Mental Health Disorders And Its Effects Essay

I’ve always been passionate about understanding others; stepping into their shoes and seeing, thinking, and appreciating the lives they live. I think it is important to take that extra step and see things from a different point of view. It is the only way to achieve a true understanding. I believe in this philosophy so much so, that it’s one of the main reasons I have this blog; to give others a glimpse of a life with mental illness. I’ve been in treatment for 2 months and 26 days and I think it’s time for another peek into my brain.

It not easy to determine how many people suffer from mental illness. This is due to the changing definitions of mental illness and problems classifying, diagnosing, and reporting mental disorders. There are social stigmas attached to mental illness, such as being labeled "crazy," being treated as a danger to others, and being denied jobs or health insurance coverage. These negative connotations keep many sufferers from seeking help, and many of those in treatment do not reveal it on surveys. Some patients do not realize that their symptoms are caused by mental disorders. Even though more is being learned about how the brain works a lot of information has still yet to be discovered, thus mental health professionals must continually reevaluate how mental illnesses are defined and diagnosed. The Surgeon General 's report estimated that roughly 20% of the United States population was affected by mental disorders and that 15% use some type of mental health service every year. Community surveys estimate about 30% of the adult population in the United States suffer from mental disorders.

A major weakness of this line of argument is the wide range of personality traits

Impulsivity is a multifaceted construct that refers to ‘a predisposition toward rapid, unplanned reactions, with diminished regard to the negative consequences’ (Moeller et al.,2001; Brewer & Potenza,2008). Aspects of impulsivity are suggested to be governed by the executive function of behavioural inhibition, that regulates self-control (Miyake & Friedman,2012). This encompasses a continuum from high self-control to impulsivity.

However, Loree et al.,(2015) mentions that impulsivity also negatively influences treatment of substance use disorders. That is to say, the lack of impulsivity regulation not only is a risk factor for substance use disorder, it is also an aspect that inhibits the treatment of an individual with a substance use disorder. Abu-Shakra and Cox (2014), aim to do is say that disinhibited behaviours such as impulsivity not only influences substance abuse but, also disruptive behaviour disorders. The aim of their paper is to suggest that externalized behaviours, also known as disinhibited behaviour traits, influence the progression of disruptive behaviour disorder and substance use

Hundreds of thousands of people die due to suicide every year. This number is estimated to double by 2020 should the current trend continue. The primary cause of these suicides is mental disorders and harmful use of alcohol - which in itself is a result of mental health related conditions. The World Health Organization reports indicate that 20% of the world 's children and adolescents suffer from one or more mental disorders and according to the Kim foundation, 57.7 million people in the US suffer from a mental health disorder.

The point of this article is establish ties between drug-addiction and deficiencies in the brain that regulate impulse control. The article shows that through the testing of drug-addicts brains and comparing their brain functions to those of their non-addicted siblings revealed that the deficiencies present in the drug-addicts also existed in the non-addict siblings, suggesting that drug addiction is hereditary. The article goes on to say that if that is true, it serves as a basis for the prevention of drug addiction since the non-addict siblings were able to exert some level of control over their impulses and not become addicted to drugs.

Novelty seeking and impulsivity personality traits have been linked to higher rates of drug intake and dependency. However, it is not well understood if these personality traits are determinants or consequences of chronic drug abuse (Ersche, Turton, Pradhan et al., 2010). To further examine this question, Erche et al. (2010) investigated sibling pairs and healthy controls and found higher levels of impulsivity traits, not novelty seeking, in both drug dependent individuals and their siblings. These findings indicate that impulsivity can be an underlying heritable predisposing factor in the development of drug abuse and dependency. Previous research has also found individuals high in novelty seeking are at a higher risk for stimulant abuse. Researchers believe this is partly due by the fact that novelty seeking behavior activates the same reward nueral pathways—mesolimbic dopamine system—that reinforces drug abuse behavior (Bardo, Donohew & Harrington, 1996).

In 1960 E.M. Jellinek a scientist, was credited for introducing this controversial and initially popular model of addiction from past research of the late 1930`s and early 1940`s. His findings have received wide acceptance however, the research from which he

The article, High Impulsivity Predicts the Switch to Compulsive Cocaine-Talking, sought to determine whether impulsivity and novelty-seeking (which are behavioral markers of addictive drugs) place individuals in the vulnerability of compulsive seeking of the drug. The researchers used laboratory rats to test the vulnerability. Researchers found that high reactivity to novelty predicted the likelihood of rats seeking cocaine self-administration. However, high impulsivity seemed to predict the development of addiction like behavior in the laboratory rats. The results obtained by researchers has changed the perspective from the impulsivity aspect of drug use towards the compulsivity factor during the initial stages of addiction development. Interestingly, the compulsive factor can be generated through neural physiology (i.e. neural mechanisms or diminished function of cortical function).

One in every seventeen people in America suffers from a mental disorder. These disorders inhibit the afflicted person from functioning properly and coping normally with daily life. Many afflicted with a psychological disorder do not exhibit obvious symptoms, as medical advancements have made it possible for these disorders to be suppressed or even nonexistent. Today, however, harsh stigmas exist that unfairly categorize those with a mental illness as violent, unfriendly, and abnormal. The media and federal government are culprits in fabricating the unrealistic depictions of mental disability that define the portrayal of those who are mentally or psychologically disadvantaged.

Thus, present consumption is tied to health-related, social, and economic costs of future consumption. It is therefore reasonable to assume that substance use is associated not only with discounting of future gains, but also with discounting of future costs. Furthermore, substance use and substance use problems have been associated with a range of impulsiveness traits (e.g., Miller & Lynam, 2013), some of which measure a lack of concern for future consequences.

The “competing neurobehavioral decisions systems” (CNDS) theory is a dual theory that serves to integrate the relationship between substance abuse and impulse control disorder; therefore, reigning the ability to develop new treatments or elucidate improvements in established treatment processes (Bickel et al., 2015). The CNDS theory hypothesizes that an imbalance between the impulsive and executive regulatory brain systems is prevalent in subjects with an addiction disorder. A treatment process that can establish the balance of these two systems can possibly result in eradication of first impulsive control disorders, and then transiently addiction disorders.

Drug and alcohol addiction can be described as a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, and difficult to control use of these substances despite harmful consequences to the drug addict and those around them. Addiction is a brain disease since the abuse of drugs and alcohol results to changes in the structure and function of the brain which challenges a persons ability to resist the desire to take the drugs or even to control the number of drugs or alcohol taken. In the initial stages people take drugs and alcohol voluntarily but with the brain changes an individual will experience an intense impulse to take drugs which one cannot do without and this thus

Impulsiveness according to the Merriam- Webster dictionary is acting without fore thought or in the moment. An impulsive person can act on desires and not think about consequences. This behavior can result in a person resorting to crime as a means to satisfaction. Impulsivity is a normal human behavior but according to (Grant, Odlaug,& Kim) the disorder is characterized by difficulties in resisting urges to engage in behaviors that are excessive and/or ultimately harmful to oneself or others.. For instance, the candy isle by the check out register is by design. They are intentionally put there to pray on a person and or children’s impulse. It is when impulse is in an extreme state that can result in harmful