July I agree. All Topics Warning Signs of Mental Illness Fifty percent of mental illness begins by age 14 , and three-quarters begins by age Taking Action, Getting Help More than a decade of research around the world has shown that early intervention can often minimize or delay symptoms, prevent hospitalization and improve prognosis. Encourage the person to: Have an evaluation by a mental health or other health care professional. Learn about mental illnes s, including signs and symptoms.
Receive supportive counseling about daily life and strategies for stress management. Be monitored closely for conditions requiring more intensive care.
Recognize that stigma may pose a significant barrier to seeking help. For Employers: Addressing Depression in the Workplace Right Direction is a free program for employers aimed at raising awareness about stress and depression in the workplace, demystifying the symptoms and treatments, and giving employees the information they need to get help.
Physician Review Ranna Parekh, M. What is Mental Illness? What is Psychotherapy? Bonus: The two can go together.
Mental illness is not about having quirky thoughts or being a little up or down. Mental illness makes it hard to take care of yourself. Hallucinations, delusions, bizarre behavior—especially the violent kind—get the most attention, but the real deal is often more static. It's being unable to get out of bed, go to work, be part of a family. More people are affected by mental illness than by diabetes and heart disease combined. Add the burden it imposes on loved ones, and everyone feels the pain.
But the loneliness is toughest. When I had my second episode I was again isolated. I'd tossed my medicine because it made me sluggish. I didn't think I had an illness anyway. It was just a weird thing that had happened to me, I figured. So when the symptoms returned, the only medication available was marijuana—not the best choice. It made things worse. The next prescription available to me, as a foolish person, was from Jack Daniel. Depending on your point of view, turning to drugs, alcohol, and other substances may not be morally bad choices.
But these are not optimal treatments for anxiety and depression. The problem is that alcohol works well in the short run.
If you're anxious or depressed, alcohol makes the pain go away. It can also tone down the voices and agitation, but it leaves the door open for them to return stronger. Drugs and alcohol abuse waste your time, destroy relationships, and make you sicker. Addictive behaviors may make it easier to get through an afternoon, but they won't make it easier to get through life.
Staying healthy—lifting those weights, walking those miles—will. Knowing that about yourself can truly save your life, not to mention many dollars. Taking yourself and life seriously makes you a much more authentic and empathetic friend—which, if you ask me, is more important than achieving any state of so-called normalcy.
If a medicine or a therapy isn't making you more accessible to genuine friendship, then it's a waste of time. My first psychotic break came 45 years ago. I've had four. For almost a half century I've had a life crowded with psychiatrists and upholstered by psychiatric medications. But one way I've given my life meaning has been by demystifying my mental illness and helping other people be less afraid of theirs.
These illnesses are terrifying, but fear doesn't help. Being alone and trying to go one-on-one against them is even worse. I'm grateful for the care I've received. I want to give back to those who made it possible, and help others understand what works and what doesn't. What works better now than 45 years ago? We know more about mental illness.
We have better drugs. Mental illness is about neurochemistry and not something we should blame on the individual. Shame, blame, and guilt often cause as much suffering as the mental diseases that trigger these things.
If you are suffering, you can improve without perfect professional care. The things you can do to take care of yourself are predictable: eat well, sleep well, exercise, don't drink, don't isolate yourself, and don't take a drug unless it's prescribed by a doctor.
Mental illnesses are diseases of loneliness. Proper medication makes healthy relationships possible. But the best way to get out of yourself is to be useful to others. Contributing—to friends, a local library, a community, the world in general—is a great way to get back your health and balance. Like everyone else, I had an imperfect childhood and engaged in occasional unwise teenage and young adult behaviors, but until my first crisis, I was holding it together.
I graduated from college. I had friends and girlfriends. The longer they go untreated, the higher the chance they may experience damage to the brain and be worse off even when they get treatment. Brain Health. Kara Gavin. October 12, PM. Getty Images.
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