Mentally Ill 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.

The purpose of this essay is to explain the definitions of mental health, mental illness and psychiatric disability, using bipolar disorder as an example to illustrate these points. Bipolar disorder will also be used to explain the concepts of the medical and social models of disability, highlight the influence these two models could have on people with the disorder and the experiences they might encounter. There will be a focus on some of the experiences a person suffering from mental illness might have in society, the effect these experiences can have on an individual and the influence of stigmas and stereotypes. This leads to the final discussion point, the action of self-disablement. This section discusses how a person with a mental health issue can be influenced by labels, stigmas and stereotypes, and how this can stop them from seeking help and achieving their goals.

“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.

According to NAMI, The National Alliance of Mental Illness 1 in 5 adults experience a mental health condition yearly. 1 in 20 people live with a serious mental illness like, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Not only does the person who is directly experiencing a mental illness suffer, but the family, and friends are also highly affected. NAMI states that 50% of mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75% of mental illnesses develop by age 24. Each year, 1 in 5 children from the ages 13-18 experiences a mental illness reported by NAMI. That’s a large amount of our young generation. Three out of four people with a mental illness report that they have experienced stigma, a mark of disgrace that sets a person apart according to the

The New York State Senate today passed legislation (S.1822), sponsored by Senator Frank Padavan (R-C, Bellerose), that would allow juries to find defendants "guilty but mentally ill" in cases where they believe the defendant may have been mentally ill at the time of the crime, but should still be held responsible for his or her actions.

Although schizophrenia may come off as an interesting and unique disorder, it also relates to the Emotional, Social, and Intellectual dimensions of Health and Wellness. Schizophrenia is an disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel and behave clearly. The emotional dimension of the wellness wheel is described as the ability to understand ourselves and cope with the challenges life can bring. Also, the ability to acknowledge and share feelings of fear, sadness or stress; hope, love, joy and happiness in a productive manner contributes to our emotional wellness. This connects to schizophrenia because when you have this disorder it perceives you to imagine situations that aren’t actually happening. Usually people diagnosed with this

Although about 450 million people in the world currently are suffering from a mental illness, many untreated, the topic still remains taboo in modern society (Mental Health). For years, people with mental illnesses have been shut away or institutionalized, and despite cultural progression in many areas, mental illnesses are still shamed and rarely brought to light outside of the psychiatric community. The many different forms in which mental illness can occur are incredibly prevalent in the world today, and there is a substantial debate about the way that they should be handled. Some people are of the opinion that mental illness is merely a variance in perception and that it either can be fixed through therapy or should not be treated at

In the early 1900’s, Eugen Bleuler coined the term “schizophrenia.” Schizophrenia is from the Greek roots “schizo” meaning split and “phrene” meaning mind. This specific mental illness is commonly characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and very unresponsive emotional behavior. Delusions are most commonly those of grandeur, persecution, and reference. Delusions of grandeur are characterized by the belief that you have special powers you do not possess. The belief everyone is after you is what makes up delusions of persecution. Lastly, the belief that everyone is talking about you and everything pertains to you is what delusions of reference are characterized by. In addition, the patient often suffers from

     Schizophrenia is an extremely puzzling condition, the most chronic and disabling of the major mental illnesses. Approximately one percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lives. With the sudden onset of severe psychotic symptoms, the individual is said to be experiencing acute schizophrenia. Psychotic means out of touch with reality, or unable to separate real from unreal experiences.

It has been widely accepted that schizophrenia has a genetic component, with the relative lifetime risk of schizophrenia being reported at around 0.3-0.7% (McGath et al, 2008) although some studies have shown this to be much higher at around 3.5% (Pedersen et al, 2014). Studies have shown the risk of relatives developing schizophrenia is correlated with the percentage of shared genes (Tsuang, 2000). Twin studies have been utilised to reveal a genetic component, as monozygotic (MZ) twins share 100% of their genes, while dizygotic (DZ) share 50% of their genes, therefore a higher percentage risk of development should be found within MZ twins. Studies have indeed revealed an increased risk of developing the disorder in MZ twins (48%) than in

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that Encarta (2001) describes as an illness that results in delusional thought patterns, hallucinations, and inappropriate effect. It literally means “split-mind’, but is not a multiple personality disorder. According to DSM-IV (1996) schizophrenia is categorized under the diagnostic code, ICD-9-CM or International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification of 295.xx. Symptoms of schizophrenia can be positive, which occur during the active phase, and negative, which are present before the onset of the disorder. Positive symptoms of the disease include delusions of grandeur (a belief that one is a famous admired individual), delusion of control (when they believe something wants to

Personality disorders are very defined and recognized in today’s society. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association provides common language and standards classifying mental disorders. The DSM is used by many people in varying disciplines in the USA as well as many other countries. In times past, people with disorders may have been outcast from a community or even persecuted. However, in our current culture the pendulum has swung in the other direction. It almost seems that there is a trend to explain all behavior by a mental disorder. This results in needing to disprove that certain people are not displaying a disorder, rather acting within a normal human emotion or

This paper will explain how poverty and mental illness go hand in hand. Mental illness seems to be a cause and effect situation. Sometimes mental illness causes poverty and other poverty causes the mental illness. This paper will also give possible solutions for the problem.

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that causes severe mental disturbances which disrupt ones thoughts, speech, and behavior. According to Paul Thompson, Associate Professor of Neurology, one percent of the world’s population suffers from this disorder. There is no one specific cause of schizophrenia, because it is caused by a combination of problems during development. It is a disorder which not only affects the patient, but their family and society as well. Schizophrenia can be a debilitating disorder, however, there are many treatments that can allow people who suffer from it to lead normal lives.

Roy Blunt, American politician, once said, “People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another.” There is a misconception that mental disorders such as dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia are the same. Today’s society often see all mental disorders as one, however, they are very much different. If one was to say someone with multiple personalities is the same as someone who has hallucinations and/or has delusions, they are incorrect, which is why in specific cases such as schizophrenia, the legal term “not guilty due to mental disorder” should be valid.