Our mental health is a priority!
What is mental health?
The World Health Organization (WHO) (2019) defines mental health as “a state of wellbeing in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
Mental health includes our social, psychological and emotional wellbeing. Mental health affects how we think, feel and act and helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices.
Impaired mental health affects our ability to function as effective members of society and affects our ability to cope with the daily stressors of life.
Of course we need effective coping skills if we are stuck in traffic for hours and about to miss an important appointment! What about being able to deal with a disagreement with someone and sudden death of a loved one.
Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Our psychological, personality and biological factors could contribute to mental health problems. When we experience mental health problems it affect our thought process, mood and behavior.
It is important to note that mental health is different from mental illness.
What is mental illness?
Mental illnesses are conditions that affect how we think, feel and even our mood and behavior such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
Mental illness could occur occasionally or can be long-lasting (chronic) and can affect our ability to relate to others and function each day.
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, mental health and mental illness are not the same. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of wellbeing which could be physical, social and mental.
Ourmental and physical health are equally important components of overall health.
Mental illness, especially with depression can increase the risk of developing stress, self-harm, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
Individuals suffering with chronic conditions are at an increased risk of developing mental illness. Chronic conditions could affect daily living and quality of life thus raising one’s stress levels and ability to cope with their circumstance.
Can our mental health change over time?
The answer is yes! Many factors could affect our mental health over time.
Sometimes we go through so much and have so much doing that the demands placed on our body exceed our coping abilities and that could negatively impact our mental health.
Imagine having to work a 12 hour shift then go home to take care of your sick relative, care after your newborn yet complete assignments and chores. This could send anyone into depression overtime and cause poor mental health.
Have you ever been depressed?
Going to school full time and working full time was a challenging experience for me. Thank God for my mom who took care of the house, did the chores, did my laundry and ensured that I had food to eat because having to do school work immediately after coming from work was very overwhelming. Continue resting in peace mommy!
Determinants of mental health
Social factors are the conditions in which we are born, live, grow, work and age. It is basically where we live, work and play as it relates to our socioeconomic status, physical environment and employment opportunities. Having poor education and poor socioeconomic status could cause poor mental health as we try to cope with having low incomes and sustaining ourselves and family.
Imagine you in this scenario, you have no educational background, you do not have a decent paying job and you work in a risky and poor environment. You have bills to pay, food to buy, take care of yourself and imagine having children that you also have to take care of. What do you think will happen to your mental health?
Psychological factors include our beliefs, motivation and individual characteristics. Certain personality traits could predispose us to poor mental health. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) can predispose us to poor mental health as we try to get things done perfectly, have repeated unwanted thoughts and do repeated actions.
Biological factors can affect mental health because of abnormal functioning of nerve cell circuits that connect to certain regions of the brain. Any defect or injury to these circuits can affect mental health. Individuals with family members with mental illness are more prone to developing mental illness. Remember, we may be susceptible to developing a mental illness but that does not mean that we will develop a mental illness.
Our environment
Stressful work environment, unhealthy lifestyle, sexual violence, socioeconomic pressures, violence, gender discrimination and rapid social change could all affect our mental health.
Do you work in a stressful environment? Do you deal with stressful co-workers on a daily basis? Do you have a stressful partner or family member? These could all contribute to impaired mental health if the answers are yes.
There is no single cause for mental illness but a number of factors can contribute to the risk of developing mental illness.
Our life experiences could cause mental illness such as trauma or a history of abuse such as sexual assault, child abuse, physical assault or witnessing violence.
Chronic illnesses such as cancer could also be a contributing factor. Drug use, alcohol, having few friends, and drug use, not socializing, having feelings of loneliness and isolation could also be contributing factors.
Stigma attached to mental health
People with mental health conditions often experience severe human rights violations, discrimination and stigma.
I am guilty of such because before I started working in the health care field I was afraid of individuals with mental illness. I felt like they would attack me anytime or would snap and change personalities. Overtime as I began working with individuals with mental health conditions I better understood how to react and respond to them.
Stigma causes prejudice, discrimination and ignorance. Stigma attached to mental illness causes individuals suffering with mental disorders to feel shame, have low self-esteem and develop negative beliefs. As a result, this causes individuals with mental disorders to withdraw from social interactions.
Stigma to mental disorders is a barrier to the provision of care for people with mental disorders. Individuals with mental disorders are ostracized by society so may not receive basic care. Some communities banish individuals with mental disorders whilst others get beaten, neglected and deprived of basic human needs (WHO, 2019).
Individuals suffering from mental illness may believe that health care professionals have stigma attitudes toward them so may not seek care. This could lead to poor health overtime if left untreated as persons get depressed further and inflict harm on themselves and others.
Stop
How do you feel about someone with poor mental health and someone with a mental illness? Do you avoid them? Do you label them or do you define them as their mental illness and not for who they are?
Together let us stop the stigma attached to poor mental health and mental illness. Anyone of us could suffer from poor mental health or develop a mental illness at any point in our lives. Sometimes situations happen and they are unforeseen and change the course of our lives. If we do not have proper coping skills and the personality attached to coping well with unanticipated and life changing events then we could develop poor mental health.
Early warning signs of poor mental health
Although poor mental health could be mistaken for other illnesses there are common signs and symptoms. Remember that poor mental health could cause varying signs and symptoms which all vary from person to person.
Inability to perform daily tasks like taking care of our kids or getting to work or school, constant aches and pains of unknown origin and constantly feeling sleepy and tired are early warning signs.
We need to monitor ourselves if we constantly pull away from people and usual activities, have low or no energy, feel numb to everything or feel like nothing matters.
Constant changes in mood such as feeling helpless, hopeless or feeling upset are also common.
Improving our mental health
Improving mental health involves activities that can improve psychological wellbeing. Counseling could be an effective way to let out our feelings as we seek professional help.
We could engage inbackyard gardening and sports to serve as stress reduction activities. I have found that journaling helps reduce anxiety as I write my feelings and all the conversations I have with myself in my head.
When we go out with family and friends we connect with others, share our experiences and listen to others as they tell us about their lives. This provides a sense of belonging and like we have persons to speak to.
We could partake in mental health programs, do group outings or group interactive sessions to increase belonging to a group to help reduce stress and anxiety.
Let us stay positive, get physically active and help others.
Anti-discrimination
Whether we are or are not suffering from mental illness or poor mental health, anti-discrimination campaigns could be done to help raise awareness of mental illness and poor mental health.
We could encourage the implementation of laws to protect all individuals from being bullied because persons suffering with mental illness have a greater probability of being exposed to discrimination.
Gap
There are treatment options for persons with poor mental health and those with mental illness. Many mental health conditions can be effectively treated at low cost but there is a gap between people needing care and those with access to care. Increased investment is required for mental health awareness to increase understanding and reduce stigma.
More efforts on the part of governments could be done to increase access to quality mental health care and effective treatments. Legislation on human rights to ensure care for persons suffering from mental illness would also be effective.
Research can also be done to identify new treatments and improve existing treatments for all mental disorders. Research on what has worked in the past could be used to enhance future interventions.
Remember positive change starts with you so you could help improve someone’s poor mental health.
Raising awareness
Mental illness and poor mental health could be inherited so parents could be taught signs and symptoms for early diagnosis and treatment.
Individuals with mental illness and their families can be empowered and educational programs on mental health can be done in communities. This will raise awareness of mental disorders, possible risk factors and coping methods to utilize when dealing with people with mental disorders. This too would help reduce the stigma attached to mental illness.
Mental health could be taught at all schools even at kindergarten so children could be raised into knowing the signs and symptoms of poor mental health and mental illness. This would help with early identification of signs and symptoms to ensure that help is obtained.
Psychiatric disorders that go untreated affect patients, families, communities and the health care system. More mental health care education can be provided by health care workers to raise awareness.
Mental disorders affect overall health, cause disabilities and decrease of years lived. Mental health services should be introduced into primary care services to improve the outcome of mental health.
We can do it!
Remember we could have poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness and we could remain capable of contributing to society and live a healthy and normal life.
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2018). Learn about mental health. Mental health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm
World Health Organization (WHO). (2019). Promoting the rights of people with mental disorders: solutions in countries. Denied citizens. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/features/2005/mental_health/solutions/en/
World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). Mental health. Health tropics. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/westernpacific/health-topics/mental-health
Reems Sonson
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