Mental health
Mental health is one of the most important issues in society. Nowadays, more and more people suffer from mental illnesses, a fact that seems to increase the need for the elimination of this problem. In Scotland, one in four people are likely to develop mental health problems (www.samh.org.uk). The Scottish Act related to mental health is the "Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003" which replaces the "Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 (www.mentalhealth.org.uk). The form of the new Act aims to provide effective care and treatment in people with mental illnesses (www.scotland.gov.uk). The term 'mental illness' covers mental health problems, personality disorders and learning disabilities (Pilgrim-Rogers, 1999). Society seems to demand changes of the law concerning mental health in order to improve the life of people who are mentally ill. Moreover, sociology claims that mental illness depends on several factors mentioning also the extent of discrimination within society. The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 was passed in April 2003 and is going to be implemented by April 2005 (www.markwalton.net). A lot of people co-operated and participated to develop the Act, including those involved in mental health care and treatment, patients and people who cared for them whether professionally or otherwise (www.scotland.gov.uk). The 2003 Act is
Mental Health AO4
Mental illness is a clinically diagnosable disorder that significantly interferes with an individual's cognitive, emotional or social abilities. The diagnosis of mental illness is generally made according to the classification systems of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or the International Classification of Diseases. Mental health, its causes and treatments have varied over time with different time periods and cultures. Since Neolithic times there have been suggestions that they used to drill holes in the skull to treat mental illness. These operations involving the opening of the skull were believed to facilitate the exit of evil spirits that caused mental illness. However, in the middle ages theories arose that the four humours caused mental illness. These were black bile (faeces), yellow bile (urine), phlegm and blood. Then in 1600 Native Americans summoned supernatural powers to treat those that were considered mentally ill but later in 1600's mental illness was commonly thought to signify a witch or someone that was possessed by a demon. Cotton Mather suggested that physical explanations lead to mental illness. Mental illness became more common after World War one as it led to a rise in mental disorders such as 'shell shock' and this was the time that covert euthanasia projects took place leading to the annihilation of 'undesirables' such as
Mental Health and Stigma
This assignment will discuss the stigma that is attached to having a mental illness, it will detail why this is an issue, what is being done to fight stigma, and what model of mental health can better help us to understand this issue. Having and living with mental illness each and every day can be extremely traumatic for the sufferer, this without having to face the stigma they often do. Stigma is "a mark or sign of disgrace or discredit" as defined by the Oxford Handy Dictionary. Stigma causes people to feel uncomfortable around an issue, or can also cause people to mock the issue in order to make it less threatening to them. People who feel uncomfortable will often refuse to talk about mental illness therefore causing a silence around the subject. People usually tend to attach stigma to others that are different from them. Or often, due to mistaken beliefs, the mentally ill are thought to be dangerous. The stigma attached to mental illness is the main obstacle to better mental health care and better quality of life for people who have the illness, for their families, for their communities and for health service staff that deal with psychiatric disorders. For people with mental health issues, stigma is a huge problem faced every day, causing difficulty in many, often everyday, things, for example finding employment, getting a mortgage, or simply getting up in the
What is Mental Health
What is Mental Health? There are many conflicting arguments on what is mental health. In general mental health can be defined as "the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment." (Princeton University) This piece of work will explore factors associated with mental health problems and identify how it is recognised. Exploring more in depth into a mental disorder and its causes and how it is managed. Finally, looking at the positive side to mental health that affects us all on a daily basis. When you are physically well, you do not usually spend much time thinking about it. Similarly, you are unlikely to give much thought to your mental health as a rule. Physical and mental health is closely inter-related. Physical illness may cause mental symptoms, and mental illness often gives rise to physical symptoms this in turn influences the type of treatment used. Mental illness is usually recognized by a person's abnormal behaviour. It is almost impossible to say what is meant by "normal" behaviour, so it is even more difficult to define abnormal behaviour. It may lie anywhere between mere oddity to obvious insanity. People should not be classed as "abnormal" simply because they do not conform to the particular social, moral or political customs of the society in which they live. Mental illnesses are usually
Explain mental health promotion.
Question: Explain Mental Health Promotion It is a well-known fact that the suicide rate amongst teenagers in Australia is one of the highest in the world and (1). Bearing this in mind it is imperative that we begin to recognize the contributing factors that lead to depression and suicide amongst our teenagers and develop a plan to reduce these statistics and their impact on our nation. There are many definitions of mental health promotion, essentially it is promoting mental well-being, by increasing public awareness and establishing programs to support individuals and communities. This advocacy is necessary to address the modifiable determinants of health, which include socio-economic background, home environment, education, employment, work conditions and accessibility of health. Traditionally mental health services were isolated from mainstream health services and society this created a stigma and resulted in this group being one of the most disadvantaged groups (2). The Victorian Mental Health Promotion Foundation has put together a mental health promotion framework whereby in consultation with over one hundred organizations from a variety of sectors have identified three factors that significantly influence mental health. These include: social connectedness, valuing diversity and economic participation. Mental Health Promotion Framework Determinants of
Mental Health
'Mistreatment and oppression is the common lot of people in our societies who are labelled as having emotional problems or acting irrationally. The threat of being called crazy is used in the oppression of every group in the population. The oppression of some people in the name of mental health functions as a threat to keep all people in line.' The above quote suggests that the experience of being diagnosed or labelled as having mental health problems, whether officially by professionals, or unofficially by lay people, family members and others with whom we have contact, is not only used as a means to explain a persons difficulties, but also as a means of control. In this instance that control is achieved through the widespread use of fear. That fear is founded on the stigma and discrimination that people with mental health problems experience on a daily basis and only works as a means of control if everyone in society is aware of the prejudicial treatment with which they themselves treat other people. This work will examine the control of persons labelled as 'crazy', historically, politically and socially. It will raise questions concerning definitions of mental health and ask whether such labels are being applied to people whose behaviour does not fit with the hegemonic standards of morality that exist in society at a particular point in time. We will also be
Depression is a mental state of excessive sadness.
"Depression can be defined as an emotional state of mind characterised by feeling of gloom and inadequacy leading to withdrawal. Depression is a mental state of excessive sadness characterised by persistently low mood, loss of pleasure and interest. To be considered a clinical condition depression symptoms have a duration of at least 2 weeks and include; disturbance in sleep, appetite, and concentration." This definition was taken from the Collins English Dictionary and Hyperdictionary, from this definition it can clearly be seen that depression is a serious disorder with great affects on an individuals mental well being. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing "blue mood", people who suffer from depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better, without treatment depressive symptoms can last for weeks, months or even years and can progressively worsen. Basically speaking there are two types of depression, reactive depression; this occurs because of some usually negative (but can be positive!) event like a loss of a relative or someone close, this can vary greatly from mild to severe however mild depression is much more common. There is also endogenous depression; this occurs entirely for biological reasons, this can also be mild and severe but mostly in the case of endogenous depression the symptoms of
mental health
TMA 03 Discuss what complementary and alternative therapies have to offer mental health service users/survivors. This essay will begin by looking at the meaning of complementary and alternative therapies; as the name suggests, complementary therapies usually complement or work alongside mainstream medicine while alternative therapies offer treatments that can replace orthodox medical treatment altogether. Complementary and alternative therapies which are often abbreviated to CAMs include approaches to health that are based on traditional healing methods from non-western cultures. Another definition of complementary and alternative approaches is that they are: "a broad domain of healing resources that encompass all health systems, modalities, and practices and their accompanying theories and beliefs, other than those intrinsic to the politically dominant health systems of a particular society or culture in a given historical period"{the Cochrane collaboration, quoted in house of lords,2000,para. 1.12}. The use of CAMs are becoming increasingly popular in the UK. This could be as a result of people trying and finding the CAM methods very effective; another way to try and understand the change is to see it as a reaction against orthodox medicine. Surveys carried out showed
a01 an investigation into mental health
A01 An Investigation into the types and causes of Mental Health I will be investigating into 3 different types of mental health illnesses and their causes. An overview of the types and causes of Mental Health Illnesses The awareness of mental health issues have raised over the years, previously majority of people did not understand all mental health issues. Mental health issues can be minor as well as serious either way each mental health problem will affect an individual negatively. Some of the disorders include; Alzheimer's, depressive illnesses, generalised anxiety disorders, Schizophrenia, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders and also phobias. There can be many causes for the mental health problem some causes are unknown or not clear. There are different influences for each individual, which can trigger a mental health problem. Physical influences such as giving birth can impact and trigger postnatal depression. The societal influences depend on the society the individual is part of this could mean drug-related disorders, unemployment or social deprivation to be a possible causation of a particular mental health problem. Genetic influences are when a genetic disorder has been passed down from parent to child; they tend to cause mental health problems with personality/perception disorders. Environmental influences such as stress from looking after a child
Depression. I have read an article on the BBC News website asking Is living alone bad for your mental health?.
Amy Watts Psychology Task two Is living alone bad for your mental health? I have read an article on the ‘BBC News’ website asking ‘Is living alone bad for your mental health?’. A group of Finnish researchers from the Finnish institute of occupational health have looked into the link between solitary living and the risk of developing depression. The project was led by Dr Laura Pulkki-Raback. ‘the real risk of mental health problems in people living alone could be much higher.’ (Said to the BBC by Dr Laura Pulkki-Raback, 2012) The researchers conducted a study of 3,500 Finnish people, to find out how many of them were using the aids of anti-depressants. 1,695 of the subjects were men and 1,776 were women. The average age of the subjects was 44.6. To obtain the relevant information needed the subjects were asked to complete a survey asking whether they lived alone, or if there were other people within their household. Environment factors taken into consideration were their income, employment, working environment, education, housing conditions and social support. Alongside health factors such as smoking, drinking habits and their exercise routine, if any. The outcome of this research concluded the participants that lived alone brought 80% more antidepressants in the follow up period between 2000 and 2008, than the participants that lived alongside others.
