Reflection On Mental Illness

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.

I had the pleasure of having Mental Health Clinical in Big Spring and Lubbock, Texas. Over the course of the semester I attended 6 clinical dates, all of them demonstrated different mental illnesses that people are affected with. I was able to witness patients in different settings like in their bedrooms, in the general sitting area, in class, and in one on one interaction with the providers. It was a very different experience compared to clinicals for Medsurge or Foundations. Although, I was very intimidated and nervous about going the nerves got better towards the end of the semester. It was a very neat and eye opening experience; many people don’t realize how many people are affected with mental illnesses and the impact it has.

The biological model draws on traditional medicine and attempts to identify the presence of a ‘stable’ phenomenon called mental illness through scientific objectivity. One of the consequences of viewing

Mental illness is a condition characterized by emotions, thoughts, or behavior that are substantially abnormal for a given time and place in history (p. 514). Historically, it has been broadly been defined by self-harm, unrealistic thoughts and perceptions (delusions, hallucinations, magical thinking, etc.), inappropriate emotions, and rapid shifts in moods or beliefs. All these criteria compare the

Emotional sickness has been a mind boggling point since the development of its known presence. While the meaning of dysfunctional behavior has developed, and been re-imagined for quite a long time, it can be best marked as a mutable, or a regularly changing thought that for all intents and purposes changes the result for treatment. (DeYoung 259) In early developments, up until about the nineteenth century, having an emotional instability was rejected as a man being under an obscure stupor which could bring about those being secured away mental homes forever. The other more radical conclusion had a tendency to be individuals who were rationally unwell were controlled by some kind of wicked compel and the best way to evacuate this underhanded drive was by expulsion or conceivable murder. While human blunder and

Through the course of time, mental illnesses have always been in existence due to varying factors and causes. However, as time has passed, the perceptions and available treatments for mental illnesses have also changed as new technology was developed. By looking at the treatments and perceptions of mental illnesses in the early 20th century, we can learn how to properly treat and diagnose not only mental disorders but also other conditions as well as show us the importance of review boards and controlled clinical trials.

There is an illness that is different from any other illness or disease that we know of. This illness has few, if any, outward physical symptoms. Most of the time, we cannot tell that a person has this illness just by looking at them. The illness I am talking about is mental illness; I am able to say that I have been affected by my father’s mental illnesses.

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder that is characterized by a variety of symptoms and the disorganization of feeling and thought. It is an incurable disease whose causes are unknown, yet whose effects are mind and body crippling. (Young, 1988, p.13-14) This topic was chosen because it is interesting to study a disorder that worldwide, is viewed as a classic example of madness and insanity. Another reason of interest is because unlike many illnesses, schizophrenia doesn't have a noticeable pattern and its difficulty to be diagnosed as a disease makes the collection of statistics difficult. It is important to learn more about schizophrenia because a significant numbr of people are affected everyday

Psychopathology is a term, which refers to either the study of mental illness, mental distress or the manifestation of behaviors and experiences, which may be indicators to mental illness, or psychological impairment (Psychopathology, n.d.) Within clinical counseling, the use tends to be in the treatment of mental disorders, the origins or the development of mental disorder. Technologies are being used, as well as have been, developed that require an accurate model, which is always being advanced within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, or the DSM. (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). For example, recent technology includes molecular genetics and mature statistical models. Which will in term assist in attempts to better understand where psychological disorders originate form. Currently, most psychopathology research follows the guidelines based in the fourth edition of the DSM, which assumes that mental disorders

What is the biomedical approach to mental health? "The biomedical model of mental illness assumes that abnormal psychological states or experiences are the results of abnormalities in the brain or genetics and, as such, necessitate medical or chemical

“Schizophrenia, a complex and often disabling mental illness, is among the most serious of brain diseases” (Veague 1).To some

The human body is constructed by millions of cells that work together to create a life-sustaining masterpiece. Each masterpiece is made up of unique DNA, containing the tremendous genetic code that encompasses all human life. A mental disorder can be defined as ” a mental or bodily condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual” (Webster). It is our human nature to try and find a reason for something outside of the norm, in order to better understand and make sense of what a mental disorder encompasses. Within understanding the mental disorder will allow the capability of further studying the disorder and enabling an individual to be treated properly. Through the development of research conducted, there are multiple arguments supporting deferent claims to the causations behind mental disorders. Each perspective provides validated research and theology behind the mystery of the cause of mental disorders. Critical analysis of each perspective will allow one position to remain most prevalent leading to the ultimate conclusion.

Before I took this course, I had a very vague understanding of mental health. I’ve heard of disorders but didn’t understand what causes them or how people suffering with disorders thought or how they felt. I learned a lot about things I thought only existed on television or in movies, such as hydrotherapy or electric shock therapy. It was crazy to read and learn about some of the medieval treatments that used to be in place as treatment for the mentally ill. Another thing I thought was very interesting was the inkblot test. I’ve seen it being used in movies but never knew the purpose of it. Going through this course I had a lot of “that’s why they do that” moments. I think a lot of times people can be insensitive to people with mental disorders and think their acting and putting on a show for attention. So, I found it very interesting learning about how there is physical evidence that there is a difference in brain function in people with disorders. I know for myself before this class seeing and hearing about people with depression it was easy to think why are you letting stuff get to you so easy. Or why don’t you just brush it off and let it go and choose to be happy. I made the mistake of thinking it was a choice of theirs to either pick being depressed or choose to be happy. After going through this course, I now know that is far from the truth. I now know it’s not a choice and things like genetics can play a major role in it. Other disorders I’ve heard about but didn’t

In my opinion, mental illness is also called psychiatric disorder, which affects an individual’s way of thinking, behaving and perceiving, and interacting with other people. Upon reflection, I felt that my anxiety was largely due to my negative preconceptions about mental illness especially my belief that mentally ill people are violent, unpredictable, and dangerous. These views were not only a result of a lack of knowledge about mental illness but also due to the impact of negative media and cultural stereotypes that I had grown up with. Before clinical placement, I used to be scared with the patients and used to be reluctant to deal with them.

Mental illness is a disorder that is considered to be a type of interruption in a person’s emotions, thoughts, or behavior. Mental illness signifies to a wide variety of disorders which can range from mild distress to impairing a person’s ability to function in daily life. Signs and symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on the particular disorder, circumstances and other factors. Whether a behavior is considered normal or abnormal varies on the person’s situation surrounding their behavior. Throughout history there’ve been three overall beliefs for the causes of mental illness. These three theories are known as supernatural, somatogenic, and psychogenic. Each one of these stands for how one is viewed when seen as having a mental illness.