psychosis :

Severe mental disorder resulting in madness, the individual is not aware of his illness, refuses to take help

Patients are incapable of functioning normally in society and requires hospitalization.

Neurosis :

Mild type disorder with excessive or prolonged emotional reactions (anger, fear, sadness, vague aches etc.), as variety of phobias; remain in

touch with reality and always seek help.

Epilepsy

Characterised by fits of convulsions, the person suddenly loses consiousness and falls down.

Causes of Mental Illness

Caused by a variety of factors acting singly or together:

Changes in the brain functions

Hereditary factors

Childhood experiences

Home atmosphere

Social factors

Important psychological disorders are as follows:

Anxiety disorders :

Neurotic anxiety develops due to over-reaction to stressful events.

Associated with a range of unpleasant bodily symptoms, like palpitation, sweating, nausea, trembling, diarrhoea and muscular tension.

Obsessive-compulsive disorders :

Cause total disability and affect a person’s waking hours.

Patients manifest overwhelming obsessions and compulsions.

Most common obsession are violence, concern about infection by germs or dirt, and constant doubts.

Attention deficit disorder :

Common among children; occurs more in boys than in girls.

Boys exihibit underachievement, behavioural problems and a tendency to be disliked by other children.

 Mood disorders :

Occasional bouts of high or low mood i.e.- elation and depression.

Depression characterised by sadness, hopelessness, low self-esteem, decline in interest, energy, concentration and changes in sleep pattern and appetite.

Can be bipolar i.e.-depressed mood may alternate with exaggerated arousal and overactivity, like non-stop and quick talking, taking multiple tasks at the sametime etc.

Endogeneous depressions arise from internal biochemical or genetic factors; symptoms include lethargy, self-hatred, exhaustion, erratic sleep pattern and uncontrolled weeping.

Schizophrenia :

Distorted or broken thoughts.

Laughing/crying at completely inappropiate times.

Disturbed emotions with rapid shifts from one extreme response to other.

Incoherent and bizzarre behaviour lasting for a week or more.

Delusions, hallucinations and difficulty in handling even the simplest jobs.

Borderline Personality Disorder(BPD)

Emotionally unstable personality disorder characterised by impulsiveness, unpredictable moods, emotional outbursts, behavioural explosions as quarrel and conflicts with others.

Individuals generally experience episodic depressions, anxiety, and irritability.

Relationships with other individuals are chaotic, intense but hard to give up.

Tend to injure, mutilate or kill themselves, and have little sense of self since they feel empty.  

Treatement of Mental Disorders

Main reason for psychosis or mental depression is low activity of norepinephrine and serotonin Antipsychotic drugs are like phenothiazine and lithium. Their mode of action is to block the action of dopamine, that enhances nerve activity in the brain.

Shock (or electrocution) treatement(ECT), in some cases, results dramatic improvement.

Psychotherapy helps a person in adjusting himself to the surroundings.

Social therapy (rehabilitation) play an important role.