As many as 450 million people in the world are plagued by mental illnesses such as depression, obsessivecompulsive disorder, Schizophrenia, and various other disorders. Though it may seem this is a large number of people, there is an even larger number of people who disbelieve in the existence of mental illnesses or have exaggerated ideas of what these illnesses should be. People all over the world live with mental disorders on a day to day basis, and many of these people are treated poorly due to the stigma mental disorders carry. though there are many disorder with proven biological and psychological causes, there are also many false disorder projected onto others by society and false treatments often used by family members of the mentally …show more content…
Another common mental disorder is depression, which is often confused with simply being upset or sad, and though depression is a very real disorder, it is also one of the least believed in disorders. the major cause of depression, however, is not simply sadness, as most might think. Sadnesses is a natural emotion felt by all mentally sound people, usually as a response to emotional loss; Depression on the other hand is an extreme feeling of hopelessness and lack of motivation. These mental disorders have major effects in daily life, preventing some people from being able to function on a day to day basis. The causes for mental disorders are divided into two categories, genetic and environmental. Most mental disorders are genetic and are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. For example, a lack of dopamine and serotonin may cause severe depression in a person. Social and environmental factors, such as interaction with friends or poor treatment from family members, also have an effect on the mental health of a person. One of the biggest environmental factors is abuse as the trauma often damages the psychological development of the brain, …show more content…
Another treatment for mental disorders is medication. Medication, however, has a much bigger stigma attached to it. While it is true that some medication can worsen disorders, it is equally true that medication has been proven to neutralize and even sometimes cure some disorders. Common medications include Zoloft(depression and anxiety), Prozac(depression and anxiety), ritalin(ADHD\ADD), and Clozaril(schizophrenia). Other forms of treatment such as yoga and other physical activity have also proven to decrease stress and depression. Mental illnesses, while proven easily treatable by most standards, still carries a bad stigma. This stigma causes a large amount of misunderstanding and mistreatment towards the mentally ill. In one prison in North Carolina it was reported that "one mentally ill inmate was kept in solitary confinement for 2491 consecutive days. An intellectually disabled and schizophrenic man was abused and neglected, then left to rot in his own feces and vomit, until he died of a heart attack. Force was used 81 times on another severely mentally ill inmate.
Depression is not sadness. It’s not melancholy. It’s not tied to circumstance. It’s not a choice.
Throughout life, we will all experience sadness and anxiety as a result of the stresses of life. This is a normal response to the different hardships that we might encounter in life. Tragedies such as getting fired from a job, getting a divorce, losing a loved one, or having any other form of disappointment can cause the person who is experiencing the hardship to feel sad, scared, lonely, or even hopeless. Even though these feelings are normal responses to difficult situations which are typically resolved with time, some people unexplainably experience these feelings daily, making it difficult and almost impossible to function. Often times these people may be experiencing depression, an anxiety
Depression is an affective disorder, demonstrating many symptoms such as “hopelessness, helplessness, personal devaluation, and extreme sadness” (depression, 1).Though sadness is something everyone experiences, people who have
A lack of funding, or means to pay for treatments is a large barrier faced by many individuals. It has recently become more openly talked about, usually about depression, however, due to the invisible nature of mental illnesses and the stigma (especially against schizophrenia) mental illnesses do not get the donations or funding other illnesses might. Without proper funding, the research and studies needed to expand and learn more about mental disorders cannot move. On a more personal level, people who suffer with mental illnesses, people with schizophrenia or autism are good examples, often have hard times getting or holding jobs. A lack of personal funds can make it difficult to pay for proper counseling or medication (when it is called for). It is especially exacerbated by the fact that many mental illnesses may last a life time, which is a lifetime of paying for medication, for treatments, for counseling or more expensive schooling. Only made worse by the fact that some mental disorders never truly “cure” which ensures for a lifetime of taking medication and therapy, which can be draining on a person and their families. Especially if a patient's treatment is not working such as the initial medication used for Jim in Case 13 of the Case Studies, who had ten years of limited success with his medications. In more extreme cases, individuals may be in jail or prison which impacts their access to treatments. Many people with schizophrenia (and other various mental disorders) are incarcerated at a higher rate than the average person, and depending on the facility they are not guaranteed to receive the counseling or treatments
Mental illness has a stigma surrounding it and many are afraid to understand the true depth of it and its effects. We may never be able to fully
The Oxford College notes (2006) define depression as a major affective disorder because it affects feelings, mood, and thoughts. Feltham and Dryden (1997) define depression as a short-lived mood or chronic condition characterised by hopelessness, apathy, meaninglessness, withdrawal, low self-esteem, sadness. Depression affects or reveals itself in sadness, dejection; depressed cognitions include negative evaluation of one’s self, the world and one’s future. Depressed behaviour includes lethargy, isolation, and disturbed eating and sleeping patterns.
According to NewsWeekly.com 1 in every 5 american adults have a mental illness. This may not seem like a whole ton of people, but these people's lives are affected everyday with everything they do. People come in all different shapes and sizes. Anyone can be anything, so why should your mental state affect what society lets you do. People with mental illnesses should get the opportunities to create a life of their own. All lives matter and just because someone needs a little extra help doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have rights.
Most people, thanks to an uneducated media (TV, print and social media), perceive mental illness as a weakness or character flaws. They think that the sufferer can just "snap out of it" if they try hard enough, and that people with mental disorders are just lazy. There are also a lot of stigma surrounding mental illnesses. For example, many perceive schizophrenics to be violent, and people with OCD to be neat-freaks or quirky. The truth is mental health problems have nothing to do with being lazy. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including: Biological factors, such as genes, physical illness, injury, or brain chemistry, life experiences, such as trauma or a history of
Consciously or unconsciously there is a negative bias toward mental illnesses and people suffering from them. The stereotypes attached to these conditions increased the fragmentation of services in this health field. The lack of coordination between human services, psychiatric providers, public sector and primary physicians represent an obstacle for people to get help.
Depression can mean several different things. It can mean "normal" depression, such as loss, conflict, trauma, or the disruption of normal life balance. It can be a symptom of a physical illness, or a side effect of medication. It can also be based on neurochemical abnormalities (Karren, Smith, & Gordon, 2014, p. 181-182). Depression as an illness is not a normal reaction, but it can occur even without a clear reason (Karren, Smith, & Gordon, 2014, p. 182). A person who is depressed feels that the present conditions and the future possibilities are intolerable (Karren, Smith, & Gordon, 2014, p. 182). The elusiveness of depression makes it difficult to define: it 's not just one single condition with a simple cause (Karren, Smith, &
People who have mental disorder are misunderstood as a dangerous or incompetent person by the society. This misunderstood thought is spread widely due to mass media and then it became the negative attitudes among normal people. (Corrigan, 1998).
depression) is a common but serious mood disorder. It causes severe symptoms that affect how
Although, those with these illnesses are as likely to be violent as everyone else, the rest of the population still believes the stigma to be true, because of how it is presented in the media and in society. This stigma destroys the person’s self-esteem, and makes it harder for them to cope with their disability. People who suffer from mental illnesses are just like everyone else, and need to be treated like everyone else.
sad depression which is the result of a diagnosable mental illness with other fundamental causes. It may
Sadness is how the human being reacts to the loss of a loved one, the struggles of life, the disappointments, and the frustrations. Although it is a normal feeling in all these situations, there is a broad difference between being sad and being depressed. Unlike normal feelings of sadness, depression overwhelms a person, last a long time, and interferes with his or her day-to-day life. According to the World Health Organization in 2010, depression was reported as the most common mental disorder; it affects 120 million people globally and is among the leading causes of disability. The person that suffers from depression has to deal with being misunderstood and under-diagnosed on a daily basis, which leaves the patient with physical,