Continuing with our mental health unit, the two began by defining a mental health disorder as "a diagnosable illness that affects a person's thinking, emotional state, and behavior", that affects a person's ability to carry out daily activities.
With that we went into defining some major mental health disorders, as follows:
Anxiety:
- A normal reaction to stress - sometimes beneficial
- Anxiety disorder = Uncontrollable anxiety
- Disorder involves a persistent or severe fear of worry that can be difficult to manage, and can interfere with a persons quality of life
- Symptoms - feelings of apprehension/dread, difficulty concentrating, tense/jumpy, restless, sweating, pounding heart, tremors/twitches, etc.
- Normal Anxiety vs Problematic Anxiety
- Being able to respond to potential = normal, overwhelming fear that something bad will happen = problematic
- Moderate amounts = beneficial - can keep you alert, overwhelming amounts can interfere with relationships and daily life
- Types of Anxiety:
- Generalized Anxiety - unrealistic worry + tension
- Social Anxiety - overwhelming worry and feelings of self-consciousness
- Specific Phobias - intense feelings of fears towards specific objects/situations
- Panic Disorder - feelings of terror that stick suddenly and repeatedly
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - feeling that something bad will happen if something is/is not done
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - flashbacks, nightmares and uncontrollable thoughts about a terrifying, past event
- Causes of Anxiety:
- Biological reasons - heredity, genetics, brain chemistry
- Environmental reasons - abuse, trauma, high stress, violence
- Life circumstances - significant losses, divorces in family, stressful situations, high expectations
- Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorder in adolescence/childhood
Depression:
- Depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities for an extended period of time
- Increases chances of suicide by 12
- Sadness vs Depression:
- Sadness = normal human emotion, often triggered by an event
- Depression affects thinking, emotions, and behaviors, and causes effected to be sad about everything
- Depression can affect ANYONE, regardless of their background
- Causes of Depression:
- Hereditary - having a family member with depression
- Brain Chemistry
- Environement - surroundings, life experiences, etc.
- Stress - any stressful situation can trigger depression
- Medications - side-effects of certain medications
- Alcohol/Drugs - use of substances can lead to or worsen depression
- **Just because these things occurred, it does not mean depression will also occur...different events affect people in different ways
Clearly depression and anxiety are not an uncommon thing, but why is treatment necessary? Well anxiety and depression do not represent a healthy lifestyle, and they can cause physical problems as well as problems in ordinary life. To return to a healthy, content way of life, it is necessary to find a way to overcome these disorders, often by getting treatment. If avoided, suicide could occur.
Suicide:
- Suicide is not the same as self harm - suicide is intentionally trying to kill oneself, whereas self harm is a negative coping tool
- Those considering suicide see it as the only option, and see it as a solution
- Warning signs of suicide:
- Threats to hurt of kill themselves
- Talking or making plans for suicide
- Having both anxiety and depression
- Acquiring guns of stockpiling pills
- Giving away prized possessions
- Death of a friend/family member
- Victim of assault/bullying
- QPR - Question a person about suicide, Persuade the person to get help, Refer the person to the appropriate resources
- Go to an adult - at school: teachers, councilors, etc., of campus - police officers, trusted adult, suicide hotline, and emergency room
- Must call 911 when someone has a weapon, expresses an immediate intent to harm self, have taking pills with the intent to hurt themselves, threatens suicide on social media, etc.
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