Mental health challenges
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Mental health challenges
Historically, people with mental illness were treated in a possibly inhuman way. Mentally ill victims were confined in facilities that were similar to the modern-day jails, which were characterized by congestion. The victims were isolated and perceived as dangerous and violent. They were not allowed to mingle with other members of society. Challenges in mental health illness can be traced to the asylum prehistoric times. The asylums had become a very notorious warehouse for dealing with the mentally ill victims. The approaches used by asylum were not aimed to cure or treat mental illness victims. The approaches only considered segregating the victims from society. They were perceived to be social misfits, and their suffering was believed to be a result of divine punishment from a supernatural power for some of their transgressions. For instance, in 1887, a journalist in New York carried out an investigation in the Blackwell Island Insane Asylum. He was beaten without reason but detected the conditions inside the asylums were inhumane, cruel, and insane. Mentally ill victims were given the hydrotherapy technique by being submerged in cold water in the belief that it helped to reduce their agitation. Asylum relied commonly on the use of mechanical restraints, such as using waistcoats and other leather wristlets for many hours or even days. The use of these mechanical restrains were perceived by nurses as helping to keep the victims safe while the victims perceived them to control the overcrowding that existed in the institutions.
There have been significant improvements in addressing the challenges associated with mental illness. However, according to the world health organization, modern society has continued to stigmatize people with mental illnesses. Insurance companies deny covering mentally ill victims. Mentally ill people in modern society are denied love by the members of the family and perceived to be dangerous and violent. These results in the isolation of these victims from their families, with some ending up homeless. These worsen their situations. Society stigmatization hinders the efforts of treating mentally ill people. Stigmatization prevents victims from accessing medication and getting treatment. Failure to access treatment worsens their situation and prolongs the duration the victims stay sick. Stigmatization hinders mental health victims from accessing employment opportunities. Organizations perceive the victims as dangerous and violent people, not taking the risks of hiring them in their companies. In a number of cases, the victims are jailed for their actions committed during their conditions.
The common victims of mentally ill in modern society are the young adolescent and alcohol users. According to the world health organization, about two million young people in the world have mental problems such as depression and schizophrenia. Several Adults who show signs of mental health, their status can be traced from their young age. The psychiatrist believes that actions of suicide are more common amongst adolescents. In the modern world, the rate of drug and substance use has been prevalent among young people. Alcohol use worsens the situation of mental health victims through poor outcome treatment. They tend to be more dependent on alcohol, and the mental challenge symptoms worsen. Alcohol victims are likely to suffer from depression. The behavior of consuming alcohol uncontrollable can result in the emergence of depression symptoms, which reduce with the reduction in alcohol consumption. Alcohol use results in mental challenges that result in suicide. Psychiatric studies indicate that the risk of suicidal actions increases with substance use. Alcohol users are likely to develop schizophrenia and violence and aggressiveness. The higher number of schizophrenic patients has consumed alcohol overwhelmingly at a point before the development of the health condition. People under the influence of alcohol tend to exhibit violence and high aggression levels. This aggression and violent nature break relationships and connections with family. Some alcohol users end up mentally challenged due to the loss of families through violence.
Nature and torture are genetic predispositions that have an effect on human behavior. The changes in epigenetic facilitate development neurons in the brain. The change in the structure on the neuron and its functioning is what influence the individual’s behavior change. While nature is influenced by, among other factors, genetic inheritance, nurture is related to the influence of external factors which happen after conception. Results of predisposition are what describe nurture.
The integrated medical model applies a probability approach in making predictions on the medical risks. The medical model approaches the treatment of medical illness from a physical perspective. Psychiatrists treat mental illness the same way a broken arm is treated using physical means. The model associates mental illness to the physical brain functioning. Behaviors such as hallucinations among mentally ill victims are believed to result from extreme phobias such as snake bites. The integrated model of treatment applies the use of both mental health and the use of substances to offer solutions to mental health problems. The integrated medical model solves the challenge of access to medical facilities with the capability to treat diverse disorders.
According to the world health organization, mental illness covers abroad range of challenges with diverse symptoms. Mental illness encompasses abnormal thoughts, behavior, emotions, and relations with other people. Mental illness challenges include schizophrenia, intellectual disability, and depression. Many of the mental illness can be treated with success. I understand medical illness to be deviation of the normal functioning of the mind demonstrated by unusual activity such as hallucinations. It is the inability of the mind to cope with intense pressure resulting in stress, anxiety, and depression.
Brain chemistry has a huge impact on mental health. The existence of an imbalance in the brain happens when the neurotransmitters in the brain are very few or in excess. The neurotransmitters are ideally natural chemicals that are essential in enhancing communication between the various cell nerves. Serotonin is an example of a neurotransmitter. Mental health complications such as anxiety and depression are caused by these imbalances. The theory that studies these imbalances is referred to as the theory of chemical imbalance. Chemical imbalances produce signs and symptoms that are closely associated with mental illness. During the functioning of the brain, many chemical reactions take place. These reactions determine how a person feels or their moods. The theory of the effectiveness of antidepressant medications supports the theory of chemical imbalance.
The environment has a significant influence on mental health. There are physical and social environmental factors that contribute to mental health challenges. The physical environmental causes are those that interfere with the neural chemistry or person’s biological structure. Physical environment causes of mental illness include exposure to toxic fumes and extreme weather conditions at workplaces, and poor nutrition results in depression and anxiety, which in turn trigger mental illness. The social, environmental factors that cause mental health challenges include ethnic and racial factors. People belonging to a different race or ethnic community fail to fit in the societal structure systems due to discrimination. These conditions trigger stress and anxiety, leading to the development of mental disorders. Other social, environmental causes of mental health illness include the lack of religious or spiritual affiliation. People who are not affiliated with certain religions feel isolated and are at risk of developing mental illness.
The diathesis-stress model was developed by Spielman, Caruso, and Glovinsky in 1987. It was the initial model that provided an explanation for the development of insomnia. The model indicated that insomnia develops due to the outcomes of interactions between perpetuating, precipitating, and predisposing factors. People with factors that predispose them such as genetic or psychological factors, develop sleep disturbances when they are exposed to precipitating factors such as psychological and physiological factors. The stress diathesis model outlines the relationship between various mental health causal factors. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders results in the emergence of severe stress. The victims are unable to overcome suicidal thoughts. Family and other genetic factors are components that influence the diathesis model. Diathesis model cites stressors such as mental disorders and how these factors contribute to individuals killing themselves.
Psychologists enable people to overcome mental health challenges. Psychologists apply scientifically proven approaches in offering solutions and encouraging people to develop healthy behaviors that avert mental disorders. Psychology is a treatment process that is based on the relationship between the psychologists and the individual receiving assistance. It provides an ideal opportunity for an individual to speak their minds open to the psychologists. The platform is based on dialogue with the mental health illness victim and the psychologists working in collaboration to discover and identify the patterns that are stressing or causing anxiety to the victim. Psychology does not essentially treat mental health illnesses but offers effective skills in coping with the current challenges as well as other challenges that are likely to come up in life. People seek psychotherapy services when they are anxious or are depressed for long periods. Other people with severe mental conditions seek psychology services to get ways to deal with chronic illnesses that affect their emotions and general wellbeing. People going through tough situations such as divorce also seek psychologist’s services.
One of the types of psychotherapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy. It enables the patients to develop an understanding of the feelings and thoughts that have an effect on their behaviors. CBT is commonly used to treat many mental health disorders, including depression, phobias, anxiety, and addictions. The approach is based on a short term plan and focuses on the specific individual’s problem. Through this approach, people develop skills that enable them to identify the thoughts that are disturbing them and causing them to develop mental illnesses. They learn how to influence these thoughts, improving their emotions. CBT therapy operates on influencing feelings and thoughts, which are critical in influencing behaviors.
Psychotropic medications work on the nervous systems and the brain. They interfere with the functioning of neurotransmitters. The medication treats the symptoms of mental health illnesses. Psychotropic experts offer drugs to mental health illness victims as part of the treatment plan. The use of psychotropic drugs should be accompanied by psychotherapy to achieve efficiency in managing a mental illness. The psychotropic medications offer mentally ill victims with prescriptions that help in solving challenges of anxiety, schizophrenia, among other complications. The medications do not work instantly, with some taking several weeks. Other patients do not respond to some medications and need to try different ones. Psychotropic medications are essential in the regulation of feelings and moods.
Society has a huge role to play in reducing the causes of mental illness. The society should avoid stigmatization towards people suffering from mental illness. Lack of stigmatization will give the victims an ideal opportunity to seek medication and quicken the recovery process. The society should embrace mental healthcare programs which are made available to them. Attending to programs that educate people on mental illness development will encourage them to keep off factors that predispose them to mental illness. The society has a role to play in demonstrating love to the victims to victims of mental illness. Showing love for mental health victims allows the victims to reduce the effects of mental health. The society should avoid isolating people suffering from mental illness. Isolating these victims worsens their mental situations, which could lead to them developing suicidal thoughts.
Over the last semester, there have been changes in the way I perceived mental illness. Initially, I thought human beings have very little role they can play in reducing mental illness. I also believed that mental illness victims are dangerous. However, I have understood that society and individuals have a significant role to play in reducing mental illness cases in society. Avoiding stigmatization and showing love to mental illness victims is very key in combating mental illness. Access to medication and treatment are affected by stigmatization. In a society that stigmatizes mentally ill people, people hardly seek medication due to fear of stigmatization. In some instances, stigmatization worsen situations of mental health victims.
References
Babić, D., Babić, R., Vasilj, I., & Avdibegović, E. (2017). Stigmatization of Mentally Ill Patients through Media. Psychiatria Danubina, 29(5), 885-889. (Babic et al., 2017)
Fontana, A. E. (2019). Changing the Age-old Stigmatization of Mental Health.
Phelan, J. C., Lucas, J. W., Teachman, B., Braverman, B. H., Namaky, N., & Greenberg, M. (2019). A comparison of status and stigma processes: Explicit and implicit appraisals of “mentally ill people” and “uneducated people.” Stigma and Health, 4(2), 213.
Rössler, W. (2016). The stigma of mental disorders. EMBO reports, 17(9), 1250-1253.
Sickel, A. E., Seacat, J. D., & Nabors, N. A. (2019). Mental health stigma: Impact on mental health treatment attitudes and physical health. Journal of health psychology, 24(5), 586-599.
Schönfeld, P., Brailovskaia, J., Bieda, A., Zhang, X. C., & Margraf, J. (2016). The effects of daily stress on positive and negative mental health: Mediation through self-efficacy. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 16(1), 1-10.