Mental Health and Therapy

• Mental Health is the level of psychological well-being or an absence of mental illness. It is the “psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotion and behavioral adjustment.”
• From the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an individual’s ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between live activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience.
• Mental Health refers to state of well-being in which the individual:

  • Realizes one’s own abilities and potentials
  • Copes adequately with the normal stresses of life
• Spiritual activities include time alone, meditation, yoga, connection, nature, journaling, and creating a sacred space.
• Mentally healthy individuals possess environmental mastery, positive self-perception, capability for growth and development, positive friendships and relationships, accurate perception of reality, autonomy and independence.
• Factors affecting mental health include biological factors such as genes or brain chemistry, life experiences like trauma or abuse, and family history of mental health problems.
• Mental illness or disorder is a disease that causes mild to severe disturbances of thought and/or behaviour, resulting in inability to cope with life’s ordinary demands and routines.
• Psychological and mental disorders are used interchangeably.
• Types of disorders include anxiety disorders, phobias, panic disorder, OCD, PTSD, eating disorders, addiction behavior, somatoform disorder, and dissociative disorders.
• Anxiety disorders are characterized by extreme anxiousness, shared symptoms include trembling or shaking, shortness of breath, chest pain or discomfort, fear of losing control, chills or hot flashes.
• Examples of anxiety disorders include PTSD, phobia, and GAD.
• Panic disorder is characterized by a sudden episode of extreme anxiety accompanied by a constant, ongoing sense of uneasiness, distress and apprehension, reduced awareness of surroundings, and intense distress when exposed to reminders of trauma.
• Phobia is an irrational and excessive fear of an object or situation.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive and exaggerated anxiety or fear in doing daily events with no obvious reasons for worry; thus may interfere with the normal functioning of an individual.
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) consists of recurring anxiety-provoking thoughts or obsessions that are only relieved through ritualistic or repetitive behaviors or mental events.
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that develops after a person witnesses or becomes involved in a serious trauma such as a life-threatening assault or a natural disaster.
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a severe, persistent emotional reaction to a traumatic event that severely impairs one’s life.
• Somatoform Disorder is a disorder in which people believe they are sick when they are not.
• Dissociative Disorders are disorders in which there is a break in conscious awareness, memory, the sense of identity, or some combination.
• Dissociative Identity Disorders, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, occurs when a person seems to have 2 or more distinct personalities within one body.
• Mood Disorder is a disorder characterized by extreme changes in mood, often with no apparent cause.
• Emotional self-care involves stress management, emotional maturity, forgiveness, compassion, kindness.
• Major Depression is a condition where a deeply depressed mood comes on fairly suddenly and either seems too severe or exists without any external cause of sadness.
• Psychotic behavior is peculiar and can be dangerous to the self or to others.
• Biomedical Therapy is a kind of therapy that uses some biological treatment in the form of medical procedures to bring about changes in the person’s disordered behavior, involves the use of biological interventions, such as drugs.
• Supporting someone with mental illness involves being patient with them, offering to help out with chores if they struggle with motivation and tasks, not attempting to diagnose them or play doctors, being a friend, reading up on their illness, and looking after your own mental health.
• Insight Therapy is understanding of one’s motive and actions.
• Psychoses are severe mental disorders where the individual loses touch with reality.
• Psychosocial Support is essential for maintaining good physical and mental health and provides an important coping mechanism for people during difficult times.
• Psychological First Aid involves paying attention to reactions, active listening and, if needed, practical assistance, such as problem solving, help to access basic needs or refering to further options for assistance.
• Functional Psychoses are behavior disorders which appear to be the end result of poor adjustment and severe conflict, examples include Manic Depressive Disorder and schizophrenia.
• Psychosocial intervention constitute the backbone of MHPSS response and include a range of social activities designed to foster psychological improvement, such as sharing experiences, fostering social support, awareness-raising and psychoeducation.
• Social self-care involves boundaries, support systems, positive social media, communication, time together, and asking for help.
• Action Therapy is directed more at changing behavior than providing insights into the reasons for the behavior.
• PFA helps normalize worry and other emotions and also promotes healthy coping and provides feelings of safety, calming, and hope.
• Bipolar Disorder is characterized by severe mood swings between major depressive episodes and manic episodes.
• Physical self-care includes sleep, stretching, walking, physical release, healthy food, yoga, rest.
• Psychotherapy involves taking things out with a professional, involves the use of psychological interventions.
• Organic Psychoses are those directly attributable to damage to the central nervous system, thus there is a known physiological cause.
• A psychotic person is unable to meet the demands of society and may have to be institutionalized.