Mental Disorders
Introduction
Mental disorders are the fact that many people do not want to accept it. It was a taboo to speak of mental illnesses, and because of the changing times, people have learned of its existence but remain quiet about it. Many people choose not to talk about it lest they suffer from it as well. According to Jorm (2000), a lot of people cannot identify the specific mental disorders and even the various types of psychological distress that a person can experience. This inability is due to the general public’s ignorance concerning the issue, and it can cause irreparable damage to the people who need help and their families, as well as the community. People who suffer from these disorders are a danger to themselves and others if their disorder is not diagnosed and managed in time. People who suffer from mental illnesses have a history of inflicting self-injuries, committing suicide, among other things. It is vital to improve the public’s mental health literacy through articles and other avenues, to ensure that people who need help get it when they need it.
Article Summary
Depressive Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Suicide, and Self-Injury
Depression is a common occurrence in the US, with over 30 percent of college students in the US reporting to have experienced it. Feelings of loneliness, discouragement characterize it, a lack of motivation to get anything done. Most people have had some form of encounter with depression at some point. Depression affects people and can result in three types of disorders. A major depressive disorder is one of them, and it occurs when the signs of depression last for 14 days or more. If the person exhibits five or more of the symptoms, then the person has this disorder. The second disorder is persistent depressive disorder. A person has this disorder when they experience mildly depressed symptoms regularly for two or more years. The third is Bipolar disorder, and it involves alternations between depressed and hyperactive states. The person experiences a depressive state, and after that ends, the manic phase of extreme happiness, talking, and positivity takes over.
These disorders usually run in families as they are effects of genetic influences—the chances of a person developing these disorders increases if the family has a history. People who have proper nutrition have lower risks of developing lifestyle diseases as well as depression. Influence from epigenetic markers has the potential of triggering the onset of depression and the disorders. Negative thoughts affect the mind and can cause a person to develop issues. No one is immune to feelings of negativity. It’s a vicious cycle in that bad moods elicit negative thinking, which then results in depression. Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln are some of the famous people from the past who struggled with depression.
According to the article, nearly 900,000 people will take to using a permanent solution to fix a temporary issue. People who suffer from depression are less likely to commit suicide when the depression has engulfed them because they lack the energy and resolve to follow through. However, when they start improving, that is when they are at more risk of committing suicide or inflicting severe injuries on themselves. The social suggestion in the form of televised programs that feature suicides may harden a person’s resolve to commit suicide. They usually choose death over the thought of future or current suffering. Death offers a way out, a way to shut it all down. Other people might not commit suicide, but they might inflict injuries on themselves. It is more prevalent in females and adolescents. It causes them pain but does not result in death. They inflict the injuries to experience pain, which distracts them from negative thoughts.
When Depression Is Like a Cancer
The author’s husband died by committing suicide because of depression. She compares depression to cancer because it eats at the host until the person feels like that there is nothing more left to live for in their lives. Her husband had genes that predisposed him to depression, coupled with an abusive childhood and a previously failed marriage, her husband attempted to take his own life by overdosing. He went to the hospital and received treatment, and he recovered. The man, later on, met the author, got married, and had children, and he seemed fine.
The author writes that he was not, but his depression, like cancer, was in remission. He had unwarranted fears that he had failed as a provider. Her husband’s father had not received any training or skills in any profession, and after being laid off from his job, he never worked again. The husband felt the pressure of not making the same mistakes that his father made because he left behind debts and other financial messes after his death. Because of this, the author’s husband ensured that he became both an engineer and a lawyer. He worried that he had not made enough to provide for his family, and he fell into depression.
The author blames herself that she did not see the signs of her husband’s deterioration over the years. She writes that her husband had managed the depression for 20 years after his first suicide attempt, but it later dragged him to the grave. She believes that the traumatizing childhood of her husband, coupled with environmental factors, made him a target of depression. People that suffer from depression contemplate suicide as a means of ending the suffering.
Article Critique
I think that bot articles presented accurate information on depression. The first article gave the background information on depression as well as the symptoms. The information that the first article coincides with the information that the author provided in the second article. People who suffer from depression seek a way out, and some of them resort to committing suicide.
The first article covered everything about depression and the disorder, leaving no unanswered questions. The second article only confirms the information that the first article put across. For instance, depression can reoccur at any time and that no one is immune to the effects of depression. The husband to the author of the second article had suffered from depression and tried to take his life twenty years before, only for him to do so when people thought that he was past it. The first article covered every aspect imaginable about the disorders, from the causes, symptoms, and side effects. The author conducted all the necessary research and gathered all the relevant facts to educate whoever reads the article on these disorders, improving the person’s mental health literacy.
Conclusion
Mental disorders are much more common and affect most people. Depression is the most common that affects the majority of the population. Many people usually have no idea that they are suffering from depression until they recover, or it is too late. A majority of the people cannot identify the disorders or psychological issues that people go through. People who suffer from these disorders, if left untreated, can become a danger to others and themselves. Depression can lead to three types of disorders. They each have their separate symptoms and different time frames in which they affect a person.
Appendix
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/well/mind/suicide-depression-cancer.html
Reference
Jorm, A. F. (2000). Mental health literacy: Public knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 177(5), 396-401.