Mental illness is an important topic that is rarely spoken or taught in today’s society. About half of people in the world have a mental health disorder, yet most people don’t know what it really means to have a serious health problem. There are numerous theories on why these disorders happen; additionally, some disorders in the world are still a mystery to the science community and also millions of people share these personal experiences through writing. What is Mental Health and its comparison to Mental Illness Numerous people in today’s society have yet to fully understand what mental illness is; therefore, they really need to understand the meaning of the word. According to the article “What is Mental Illness,” mental health is foundation for thinking, communication, learning, self esteem, and it also plays a key role in close relationships.
In our society the people who are suffering with mental illness known as most stigmatized . Elliot and colleagues reports that the stigma which is associated with Mental illness creates social barrier to the Mentally ill people. They are treated differently from the normal people and excluded from the community with the perception of abnormal interaction, dangerous and also with not predictable behaviour . All these situations in society creates a challenge to the mentally ill to face not only their illness but also the community. Public stigma may leads the stress in mentally ill, which will increase psychological problems like depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.
Mental illness is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society and learning more about it can benefit both people who struggle with it and those who do not. “Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in thinking, emotion or behavior (or a combination of these)” (What is Mental Illness). The subject of mental illness is nothing new, in fact it has been around for centuries. The first public understanding of what mental illness was and how to treat it came about when a man named Hippocrates, a pioneer in treating mentally ill patients, began to use techniques not rooted in any religious or superstitious beliefs, but rather in changing the environment and occupation of the patient (Early). Any mental illness recorded before
Introduction A mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Mental illnesses are medical conditions related with brain, which generally results in diminished individual coping capacity with daily demands of life. Sufferer of mental illness can be a child, adult, old age people, mental illness can affect any person of any religion caste, and race and income. Recovery with mental illness is possible. Mental illness can be understood by many models like spiritual model, Psychological Models, Psychosocial Model, biomedical model, biomedical model is based on scientific aspects of medicine.
A mental disorder is a medical condition which disrupts a person’s ability to think, to feel, to relate to others, his/her mood and daily functioning. More clearly, a mental disorder or a psychological disorder is a psychological dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected (Durand et al, 2006). According to National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH); a mental illness is a mental, behavioural or emotional disorder which is diagnosable and can be treated. There are innumerable mental disorders which can be named; like major depression, schizophrenia, panic disorder, etc. In the world, everyday, people who are diagnosed with a mental disorder is increasing.
4.3 Community Stigma around People with Mental Illness in Akure From the responses obtained from the study participants, the stigma towards people with mental illnesses is defines as real (Angermeyer & Dietrich, 2006, 169); however, the degree of stigmatization is determined by the level of knowledge and awareness among the respondents. For instance, the medical personnel show a high level of understanding and positive attitude towards the mentally ill people. Out of the medical personnel 10 respondents, 8 of them had a positive attitude towards these people which represents an 80% of the positive perception among the medical staff. The perception and attitude varied among the respondents. The respondents from the general public depicted a
People could be aware of their problems and rationalize what is going on with their bodies instead of resulting to destructive behavior, such as cutting, picking skin, or even suicide, that would harm themselves or others. Public awareness of mental health can increase chance of mental health care being provided for free to many. Sadly, many cannot access service they need due to social or economic problems they face. If mental health care was free, we wouldn’t have this issue. Many would be more aware of mental health if it is provided for free.
Mental illness is something that is often judged and made fun of. If any progress is going to happen, that needs to stop. Mental illness needs to be normalized before it can be cared for. If this judgements are continued, it will only cause these people with the disorder to become spiteful and not want to get the care they
Health is defined by the World Health Organisation as the overall physical, mental and social state of well-being. In Australia, mental illness is one of the leading causes of absence at work and the inability to work long-term. The World Health Organisation defined mental health as a state where individuals can cope with stress to realise their potential and work productively contributing to her or his community. Mental health conditions are said to cost Australian organisations AUD$11 to AUD$12 billion each year from absenteeism, weakened work performance, increased turnovers and claims. One in six people of working age is estimated to suffer from mental illness, most commonly depression and anxiety, and is associated with increased personal and economic costs.
This is one of the compelling deliberations of how individual with mental disorder lives. Thoughts, fear, chaos, and mostly, confusion are some of the excruciating agony that a victim would have to deal with. Consequently, stress due to mental disorder causes increased alcohol intake, tobacco use, poor diet and even high-risk sexual behavior. In addition, according to mentalhelp.net, between 30 to 70 percent of the people who commit suicide suffer from rational disarray. It has become apparent that mental disorders do affect a person’s social life.