Social Awareness and Mental Disorders

Mental illness has long been a social taboo. But the fact is that mental illness is as common as the common cold. Nearly everyone has symptoms from time to time. Depression is a mental illness and almost half of the population will suffer with a serious depression at some point in their life. ADD and ADHD are mental disorders and although they are both widely over diagnosed it seems that people have little or no problem labeling themselves or their children with one or the other.

The difference between these disorders, and others that are less acceptable, is education and mass understanding. The more society knows about a mental illness the more they are able to talk about it, and the more the fog lifts that has kept it mysterious and frightening. The mentally ill person has never been the root of cultural fears. The fear lies within the individual who is afraid of what they do not understand.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) is the mental health worker's "Bible" for determining which mental disorder is appropriate for a patient. Some of the listings that are not as well know to the general public are sleep disorders such as insomnia, childhood disorders such as Mathematics Disorder, and substance disorders such as Nicotine Use Disorder. Of course there are specific criteria that needs to be present in order to be given such a diagnosis, but I mention them to make a point. No one is completely immune to developing a problem that needs psychological attention.
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Britney, Mental Illness and Lay Interpretation

Britney, Britney, Britney! In the last few months I have read articles claiming that Britney Spears is suffering from everything from drug addiction to multiple personalities. If you were to believe everything you read you would conclude that she is bi-polar, ADHD, psychotic, dissociative, narcissistic, depressed, suicidal, homicidal, alcoholic and a child abuser.

One thing I am sure of is that no one other than her own trained, professional, therapist can say for sure what is going on with her. And as far as I know, she doesn't have one.

It's curious how quickly lay people ascribe professional diagnosis to others. Everyone wants to believe that they are capable of diagnosing people with mental illness. If that were true it wouldn't take at least 7 years of college education and 2 years of a full time internship before therapists were able to do so.

I had a friend who, while divorcing her husband, began to tell everyone she knew that her husband had bi-polar disorder. He didn't. In fact he had never even been to a therapist and he didn't have the symptoms necessary for diagnosis. But she was sure of it, and so the rumor was spread around her small town.

Even insurance company employees want to believe that they have the ability to correctly diagnose patients they have only met on paper. I know a woman who has suffered with bi-polar disorder and psychosis for most of her adult life. She has a strong family history of the illness and all of the troubling symptoms that keep her from functioning in life. And yet her attempts to be granted Social Security Insurance have been denied over and over again. Her neighbor is a drug addict who was approved for Social Security the first time he applied - stating that his drug addiction kept him from keeping a job.

Mental Illness is a complex and often perplexing state of mind. Sometimes Its symptoms are easily noticed, more often they are not. Britney may be suffering from some form of mental illness, but unless and until the public is made aware of a specific illness it is senseless to speculate and cruel to arbitrarily assign a diagnosis.

Who's Living in Your Neighborhood?

A few statistics about your neighborhood:

• One out of every 100 people in the population has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
• Ten percent of the population have experienced depression this year and half of them deal with a lifetime of depressive episodes. Forty-five percent of your neighbors experience an episode of depression sometime before the age of 45.
• Fifteen percent of the general population has a diagnosable personality disorder.
• 0.5 – 2.5 percent of your neighbors suffer with clinical paranoia.
• Two percent of your neighbors have Antisocial Personality Disorder (formerly known as sociopaths)
• Two percent have incurable Borderline Personality Disorder
• One percent is diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and another 15% have significant symptoms of the disorder.
• Five percent have a schizoid or schizotypal disorder.
• Ten percent are significantly physically disabled.
• 2.6 to 3.4% are legally blind.
• 8.2% have significant hearing impairments – 0.8% have severe to profound hearing impairments.
• Three percent are mentally retarded.
• Between one and eight percent of children have specific learning disabilities.
• Between 0.5-1.5% have recurring seizures.
• forty-four percent of your neighbors have been divorced at least once.

Chances are that you or someone close to you suffers some form of mental, physical or emotional disability. Isn't it time that we removed the stigmas and reserved our judgment?

Post Traumatic Stress and the Media

Post Traumatic Stress disorder or PTSD is a very real and very curable problem. Anyone, even an infant can acquire symptoms of PTSD upon experiencing a serious trauma.

When my brother first saw the movie "Forest Gump" he nearly hit the floor during the scenes about Vietnam. Not because of the film, but because of the realistic sounds of the gunfire. It had been decades since he was in Vietnam but the piercing sound of gunfire that seemed to be coming from behind the movie viewers was enough to take him back to fright-filled days at war.

In today's world of 24/7 news coverage of terrorism, war and crime, it is even possible for someone to develop PTSD by immersing themselves in videos and newscasts about an event in which they had no actual involvement. This was made clear to clinicians after 911, and again during the Virginia Tech shootings.

After the Virginia Tech shootings however the process of developing PTSD was more widely understood, and after a few days nearly all of the footage was taken off the air. For those who had already watched hours of video, and who were already at risk for PTSD, it was too late.

Children are particularly at risk of developing intense stress reactions upon watching real or realistic events on film or television. Intense fear can cause them to regress into more childlike behaviors like wetting the bed, moodieness or having nightmares.

If you suspect that you or your child is experiencing serious effects of stress it is important that you get help immediately. Otherwise the stress can hang on for year, and can develop into phobias and other psychological problems.

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The Difference Between Psychology and Psychiatry

I am often asked what the difference is between a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist.

Basically a Psychologist is someone who spent their entire collegiate experience pursuing an education in human behavior. There are literally hundreds of types of degrees one can get under the heading of Psychology, including Clinical Psychology which is typically used to treat individuals and families in a therapeutic setting.

A psychologist is the professional ones seeks to deal with everything from marriage trouble to a serious mental illness. Therapy is generally done on a weekly basis in either an office setting, a clinic or hospital setting. Psychologists are not medical doctors and therefore cannot prescribe medicine such as anti-depressants or sleep aids.

A Psychiatrist on the other hand was a medical doctor first. S/he went to medical school and received a degree in medicine. Many psychiatrists set out to become psychiatrists, but many realize their calling after doing their "psych" rotation while pursuing their medical degree.

Those medical doctors who want to become psychiatrists finish an additional 1-2 year program in human behavior and psychopharmachology in order to become a mental health professional. Because they have a degree in medicine they are able to prescribe drugs to their patients.

In the US, psychiatry has become largely a profession of assessment and pharmaceutical maintenance for their patients, while psychology has taken on the major role of ongoing therapy. It is not uncommon for a patient to see their psychologist for weekly therapy while only seeing their psychiatrist quarterly for a brief assessment and a prescription renewal.

Bi Polar Disorder

Vincent Van Gogh once wrote:
"I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process."

Modern Psychologists have surmised that Vincent Van Gogh had Bi-Polar Disorder (BPD). BPD is a brain disorder that causes one's moods to swing between mania and depression. In its most severe form it can cause one to loose touch with reality.

With Van Gogh, the deterioration of his mental status is apparent in his artwork; however most will agree that his best work was done during the last years of his life. So how is it that we are often eager to classify the mentally ill as unimportant to society? Presumably many of the worlds most gifted artists and scholars were affected with BPD. On the other hand, most were sent to asylums or were left to peddle for food in the streets.

What is Bi-Polar Disorder?

People affected with BPD may swing back and forth from depression to mania on a regular basis or they may experience a "calm" or "normal" period between episodes.

Symptoms of Mania:

1. Inappropriate elation
2. Inappropriate irritability
3. Severe insomnia
4. Grandiose notions
5. Increased talking
6. Disconnected and racing thoughts
7. Increased sexual desire
8. Markedly increased energy
9. Poor judgment
10. Inappropriate social behavior

Not everyone who is depressed or manic experiences every symptom. Some people experience a few symptoms, some have many. Also, the severity of symptoms varies with individuals.

For more on BPD go to Psych-Net.com

Narcolepsy - Mental Disorder or Medical Problem?

Several years ago a woman emailed me for having narcolepsy listed as one of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) mental disorders. Her daughter had recently been diagnosed with this illness and she was incensed that it was listed with other "mental disorders," insisting that her daughter wasn't "crazy." After asking her not to "kill the messenger," I wrote an article about how in today's enlightened age, we still put such a negative stigma on mental disorders.

Our brains are a mental organ and anything that effects our brain is considered a mental issue. Therefore narcolepsy is an appropriate listing for the DSM IV. Here are the facts about narcolepsy:

Narcolepsy is a disorder marked by excessive daytime sleepiness, uncontrollable sleep attacks, and cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle tone, usually lasting up to half an hour).

Narcolepsy is the second-leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness (after obstructive sleep apnea). Persistent sleepiness and sleep attacks are the hallmarks of this condition. The sleepiness has been compared to the feeling of trying to stay awake after not sleeping for two or three days.

People with narcolepsy fall asleep suddenly—any-where, at any time, even in the middle of a conversation. These sleep attacks can last from a few seconds to more than an hour. Depending on where the sleep attacks occur, they may be mildly inconvenient or even dangerous to the person, particularly if they occur while driving. Some people continue to function outwardly during the sleep episodes, such as continuing a conversation or putting things away. But when they wake up, they have no memory of the event.

There is no cure for narcolepsy. It is not progressive, and it is not fatal, but it is a chronic disorder. The symptoms can be managed with lifestyle adjustments and/or medication.

People with narcolepsy must plan their days carefully. Scheduling regular naps (either several short, 15-minute naps or one long nap in the afternoon) can help boost alertness and wakefulness. A full eight hours of nighttime sleep should also be a goal. Exercise can often help people with narcolepsy feel more alert and energetic, although they should avoid exercising within a few hours of bedtime. Substances that contain alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine should be avoided because they can interfere with refreshing sleep and with daytime alertness.

For more on Narcolepsy and other sleep disorders Click Here to go to Psych-Net.com

Preventing Mental Illness in Your Children

This Research Study May Save Your Child's Life

According to Dr. Will Sears, a well renowned pediatrician and author of many parenting books, a remarkable study just came out this month which shows that allowing your baby to cry (instead of nurturing the child and attending to its needs), can lead to brain damage and mental illness.

The study was taken over a 40 year period with infants and toddlers. The most striking findings show beyond doubt that when children cry and work themselves up into a crying frenzy, their body goes into stress overload causing the major arteries to the brain to tighten and close down. Once this happens the babies brain cannot get enough oxygen and the brain begins to die from oxygen deprivation resulting in permanent brain damage.

Babies who's mothers nurture them and attend to their needs were more likely to understand that crying is their child's only way to communicate their fears, discomfort and needs. Dr. Sears stated that babies who are put to sleep in a room away from parents, behind bars in a crib, in the dark will feel abandoned and frightened. Whereas babies who are quickly comforted when they cry are 80% less likely to develop panic disorders, depression and stress related illness later in life. Even SIDS is reduced by over 50% when the child is not allowed to cry, but is nurtured instead (More on SIDS in a later article).

The researchers agree, it is impossible to spoil a baby with love and nurturing. That is exactly what they need to grow into healthy, confidant and secure adults. But believing that your child needs to "cry it out" or to "cry herself to sleep" may be causing permanent damage.

Stop expecting too much from your little child and start seeing the world through their little eyes. Empathizing with your child will help you keep your cool when those nighttime rituals begin to feel like a chore.