MENTAL ILLNESS What is Mental Illness We classify

MENTAL ILLNESS

What is Mental Illness? We classify mental illness as a disorder of the mind. It is looked at as behaviour that is abnormal but this is very vague. We all have ups and downs but a mental illness would be an abnormal behaviour which has a debilitating effect on the individual/society. Two key criteria: Persistent personal unhappiness and inability to function in society Antisocial behaviour that harms other people

Changing Views of Mental Illness (and Wellness) Mental Health week Are you fine or phine? Bell Media’s Let’s Talk New forms of treatment and better identification of mental illness as well as less stigma around it Psychotherapy to help people

Types of Mental Illness General Anxiety Disorder: anxiety that seems to have an immediate cause – fear that dreadful things will happen resulting in feeling overwhelmed and unable to function. Phobias: a form of fear or anxiety around certain objects or situations. Freud felt that these were defences against anxiety that a situation involved. Solutions: Freud: find and deal with the real cause Skinner: conditioning techniques that associate pleasant experiences with feared objects

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: a form of anxiety It is an obsession with persistent, unwanted thoughts. Obsession may lead to compulsion (a tendancy to perform an act repeatedly in order to relieve the anxiety).

Mood Disorders Major Depression: a deep unhappy feeling with little pleasure in life. Associated with anxiety, sleep problems, changes in appetite and sometimes suicidal thoughts. This is a treatable disease. Bipolar Affective Disorder: extreme mood changes far beyond the range of “Normal” Manic stage: confused and aggressive behaviour, exaggerated gaiety, unlimited energy and difficult sleeping Depression: extreme fatigue, sadness and a sense of futility

Schizophrenic Disorders Schizophrenia is marked by a distortion of reality, social withdrawal and disturbance of thought and perception, motor activity and emotions. Different symptoms: delusions, apathy, hallucinations

Personality Disorders Psychopaths: have little or total disregard for the rights and well being of others No remorse or guilt Lasting relationships are hard Sometimes referred to as sociopathy – less stigma

Substance-Related Disorders Harmful use of substances leading to significant impairment or distress Referred to substance “abuse” or substance “dependence” User becomes physically and mentally addicted, requiring increasing amounts of the substance to achieve desired effect