WHAT IS MENTAL ILLNESS?
Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses can be associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.
Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.
In many ways, mental health is just like physical health: everybody has it and we need to take care of it.
Good mental health means being generally able to think, feel and react in the ways that you need and want to live your life. But if you go through a period of poor mental health you might find the ways you’re frequently thinking, feeling or reacting become difficult, or even impossible, to cope with. This can feel just as bad as a physical illness, or even worst
Mental health problems affect around one in four people in any given year.
WHAT’S LIKE TO HAVE MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
Often times, people tend to be sympathetic towards physical injury, that is when a person hurts his knee or her head or even have a transplant, we tend to sympathize with them easily. we can easily say ” oh ,I am so sorry you hurt your knee or I am so sorry you hurt your head.
But, when we hear of mental illness, we tend to whisper about it, as if the brain isn’t part of the body. Most especially in this part of the world ( NIGERIA). When we hear of mental illness, the first thing that comes to our minds, is that you are CRAZY. No, you are not CRAZY.
People usually think, if you have mental health problems, you would never feel better. Mental health is just like physical health, Everybody has it and needs to look after it.
You have good mental health if you are able to think, feel, react in the ways you need and want.
You might need support with your mental health, if you find the way you are thinking, feeling, reacting is more difficult or even impossible to cope with.
This might be because of things happening in your life right now. A traumatic event may affect your mental health in a big way even years later. We all are different. Everybody experience a huge variety of feeling, thoughts and emotions as part of their normal life.
But how and when we have them, can be really different, depending on who we are.
Some of us can find this harder to cope with than other. This can be because of our upbringing and childhood, past experiences, or the things happening in our lives right now.
That’s why it’s important that only you, someone who knows you really well, or someone who is qualified, gets to say when you need help.
If your feelings, thoughts and actions are in getting in the way of how you want to live, if you feel things aren’t right, if you feel like you need help, you can ask for it.
We are not going to pretend it’s easy.
Mental health problems can change your life and for some, can be overwhelming.
AM I THE ONLY ONE FEELING THIS WAY?
Experiencing a mental health problem is often upsetting, confusing and frightening – particularly at first. If you become unwell, you may feel that it’s a sign of weakness, or that you are ‘losing your mind’.
These fears are often reinforced by the negative (and often unrealistic) way that people experiencing mental health problems are shown on TV, in films and by the media. This may stop you from talking about your problems, or seeking help. This, in turn, is likely to increase your distress and sense of isolation.
However, in reality, mental health problems are a common human experience.
Most people know someone who has experienced a mental health problem. They can happen to all kinds of people from all walks of life. And it’s likely that, when you find a combination of self-care, treatment and support that works for you, you will get better.
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS
There are various approaches to mental health and mental illness around the world. Most health professionals in the UK agree on a similar set of clinical diagnoses and treatments for mental health problems. We have chosen to reflect this approach in our information, as these are the terms and treatment models that you are most likely to come across if you seek help in England or Wales.
However, not everyone finds it helpful to think about their mental health this way. Depending on your traditions and beliefs you might have different ideas about how best to cope. In many cultures, emotional wellbeing is closely associated with religious or spiritual life. And your difficult experiences may be just one part of how you understand your identity overall.
We use the phrase ‘mental health problems’, as many people have told us this feels helpful for them. But you might be more familiar with terms such as ‘poor emotional health’, ‘overloaded’, ‘burnt out’ or ‘overwhelmed’. Or you may feel that terms such as ‘mental illness’ or ‘mental health issues’ describe your experiences better, or are easier to explain to other people in your life.
However you understand your own experiences, and whatever terms you prefer to use, we hope that you will find the information in these pages useful when considering different options for care and support.
WHAT CAUSES MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM?
Mental health problems can have a wide range of causes. It’s likely that for many people there is a complicated combination of factors – although different people may be more deeply affected by certain things than others.
For example, the following factors could potentially result in a period of poor mental health
- childhood abuse, trauma, or neglect
- social isolation or loneliness
- experiencing discrimination and stigma, including racism
- social disadvantage, poverty or debt
- bereavement (losing someone close to you)
- severe or long-term stress
- having a long-term physical health condition
- unemployment or losing your job
- homelessness or poor housing
- being a long-term carer for someone
- drug and alcohol misuse
- domestic violence, bullying or other abuse as an adult
- significant trauma as an adult, such as military combat, being involved in a serious incident in which you feared for your life, or being the victim of a violent crime
- physical causes – for example, a head injury or a neurological condition such as epilepsy can have an impact on your behaviour and mood. (It’s important to rule out potential physical causes before seeking further treatment for a mental health problem
Although lifestyle factors including work, diet, drugs and lack of sleep can all affect your mental health, if you experience a mental health problem there are usually other factors as well.
DO MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS RUNS IN FAMILIES?
Research suggests that some mental health problems may run in families. For example, if you have a parent with schizophrenia, you are more likely to develop schizophrenia yourself. But no one knows if this is because of our genes or because of other factors, such as the environment we grow up in, or the ways of thinking, coping and behaving that we may learn from our parents.
Although the development of some mental health problems may be influenced by our genes, researchers haven’t found any specific genes that definitely cause mental health problems.
And many people who experience a mental health problem don’t have any parents, children or other relatives with the same condition.
