Mental Illness Awareness and Resources

Mental illness takes on many forms ranging from mild to severe impairments. Those that are experiencing a deficiency of any kind can benefit from some awareness and possibly treatment. In order to familiarize with mental illness the following elaborates on some disorders and symptoms. If any of these combination of symptoms feels like what you or someone you know is experiencing there are resources at the bottom to assist with diagnosis and treatment options. Remember the information provided is to only be used as a guideline; an actual diagnosis must come from a licensed professional. Also the symptoms within each category cannot be used alone most disorders are diagnosed through the combination of multiple symptoms.

Common mental illness diagnoses:

· Depression

• Feelings of unhappiness
• Melancholy
• Not feeling pleasure from previously pleasurable activities
• Feeling of not being able to pinpoint what is wrong but feeling as if something is wrong

· Anxiety

• Feeling of nervousness
• Sweating palms
• Pounding chest or heart beat
• Inability to identify the origination of the nervousness
• Panic

· Eating disorders

• Feeling unhappy with body shape or definition
• Over eating followed by vomiting or withholding food even when needed
• Extreme weight loss
• Lower body mass index (BMI) then what is recommended for height and body structure

· Schizophrenia

• Hallucinations- seeing or hearing things that others do not see or hear
• Delusions- faulty thoughts such as a human being able to fly or being married although is currently divorced
• No or diminished desire to be around others
• Flattened affect- reduced ability to express appropriate emotions for the situation for example inability to laugh following a joke that others are laughing at
• Inability to feel happiness

· Bi-Polar Disorder (previously manic-depressive disorder)

• Change in mood in excess of standard mood swings
• Extreme feeling of happiness or sadness
• Lack of impulse control such as overspending, multiple sexual encounters (many times unprotected), superman syndrome (feeling of being able to conquer the world)

· Learning disabilities such as Autism and Asperger’s

• Marked impairment of social interactions such as failure to make friends, or inability to reciprocate emotions
• Marked impairment in communication such as the delay or lack of verbal language or inability to sustain a conversation with others
• Repetitive or stereotyped patterns of behavior like rocking, posturing, flapping fingers or hands, jumping up and down in place

Other mental illness disorders:

·Pica

• Eating non edible items such as toilet paper, nails, chalk, etc. that could be potentially harmful to the body
• Eating these items despite the knowledge of possible harm
• Feeling of anxiety when not able to eat items

·Borderline personality disorder

• Anxiously avoids abandonment
• Unstable interpersonal relationships that shift between extremes (love one moment and hate the next)
• Unstable self-image
• Reckless behavior like spending, substance abuse, sexual experiences
• Persistent suicide behaviors, attempts or threats
• Lack of emotional regulation and quickly changing emotional states
• Continuing feeling of emptiness
• Inability to control or inappropriately displayed anger

·Anti-social personality disorder

• Failure to conform to social norms as associated with the law
• Deceitfulness, lying, and conning others
• Impulsive
• Irritable and aggressive
• Ignores safety of self or others
• Irresponsibility measured by lack of steading employment or maintaining financial obligations
• Lack of remorse
• Must be 18 years old

No matter the situation if your behavior or feelings are separating you from society and the things that used to bring happiness seeking out a professional may be helpful. Many times the first step is the hardest and finding resources may not be readily available depending on the area in which you live. Mental illness in some parts of the world is not socially acceptable although having the appropriate knowledge of where to look and how to approach the situation is best.

Resources:

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) http://www.nami.org/
• Seek your local county Social Services Agency which should be available through an online search engine or phone directory.
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/prevention-of-mental-disorders/prevention-of-mental-disorders.shtml
• National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-8255; or http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
• Find a therapist at http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/