Mental Illness And Mental Health

“Mental health is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” (Mayoclinic, 2012)

Mental health is defined as the state of satisfactory use of mental function, which results in productive activities, interactions, adjustment to change and coping with challenges (Healthy People 2020, 2012). It is fundamental to one's personal well-being, his interpersonal relationships, and fruitful participation in, and contribution to, society in general. Mental illness or mental disorder refers as a whole to all diagnosable disturbances of the mind. These disturbances are characterized by changes in thinking, mood, and/or behavior, which produce pain, discomfort, abnormal functioning or death. Mental illnesses are serious medical conditions, which cannot be overcome by simple will power. They are not caused by personality weakness or intelligence (Healthy People 2020; NAMI, 2012).

“Nearly 5 million children in the U.S. have some type of mental illness” (Goldberg). It is agreeable that there are many young children that deal with mental illness every day. Schools should be concerned for every student’s well being. Moreover, mental health is a part of a person’s overall “well being.” Therefore, schools need to make the mental health of students a stronger focus and implement plans to keep students mentally well and educated. To help create a positive, mental health aware environment where students feel open to seek help, high school students should be educated on how to be mentally healthy, be given a safe place to seek help, and be encouraged to monitor and maintain their mental health. Mental illness and mental health care need to be a more eminent priority in our society, starting with high schools.

Teachers and staff will be trained to tell the if a student is experiencing symptoms of any type of mental health disorder. For example, if a student is having irregular mood swings or a fluctuation in weight, which are common symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the article, “Why Schools Should Screen Their Students' Mental Health”, it says,“If we made mental health part of the usual health system of a school, then it becomes more normal…”. If a student sees a positive outlook on mental health they would be opened to getting help. On some media platforms, mental health is portrayed as something to be ashamed of or a evil quality to posses. Mental health isn’t evil, it’s how the person deals with it that's important. Yes, if not treated it can cause negative effects but with the help from the community these children can live relatively normal lives. Children and adults struggle to comprehend the severity of mental illness, which causes them to avoid any form of treatment. In the future, mental health should become a thing not to be ashamed of. A person who broke a bone would go to the hospital right away, not wait for it to heal on its own. If you wouldn’t wait for a physical injury, why would you wait for

Forget all the stereotypes of mental illness. It has no face. It has no particular victim. Mental illness can affect an individual from any background and the black community is no exception. African Americans sometimes experience even more severe forms of mental health conditions because of unmet needs and barriers to treatment. According to the Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 20 percent more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. That’s why UGA third year Majenneh Sengbe is taking action as the co-founder of her upcoming organization Black Minds Daily.

According to Merriam-Webster, mental health illness is described as a broad range of medical conditions (such as major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder) that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause noticeable grief or disability and that are usually related with a disruption in standard judgement, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning. Mental health is described as a level of psychological comfort, or the absence of a mental illness. It is the "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment from the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an person 's capability to enjoy life, and produce stability connecting life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. The World Health Organization, suggests mental health illness includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, inter-generational dependence, and self-actualization of one 's intellectual and emotional potential, among others. The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the recognition of their capabilities, managing with normal stresses of life, constructive work and involvement to their community. Ethnic differences, prejudiced evaluations, and competing professional

I think we should really value the mental health of our children in the society if we want to develop this great Nation. The psychological well-being of our children affects us both directly and indirectly whether we accept this fact or not. It is very important that we ensure that our beloved children have the capabilities to adapt to the stresses, working productively both in school and also contribute to the developments in the community. Problems associated with mental illness or health are very common in this society especially in the institutions of learning be it high schools, colleges or even universities. Some health problems associated with mental health include depressions, bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders and at time

A mental disorder is a disease that can cause mild to severe disturbances or impairments in behavior or mental wellbeing. These effects may result in the inability of the individual to effectively cope with the demands and pressures of everyday life. There are more than 200 types of different mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, dementia, and schizophrenia, among many others. However, in this paper the main focus will be placed on depression and anxiety.

Mental illnesses are generally characterized by changes in mood, thought, or behavior. They can make daily activities difficult and impair a person’s ability to work, interact with family, and fulfill other major life functions (SAMHSA, 2015). Contemplated early on in history, treatments for mental illness looked to cure the reflections of the anger of gods, demonic possession, sorcery, the evil eye, or an angry deity, responded with equally mystical, and brutal treatments (Nash, 2007). Attempts to treat mental illness date back as early as 5000 BCE as verified by the discovery of trephined skulls in regions of ancient world cultures (Porter, 2002, p. 10). Only a few realized that individuals with mental illness should be treated humanely rather than exorcised, punished, or banished. Psychiatry has come a long way since the days patients were shunned from society and shackled in asylums. Experiments and techniques for treating mental illness from ancient times to the turn of the 20th century have paved the way for the treatment plans used today.

Mental health as Pilgrim (2005) stated is used positively to indicate a state of psychological wellbeing and negatively to indicate its opposite, or euphemistically to indicate facilities used by, or imposed upon, people with mental problems (pg 3) although Richards (2002) argued the concept of sanity and insanity are relative and may vary according to individual and social perspectives, and illustrated that an acceptable behaviour at an arts festival may not be perceived similar in a private home and that there are times when every one of us could be considered to be in an abnormal state of mind (pg 13-15) and in that regard dispensed the term ‘madness’ which could have emotive meaning, is neither a medical term nor a diagnosis and could

Mental health in Utah has and continues to be the forefront of concern for many throughout the state. The reasons it is such a hot bed issue is due the staggering statistics that come out every year showing Utah as one of the leading states for mental health issues per capita. One article in particular had a report that showed survey results done by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the NDSUH. They found that 22.4 percent of the Adult population here in Utah had a mental disorder in 2014 (CROFTS,2014 ). With the unfortunate trend of mental health issues being a problem in Utah, it comes without a doubt that other issues start to arise such as care for these individuals suffering from these problems. There are many agencies and programs as well professionals who fight everyday in hopes of curbing this epidemic but it is without saying that they too face dilemmas in their line of work. With the sheer number of problems as outlined above, Utah faces an uphill battle for the well being of its literal mental health. This calls for a larger number of professionals combating this epidemic. The questions of moral and ethical responsibilities now become a talking point. To begin I want to state that due to the complexities of the subject it would not be productive, in my opinion, to discuss why we have such a high level mental health issues in our state. The motive for exploring these concerns of patient confidentiality is because of what I believe to be the many

Stereotypes are made about groups of people in every class, country and race. The mentally ill are no exception to this fact. Mental illness has no bounds and can affect anyone, whether rich or poor, American or Canadian, black or white, it does not matter. People with a mental illness or disorder are looked at as dysfunctional, violent, unsuccessful, and even foul-smelling individuals. People with extreme cases of mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, are often called crazy, insane, and mad when in actuality they are acting in a radical way because of something that these individuals cannot control or express in ways that is understandable to people without these disorders. Throughout history people with mental illness have been misunderstood. Insane asylums were used to imprison people with a mental illness when all they really needed was medical attention. In order to combat this stigma an understanding of symptoms and treatments for the mentally ill is necessary. Once their problems are understood people will find it easier to walk in their shoes and will probably be kinder to those with a mental illness. When this happens the stigma will dissolve and eventually disappear entirely and people with mental illness will finally be treated the way they deserve, with respect. Understanding mental illness is the first step to defeating an ignorant society and ending a terrible stigma.

From the early biblical times there have been leaders who have helped guide their followers through their teachings. These were the first counselors. According to the book, “The World of the Counselor”, One of the first written treaties of a psychological nature can be traced back to 3000 BCE. (Neukrug, 2012, 2007)

The United States has their own view on mental illness when compared to other developed countries. The developed countries that were analyzed with the United States were England and France. Our research question was “Does the United States view mental illness differently than other developed countries?” The research that I conducted was over the policies and ideologies of mental illness in the United States.

Children and adolescents in the United States face different psychological challenges, such as anxiety disorders, depression, attention deficit disorder, as well as many other psychiatric diagnoses (Bloom, Dey, & Freeman, 2006). The prevalence rate of children diagnosed with a mental disorder is alarming. According to Merikangas et al. (2010), 22.2% of American children and adolescents get diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder that is severe enough to impair their ability to attend school and learn (Bucci, Marques, Oh, & Harris, 2016). Kids that are plagued by various psychological illnesses may experience a difficult time concentrating and staying focused in school. Additionally, the over-accumulation of toxic stress, either due to the pressures of schools or environmental (i.e., difficult exams, poverty, household dysfunction, etc.), can have negative and detrimental effects during childhood, as well as adulthood (Bucci et al., 2016).