MENTAL ILLNESS — Part I

There are so many stereotypes and myths in society today relating to mental illness and the people that suffer from it, so we have decided to do a three part feature on mental illness in our blog.  Part I will provide a brief introduction to Mental Illness and review Anxiety and Mood disorders.  Part II will review Personality Disorders, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, and Schizoaffective Disorder.  Part III will review Self Injury, Suicide and Violence, and end with a synopsis of Mental Health issues in Canada today.

The stigma attached to mental illnesses presents a serious barrier not only to diagnosis and treatment but also to acceptance in the community.  We hope that by sharing a little information we can do our small part to educate some people not familiar with, or who have lingering questions about, mental illness.

What Is Mental Illness:

Mental illnesses takes many forms, just as physical illnesses do. Unfortunately, many people still misunderstand and fear mental illness; hopefully the fear and shame will diminish as society learns the truth about mental health issues and discusses them openly. If you, or someone you know, has a mental illness, there is good news: all mental illnesses can be treated.

We are not just physical bodies. Our mental health is just as important as our physical health, the two are very much dependent on each other.  Our mental health directly affects our physical health, and vice versa. People with physical health problems may experience anxiety or depression that can affect their recovery. Similarly, mental health challenges increase the risk of developing physical problems such as:

• diabetes
• heart disease
• weight gain or loss
• gastrointestinal problems
• reductions in immune system efficiency
• blood biochemical imbalances

Mental illnesses are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behaviour (or some combination thereof) associated with significant distress and impaired functioning. The symptoms of mental illness vary from mild to severe, depending on the degree of illness, the individual, their family and socio-economic environment.

Types of Mental Illness:

Anxiety Disorders: 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is a condition where you experience chronic and debilitating anxiety and/or worry.  The level of your anxiety is out of proportion compared to the likelihood the potential event will actually occur. The anxiety affects your ability to complete your normal activities of daily living at work, home, school, and can even interfere with personal relationships. Anxiety can also cause physical symptoms such as stomach pains, dizziness, forgetfulness, numbness, agitation, shortness of breath, and chest pain.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a condition where you experience thoughts, images or impulses that are very disturbing to you and make you feel anxious (obsessions). You may need to repetitively perform specific acts (rituals) to make yourself feel better or relieve the feelings of anxiety (compulsions).

Panic attacks are intense episodes of fear that often occur for no apparent reason and can peak in ten minutes or less. They happen when your built-in alarm system gets activated and your body prepares to fight or run for your life through a survival mechanism called the ‘Fight or Flight’ response. When this alarm system gets triggered you are likely to experience a series of physical and cognitive symptoms which can be overwhelming such as trembling, heart palpitations, hot or cold flashes, a choking sensation or a fear of going crazy.

Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop after you have been exposed to traumatic events that cause you to experience distressing psychological symptoms which can then become disabling to you. Events that can cause PTSD include being involved in an accident, sexual or physical assault, extreme weather events (Hurricane Katrina), witnessing a serious injury or death, having a near death experience or the feeling you almost died, being exposed to repetitive trauma like serving in active duty, etc.

Social Anxiety Disorder (or Social Phobia) is the most common anxiety disorder. It’s a condition which involves being afraid of being judged negatively by others and results in feelings of embarrassment and humiliation.  Your fears of about what others will think are out of proportion to reality, and even if you are aware, it will still worry you and cause enough anxiety that you’ll want to try and avoid social situations.

Phobias: Many of us are afraid of snakes and spiders (myself certainly included in that demographic), but most of us can manage our fears. On the other hand, phobias can cause a level of fear that is unmanageable can be quite disabling and you may experience considerable distress. For example, a fear of flying could result in your not being able to travel for your job and therefore you might have to pass up a much wanted promotion. A fear of snakes could result in not going on family outings to the park and/or not using the basement of your own home.

Attention Deficit Disorders:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder characterized by a an inability to concentrate, sometimes combined with hyperactivity-impulsivity that is persistent, developmentally inappropriate, and occurs in at least two different settings.

ADHD, also known as attention deficit disorder (ADD) or hyperkinetic disorder, has been around a lot longer than most people realize.  In fact, a condition that appears to be similar to ADHD was described by Hippocrates, who lived from 460 to 370 BC.

Mood Disorders:

Mood disorders affect about 10% of the population. Everyone experiences normal “highs” and “lows” in life, but people with mood disorders experience them with greater intensity and for longer periods of time than most people.

Depression is the most common mood disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep, constant tiredness, an inability to have fun, poor concentration, and thoughts of death or suicide. These problems can become chronic or recurrent and lead to substantial impairments in an individual's ability to take care of his or her everyday responsibilities and feelings of hopelessness. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide, a tragic fatality associated with the loss of about 850,000 lives every year (as per the WHO).

Dysthymia is characterized by depressive symptoms present most of the day for two years or more in adults and for one year or more in children and adolescents. In children diagnosed with this illness, irritability as opposed to depression may be present. Dysthymia is different from major depressive disorder because of the chronic, long term nature of the illness and because there are fewer depressive symptoms (two or three) than in major depressive disorder (four or more symptoms). Often people suffering from dysthymia have experienced depressive symptoms like hopelessness, poor concentration, sleep disturbances and low motivation for years, but have never been diagnosed with depression; for some the symptoms begin to feel like a chronic state of being. People with dysthymia may appear outwardly to be coping well enough, but seem very unhappy most, if not all, of the time.

Bipolar disorder (historically known as manic depression) causes serious shifts in mood, energy, thinking, and behavior–from the highs of mania on one extreme, to the lows of depression on the other. More than just a fleeting good or bad mood, the cycles of bipolar disorder last for days, weeks, or months. And unlike ordinary mood swings, the mood changes of bipolar disorder are so intense that they interfere with your ability to function. It is a serious condition; the mania often causes sleeplessness, sometimes for several days,  hallucinations, delusions, paranoid rage and possibly even psychosis.

People are frequently confused what the differences is between a clinical depression and manic depression and it’s not surprising as they both have the word depression in their names. That’s one of the reason’s manic depression’s clinical name changed to “bipolar disorder” many years ago, to clearly distinguish it from regular depression.

Postpartum depression.  Having a baby is a challenging time, both physically and emotionally for all women and some degree of emotional vulnerability is natural and expected after childbirth.  It’s natural for new mothers to have mood swings after delivery, feeling joyful one minute and overwhelmed the next. These feelings are sometimes known as the "baby blues" and usually go away within a few days after the birth. However, some women may experience a deep and ongoing depression which lasts much longer; this is postpartum depression and can begin any time during the first two months after you give birth.

If you feel depressed after the birth of your child, tell someone you trust about how you feel.  Call a sympathetic friend, join a mothers' group for support, or chat with moms about postpartum depression in the BabyCenter Community.  You may be surprised at how many women are experiencing similar feelings. If you have a supportive partner, make sure they know what's going on and how they can help.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Weather often affects people’s moods. Sunlight breaking through clouds can lift our spirits, while a dull, rainy day may make most of us feel quite gloomy. These mood shifts generally do not affect our ability to cope with daily life but some people are vulnerable to a type of depression that follows a seasonal pattern.  For them, the shortening days of late autumn are the beginning of a type of clinical depression that can last until spring; this condition is called “Seasonal Affective Disorder," or SAD.  

We will post Part II and Part II of our Mental Health series in the coming weeks so stay tuned and please feel free to post your comments below or email them in confidence  HERE