Mental Distress
The emotional response to daily challenges that results in thoughts, feelings, and actions; mental distress can signal a person to develop or use strategies to face challenges.
Mental Health Problem
The stronger or more intense emotional response to greater life challenges; help and support may be needed from a trusted adult.
Mental Illness
Extreme difficulty or changes in thoughts, feelings, and actions that lasts over time and interferes with daily activities; a medical condition that requires diagnosis and help from a qualified helping professional.
Mental Wellbeing
Being able to handle the stressful and unexpected things that happen in daily life; managing thoughts, feelings, and actions positively.
Causes of Anxiety Disorders
Women are more likely to experience, genetic, and environmental factors also contribute to the risk. Stressful or negative events, and family history play a roll.
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
Feeling restless, trembling, fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, feelings of doom, irrational worries, difficulty controlling feelings of worry, sleep problems
Treatment Options for Anxiety Disorders
Psychotherapy like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, and Exposure Therapy. Medications to relieve symptoms like Anti-Anxiety meds, Antidepressants, and Beta-Blockers
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
When people have difficulty controling anxiety to stay focused on daily tasks. The anxiety may come from performance in sports, health, jobs, money, and responsibilites.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
People with OCD have reoccuring obsessions and compulsions that are needed to be repeated or it can cause great distress which can get in the way of life. It is common for people to have a tic disorder in addition to OCD.
Panic Disorder
This is when people have unexpected panic attacks.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PTSD is when people have continued fear from traumatic experiences
Social Anxiety Disorder
Also known as social phobia, people have a fear or anxiety in social situations. This can prevent certain aspects of life because the people are afraid of being humiliated, judged, and rejected
Causes of Eating Disorders
Researchers suggest a combination of genetic, biological, behavorial, psychological, and social factors
Treatment Options for Eating Disorders
Psychotherapy, medical care, monitoring, nutrional counselling, and medications
Anorexia Nervosa
Restrictive anorexia is restricting food consumption. Binge-Purge anorexia is also restricting food consumption but also binge eat and then purge the food. These people tend to be underweight. Symptoms include extreme thinness, distorted body image, and intense fear of gaining weight. These may develop into thinning of bones, mustle weakness, low/slowed body functions, infertility, brain damage, and organ failure
Bulimia Nervosa
This is eating unusually large amounts of food by losing control and that's followed by a purging action. Unlike anorexia, these people may be overweight or normal weight. Symptoms include oral issues like chronically inflamed and sore throat, swollen glands, severe dehydration, and electrolyte imbalance
Binge-Eating Disorder
A loss of control leads to over eating but without purging. So these people will be overweight or obese. Symptoms include eating fast, eating unusually large amounts in short periods of time, eating alone, and eating when full.
Causes of Depressive Illness
A combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors.
Symptoms of Depressive Illness
Sadness, anxiousness, empty feelings, hopelessness, pessimism, guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, loss of interest in activities, fatigue, concentration difficulties, insomnia, eating problems, aches, thoughts of suicide
Treatment Options for Depressive Illness
Psychotherapy or antidepressant medications
Major Depression
Severe symptoms that interfere with life.
Persistent Depressive Disorder
Depressed mood that lasts for at least 2 years.
Psychotic Depression
Someone with severe depression and psychosis (delusions or hallucinations)
Bipolar Disorder
Cycling mood changes from extreme highs to extreme lows
Postpartum Depression
Overwhelming feeling of responsibility, hormonal and physical changes for females after birth
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Onset depression during winter months when there is less sunlight
Suicide vs. Suicide Attempt
Suicide is when someone dies because of direct violence at themselves with the intent to end their life. Suicide attempt is when their actions are not able to end their own life.
Risk Factors for Suicide
Prior attempt, depression, substance abuse, family history, family violence, firearms at home, prison, exposure to others' suicidal behaviors, medical illness, being between 15 and 24 or over 60
Warning Signs of Suicide
Suicidal thoughts, withdrawing from family and friends, using alcohol or drugs more often, a change in eating and sleeping habits, giving away important possesions, making a will, saying goodbyes, taking extreme risks
5 Stages of Grief
Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance
A.C.T
Ask, Care, Tell
Stigma
A negative or disapproving attiude or belief that can cause people to avoid or fear something; usually a result of lack of knowledge or understanding.