Mental Health
September 27th, 2007 at 01:41pm
Under Mental Health
We all occasioanlly have problems with depression or sadness on, but there are many people who have a variety of [tag]mental health disorders[/tag] that are not that easy to overcome. These people are often misunderstood, which can often leave them unfairly labeled as “crazy”. However, there are some people who simply refuse to think there may be something wrong, and they seem to be the ones that populate the Internet. The problem is that usually a person who has a disorder really doesn’t know it, and they don’t realize how hard their life was before they get relief.
If you have any mental health disorders, it is in your best interest to keep them under control. Medications used to turn people into zombies or really didn’t help much at all, but medication today is much better than it used to be. Even though you may think that depression is all in your head, you should know that if the feelings last more than a few weeks, you should get to your doctor for some help. Mental health disorders aren’t anything to be ashamed of, and many of them are treatable as long as you listen to the advice of your doctor.
You may not even know you have any mental health disorders until you get sick of hearing that something might be different about you. If people are always telling you that you seem to be a different person, you should consider that something may be going on. Most mental health disorders are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that medications can help regulate. This will give you more peace than you have ever had. You may find your mind will clear out, and some of the outrageous thoughts you used to have will go away.
Some mental health disorders are more serious than others, and if you think someone you know has changed, you may want to keep an eye on them. If their personality or behaviors seem to change radically, they may have something going on that they are not even aware of. It might be hard to say that you think they may have one or more mental health disorders, but they need help if they don’t know what is going on. A person in crisis might try to end their life, so make sure you do something if things seem to be getting out of control.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
September 27th, 2007 at 01:15pm
Under Mental Health+ Treatment
When people think of [tag]mental health services[/tag] they tend to think about mental illnesses. However, not all programs are designed to help people who have disorders like schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and other similar conditions. Some mental health services are designed for children and adolescents who are struggling with a variety of problems.
Children and adolescents can have mental health problems just like adults but there are other conditions that are commonly treated through mental health services. Disorders like attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and pervasive developmental disorders are common to people who work in the field of mental health.
Most mental health services are in place to help people navigate through everyday situations as normally as possible. The core problem with many individuals’ behavior is their thought processes. The programs in place for young people are helpful in preventing some kids from developing problems in their relationships and in their social lives.
When working with children who have disorders like pervasive developmental disorders, therapists try to encourage the entire family to get involved with the mental health services that the child receives. Autism is the most commonly known pervasive developmental disorder and there are specific programs designed to help this population.
First and foremost, it is crucial to get mental health services as soon as you can if your child has been diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder. Sometimes diagnosing this population can be really tricky because many of the children appear to be perfectly normal. However, certain characteristics stand out in this group.
Parents may feel very overwhelmed when their child is diagnosed but the prognosis is excellent for many children who fall within the autism spectrum. Many of these children grow up to live normal, happy lives. This is especially true if they receive mental health services very early on in their development.
The focus of treatment for this population is in three overall realms. Communication is especially important because many of these children have great difficulty processing language and reading nonverbal cues. Mental health services work towards helping children in the autism spectrum communicate effectively.
Mental health services in the field of autism also focus on behavior and compliance. Mixed in with behavior are social interaction and play skills. Compliance requires attention and focus as well as self control.
Autism is a developmental disorder, not a mental illness. However, the condition does require mental health services and early intervention to assure that the child develops to his fullest capacity.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
January 29th, 2007 at 10:26pm
Under Mental Health
This article discusses the ins and outs borderline personality disorder. I have worked in the counseling field for many years. I have had a number of different case loads and duties. For me the most difficult people to work with are those that are diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. These are clients that will have everyone running around in circles and doing all the work. When ever I find myself disagreeing with another professional about what a particular client needs, I know I am dealing with someone with a borderline personality disorder.
This diagnosis is so very frustrating because the person is often times quite intelligent. They are masters at reading people and they know exactly who they will be able to manipulate. At one point in my career I worked for a social service agency dealing with children’s mental health cases. I was assigned sixteen cases to manage. One case had a mother and daughter that were both diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Each month when I was filling out my case contact information I noticed that thirty percent of my time went towards this one case.
People diagnosed with borderline personality disorder are very good at engaging others that they feel can help them get what they want. They usually have the ability to make friends with their excellent social skills. They can talk people out of money and also convince others that they are being picked on or persecuted by the system. They love to surround themselves in drama. They will set up situations to create drama in their lives and then they sit back and watch as others around them run around and try to fix the problems.
Treatment for borderline personality disorder is very complex and long term. The person has to be taught how they should feel in various situations and how they should engage others for mutual relationships, rather than use people. These are things that come naturally for most people. Borderline personality disorder is a learned way of behaving. It is not a chemical imbalance of the brain, so there are not medications that can be used to treat the person. Behavior modification techniques and consistent feed back are the most effective ways of getting the individual to live within the parameters of society. This is a long term process and is most effectively accomplished in a group home setting. We are learning that it is best to separate people with various personality disorders from those with classic mental health conditions during the treatment process. The individual with borderline personality disorder, which is most often female, are too skilled at targeting the more vulnerable clients that have an illness verses a disorder.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
October 8th, 2006 at 06:33am
Under General Health+ Healthy Lifestyle+ Mental Health
There are many ways to reduce [tag]stress[/tag] in your life. Here are some suggestions if you find your tendency to worry if affecting the quality of your life mentally, emotionally and physically.
If you have a problem that needs to be taken care of, stop procrastinating and just do what needs to be done. It may be hard to face, but once it’s dealt with the stress in your life will go way down.
If you have toxic people in your life, that is, people who make you feel uncomfortable, bad about yourself, lacking in some way, jumpy, sad, essentially too much negative emotion, limit the amount of time you spend with those people, or cut them out of your life. It’s impossible to cut out certain people like beloved family members and co-workers, but you can in these cases, organize your life in such a way that you spend less time with them than you ordinarily would. And when you do have to spend time with a toxic person, schedule some time with a person whom you find uplifting afterward. It will be a positive antitode.
Try positive visualization and affirmations. There are loads of books on the market with instructions on how to use these powerful tools. Many of us run negative stress-producing thoughts without even realizing we’re doing it 24/7. It is possible to replace these with positive thoughts and mental pictures. In fact, it is imperative to do so to reduce stress and living a more rewarding life.
Stay away from caffeine. The temporary boost it gives you isn’t worth its cost in added jumpiness and roller coaster energy swings.
Start writing down your thoughts in a journal, both everything that worries you and everything you love about your life (that you can think of in one sitting). Then be done with it for the day, and go about living.
Get plenty of exercise. Exercise releases endorphins which make you feel good. It’s also very good for your overall health and can often pop you out of a worried state of mind. It’s also very beneficial for people who have depressive tendencies.
Try seeing a counselor or hypnotherapist. There’s nothing quite like having the attention of a trained professional, someone who listens well and has some insights and ideas for you to try. Each of us is unique, and good therapists realize this, knowing that what works to reduce stress for one person isn’t going to work for another person. It’s always good to get a helping hand.
Allow yourself a few minutes each day, a very limited time, to worry to the hilt. Exaggerate your fears and negative mental images.
Then when your time’s up. Let is go until your next scheduled worry session.
Take a break from the media for a while-TV, radio, newspaper, magazines. Read a good, uplifting book instead, and go for long walks. It’s amazing what even just a few days of this can do to improve your frame of mind. You might want to make it permanent.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
October 8th, 2006 at 06:18am
Under Drugs and Medication+ Mental Health+ Treatment
You are probably smart enough to try anything within reason, when it comes to attempting natural cures for depression - since so many other treatments have fallen short for you and so many efforts on your part don’t quite work.
You’ve probably tried prayer. You’ve tried writing, journaling and crafting fiction and plays—solo and in collaboration—to purge yourself in a kind of cathartic that has worked in other areas of your emotional life before. For years, every single day, you tried power walking, knowing that physical labor (of sorts) will also expunge many evils and keeping with the only form of exercise you actually liked. You tried helping others, learning in a support group that to get your mind off yourself you have to get OUT of yourself, you have to focus on those who are worse off in many ways, etc., etc.
It is only natural, as a recovering addict or alcoholic, for example, or as an ACA (adult child of alcoholics), who believes in avoiding the complications of synthetic drugs, you would lean toward natural cures for depression. Such remedies, you hope, will keep you in the forests, amongst the flora, fauna, and creatures that belong in your eco-friendly environment and life.
So what are some of those natural cures for depression? Some use Saint John’s wort, a.k.a. Hypericum perforatum. St John’s wort is an herb that has been said to contain compounds—such as hypericin and hyperforin—which contribute to what the Greeks said would successfully “ward off evil spirits,” as it was known as the drug that would preside “over an apparition”…which is where it’s name came from.
Others use natural cures for depression that are said to simulate the SSRIs—the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors. When the serotonin levels in your brain are off (imbalanced), your mood is plummeted. On an up and down picture representing normal to depressed moods, say, your mood would be down at the bottom. A high or happy beyond normal person’s mood would be waaaay up at the top. Okay, so the SSRI draws the serotonin levels up, pools them, and traps them in a higher place. You come from the bottom, the SSRI comes from the top, and the effect/result is a leveling off somewhere in the middle.
5 Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and tryptophan are said to do the same thing, but are natural cures for depression versus intense chemical cures (such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, for example). So 5-HTP supplements the missing or diminished amounts of serotonin and tryptophan by being what depression.org calls the “intermediate step” between the two.
Other natural cures for depression include physical and some mental efforts. Like power-walking, exercise, yoga, and some forms of meditation have been found to adjust the imbalances of serotonin and other mood stabilizing chemicals in the brain. And it goes along with the logic that visualization techniques, which therapists can help you practice, can be tailored toward the positive, to counter the misery that is depression.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
October 8th, 2006 at 05:55am
Under Mental Health
[tag]Cerebral Palsy[/tag] is a name given to a group of neurological defects that cause lack of body and muscle coordination, due to damage in one or more parts of the brain.
These defects can range from mild to severe, and can only be treated symptomatically; there is no cure.
According to the Cerebral Palsy Source, an online publication dedicated to the disease, nearly 8,000 infants are diagnosed every year in the United States. All women envision having a happy healthy baby, and while many do, there is an astonishing number that don’t. Many of the causes of cerebral palsy can be completely preventable, which is why there are now a growing number of attorneys that specialize in litigating these types of cases.
When cerebral palsy occurs, nerve cells in the motor control center of the brain are damaged, and when these cells die, the muscles that are controlled by them no longer function properly. Cerebral palsy has many causes and may result by more than one insult to the brain. The infant may be deprived of oxygen during birth, the mother may abuse drugs or alcohol, the obstetrician or midwife may exert too much pressure with the vacuum device, or injure it with forceps during delivery. The mother could have been infected with a bacterium during pregnancy, such as rubella, or she may have endured some type of injury to her body through a fall or an assault, or there could be a blood incompatibility between the developing fetus and the mother. The infant’s brain could be damaged by someone dropping it, or not taking care to make sure the baby was safe. A motor vehicle accident could also be the cause, or the cerebrum may be under developed, all causing the signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy to appear. Now you can see why cerebral palsy is so prevalent, and why there are so many different scenarios that can occur causing damage to the brain, and risking the onset of cerebral palsy.
Symptoms vary greatly because it is clearly dependent on the severity of damage to the brain, and to what area of the cerebrum is most affected. Some children may require only leg or arm braces, others cannot hold themselves in an upright position, and some are completely paralyzed. Uncontrolled drooling and grimacing is also common, and some children cannot speak or swallow and must be fed through a gastrointestinal feeding tube. Seizure disorder is also common in infants and children that suffer from cerebral palsy. There are required to be on various anti-seizure medications and neurologic agents to control these episodes for the rest of their lives. Oxygen may be required to administer in case of deprivation during a seizure, and be very scary for anyone observing, if not trained properly on how to intervene.
There are many foundations and organizations dedicated to educating the population about cerebral palsy, how it occurs, and how it can be prevented. Even with all the medical technology that is available, it cannot be cured, only the symptoms can be treated. There are many children and adults who have to live their lives with this debilitating disease, and in some instances, it could have been totally preventable.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
October 8th, 2006 at 05:43am
Under Mental Health
One of the first things to keep in mind when you are seeking information on [tag]schizophrenia[/tag] for yourself or for loved ones is that schizophrenia is considered a psychosis; and unlike neuroses, wherein a sufferer can have many or most or all of the “symptoms”, with a psychosis, the patient has ALL of the symptoms. So when you do find some interesting, fascinating, helpful information on schizophrenia, do not try to self-diagnose. Read more, ask more specialists, and see the appropriate mental health and/or medical professionals.
That said, so those of us borderline hypochondriacs who find a new malady once a week will be spared the panic of said information on schizophrenia, here are the clinical details of the disorder once termed Dementia Praecox (and coined schizophrenie, from the Greek, “split mind,” by Bleuler in the early 1900s):
While for decades, schizophrenia was categorized—into Hebephrenia, Catatonia, and other separate schizophrenias, today many specialists understand schizophrenia in general to include symptoms such as hallucinating, experiencing delusions, having “derailed” or incoherent speech; and displaying what one expert identifies as “grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior.”
But further, mental health professionals categorize their information on schizophrenia in the following way, according to their assertion that there are five “recognized subtypes” of schizophrenia which are 1) paranoid schizophrenia, 2) disorganized schizophrenia, 3) catatonic schizophrenia, 4) undifferentiated schizophrenia, and what they call 5) residual schizophrenia.
An individual with paranoid schizophrenia characteristically shows evidence of “prominent” delusions, those which are typically auditory and which usually come and go during an episode. The individual may experience delusions of grandeur (how great am I) or persecution (X is/are after me) or what doctors call command hallucinations, wherein someone or thing is commanding him or her to carry out untraditional, unusual, illogical, or illegal acts. Other symptoms for the paranoid schizophrenic include anxiety, fright, anger, apathy, and/or recalcitrance or an argumentative attitude.
An individual diagnosed with hebephrenic schizophrenia—now called disorganized type—will typically have flat (no) or inappropriate affect (laughing when there is no relevant humor, for instance), and will be disorganized in speech. Personal goals and abilities are limited, so the individual may be anything from unable to care for him- or herself to unable to “sustain goal-oriented activities”….
For more information on schizophrenia, check Mental Help Net; Health-X; Psych-net.uk; and then consider a personal doctor or referral to a specialist, so the suspected psychotic disorder can be tested and evaluated and, if necessary, treated.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
September 15th, 2006 at 08:07pm
Under General Health+ Mental Health
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) sucks more than any other disorder, for those of us who have it. It is also a gift unlike any other. Now this was no clinical opening statement, but I’m no Attention Deficit Disorder. I have Attention Deficit Disorder. Have had it since I was old enough to “know better” and most likely before that—as ADD is not something one picks up or develops, like an allergy, in adulthood all of a sudden. It was not until my early forties I was diagnosed with it, though, and so I have in the past four years read up on and written on Attention Deficit Disorder and the options for treatment. So I offer you some information as I experience it and as I understand it.
First, I must stress that though I obviously don’t LOVE this disorder (getting meds each month is a nightmare in itself, to say nothing of the other challenges)–I do appreciate it and prefer it over other disorders (if, like Vonnegut’s Harrison Bergeron we each must be saddled with one flaw of extreme degrees, anyway). I am blessed with creative skills, have a reputation for being hyper…aware, cautious, and correct, and have a respect for challenged thinkers and learners.
I also will note that when I was first diagnosed, when my brilliant and life-saving therapist suggested I look into Attention Deficit Disorder, I had been trying to understand what was wrong with the way I approached the world…to the point of conceding to having a behavioral problem and a subsequent or precedent drug addiction (which turned out to be actually self-medicating with the almost correct medication)—to speed (street meth). So at the time of discovery and the blessings of a real name for the disorder, I had been twelve-stepping in recovery programs like Narcotics Anonymous, and was reticent about getting medical/chemical ADD treatment.
Years of the greatest therapy and of reading the best books, magazines, and on- and offline articles on Attention Deficit Disorder, as well as learning that 1) all those years of snorting speed pointed not to a rebellious adamancy to staying a dope fiend but to an authentic and savvy self-medicating effort; 2) I was not an addict who needed more and more to normalize; and 3) there are medications that are designed for adults with Attention Deficit Disorder that are BETTER than stepped-on crank…I decided on chemical Attention Deficit Disorder treatment.
But if you have Attention Deficit Disorder or love someone who has it or might, there are numerous treatments you, too, can read up on and see a therapist for……if you prefer to forego the heavy drugs, that is.
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By YourHealthIssues Admin
