Week 1

Definition of mental health

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Definition of well being

Well being is the condition of being contented, healthy, or successful; welfare.

Ways in which factors effect mental health

• Drug/alcohol abuse

Many people who are addicted to drugs are also diagnosed with other mental disorders and vice versa. Compared with the general population, people addicted to drugs are roughly twice as likely to suffer from mood and anxiety disorders, with the reverse also true. In 2015, an estimated 43.4 million (17.9 percent) adults ages 18 and older experienced some form of mental illness (other than a developmental or substance use disorder).

•  Social isolation

Loneliness and mental health can become a vicious circle of negative thoughts and emotions. Being socially isolated can be a big factor in loneliness which in turn leads to depression. However, once depressed, feelings of anxiety and low self-esteem can lead to people removing themselves from their circle of friendships due to perceived stigma about their condition

• Homelessness

As the nights get colder and darker, it is timely to talk about a fundamental factor which greatly influences people’s mental health: housing. … Yet poor housing or homelessness can also increase the chances of developing a mental healthproblem, or exacerbate an existing condition.

• Bullying

Bullying can affect physical and emotional health, both in the short term and later in life. It can lead to physical injury, social problems, emotional problems, and even death. Those who are bullied are at increased risk for mental health problems, headaches, and problems adjusting to school. Bullying also can cause long-term damage to self-esteem.

• Domestic violence

These issues can make the abusive situation even worse, as the partner or ex-partner may make use a mental health diagnosis (for example, telling someone that they’re ‘mad’). It can also be difficult for health professionals to see beyond the mental health issues and to recognise that an abusive relationship may be at the heart of the problems. It is, therefore, important that professionals recognise the wider impacts for those living in an abusive relationship, and are able to offer the appropriate support.

• Poverty

Poverty increases the risk of mental health problems and can be both a causal factor and a consequence of mental ill health. Mental health is shaped by the wide-ranging characteristics (including inequalities) of the social, economic and physical environments in which people live.

• Debt

Another issue of debt anxiety is the lack of quality sleep it can often cause. Losing out on a good night’s sleep can not only affect your mood and energy levels, it can also have knock-on negative effects in other areas of your life such as family and career.

• Bereavement

Can effect you as you might be really close to them and can’t talk to them or see them again.

• Long term stress

Stress is something everyone experiences. Despite being unpleasant, stress in itself is not an illness. But there are connections between stress and mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

• Uneployment

Sorting out the effects of unemployment on mental health is complicated by the fact that the cause-and-effect relationship can work in both directions: unemployment may worsen mental health, and mental health problems may make it more difficult for a person to obtain and/or hold a job.

Week 2

• The impact of having a family member who suffers from mental health.

When someone is looking after someone who has mental health problems it can be very stressful and could raise different reactions such as somatic problems for example migraines, cognitive and emotional problems for example depression, it could also result in getting behavioural troubles for example social withdrawal. According to a Swedish website, one half of family members claimed that they had got their own mental problems whilst helping with someone who has some of their own.

• Possible behavioural changes that might be seen when living with someone who has poor mental health issues.

 

 

 

 

• How an employee who suffers from mental health can impact a business.

 

 

 

 

Week 3

Week 4

Treatment available for mental health problems:

• Medication

You could take antidepressants for example the SSRIs, you can also take alprazolam (Xanax), diazepam (Valium), and lorazepam (Ativan)

• Electro-Convulsive therapy

This is a procedure which is done with a general anaesthesia where a small electric currents are passed through the brain triggering a brief seizure. It seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that quickly reverses symptoms of mental health. This is used when other treatments aren’t working.

• Complimentary therapies

These are therapies take a holistic approach to someones physical and mental heath. This is when they consider all aspects of someones physical and mental health as a whole instead of treating the symptoms separately.

• Creative therapies

They are people who help with mental health by getting people to draw on their inner, creative resources while exploring personal issues with a trained therapist in a safe. They include art, dance, movement, drama and music.

Week 5

Types of support available in a mental health crisis.

• The GP

General Practitioner, a doctor who provides general medical treatment for people who live in a particular area.

• Mental health teams

You can find people to help you in schools, colleges, work places and there also places to help just for that:

• Crisis teams

They can give urgent help to people who have mental health problems in the community which could be in your own home. They will help you get better and make sure you don’t have to go hospital.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton