MENTAL HEALTH

It is the balance among all aspects of life like social, physical, spiritual and
emotional. It impacts on how we manage our surroundings to make choices in
our lifes. Clearly, it is an integral part of our overall health.
The World Health Organization defines mental health as a state of complete
physical, mental, and social wellness.
Mental Health is much more than the absence of mental illness and it has to
do with many aspects in our life including:
How we feel about ourselves
How we feel about others
How we are able to meet the
demands of life

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MAINTENING MENTAL HEALTH INVOLVES

Attention of lifestyle
Social contact
Reviewing our lives from time o time
Awareness on how mine and body interact
Having people in our lives we trust
Awareness of what can go wrong
Taking steps to resolve problems
WHAT ARE MENTAL DISORDERS?

Mental illnesses are disorders of cognitive and affective processes

that affect the thoughts, emotions and behaviors of a person..
It happens when someone lacks the ability to manage events day by
day and/or control their behavior

 A mental disorder is a medical condition that requires diagnosis

and treatment just like any physical illness or injury. Many mental
disorders are treatable.
Mental illness does not respect any boundaries of race, class or
geography. These disorders can affect people of any age, race,
sex, religion, or income.
A symptom of a mental disorder is a change in a persons body or mind.
Knowing the symptoms can help you understand mental disorders.
The following are common symptoms of many mental disorders:
Too much or too little sleep
Feelings of extreme sadness
Unexplained mood changes
Drug or alcohol abuse
Inability to concentrate
Extreme anxiety or irrational fear
Personality changes
False perceptions of reality

UNDERSTANDING MENTAL ILLNESS

The brain controls thoughts, feelings, memories and actions. A mental illness
is a disorder that affects them.
When the brain is working properly, it responds to life events with normal
emotions.
But the brains responses can be changed by illnesses that affect the
balance of chemicals in the brain.

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND HOW IT WORKS

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

The CNS is composed of the brain, the spinal cord, and associated nerves
that control voluntary acts. Structurally, the brain consists of the
cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem and limbic system.

1.- CEREBRUM

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The cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres, all lobes and structures are
found in both halves except for the pineal body, which is located between
the hemispheres. The pineal body is an endocrine gland that influences the
activities of the pituitary gland, parathyroid, adrenals, and gonads.
The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and is the center
for logical reasoning and analytic functions such as reading, writing, and
mathematical tasks.
The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and is the center
for creative thinking, intuition, and artistic abilities.
The cerebral hemispheres are divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal,
temporal, and occipital. Some functions of the lobes are distinct; others are
integrated.
The frontal lobes control the organization of thought, body movement,
memories, emotions, and moral behavior. Abnormalities in the frontal lobes
are associated with schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), and dementia.
The parietal lobes interpret sensations of taste and touch and assist in
spatial orientation.
The temporal lobes are centers for the senses of smell and hearing and for
memory and emotional expression.
The occipital lobes assist in coordinating language generation and visual
interpretation, such as depth perception.

2.- CEREBELLUM

The cerebellum is located below the cerebrum and is the center for
coordination of movements and the maintenance of posture and equilibrium.

3.- NERVE TISSUE

The tissue of the central nervous system consists of nerve cells called
NEURONS that generate and transmit electrochemical impulses through
chemicals called "neurotransmitters" in the synapse
These neurotransmitters are necessary in just the right proportions to relay
messages across the synapses.
Major neurotransmitters have been found to play a role in psychiatric
illnesses as well as in the actions and side effects of psychotropic drugs.

LIST OF THE MAJOR NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND THEIR ACTIONS

AND EFFECTS:

HISTORICAL

PERSPECTIVES

OF

THE

TREATMENT

ILLNESS
People of ancient times had several points of view.

OF

MENTAL

 Some thought that an individual with mental illness had been dispossessed of
his or her soul, consequently, the only way to be healthy could be achieved
only if the soul returned to the body.
Others believed that evil spirits of supernatural or magical powers had
entered the body. The cure for these individuals involved a ritualistic
exorcism to purge the body of these unwanted forces. This often consisted
of brutal beatings, starvation or other torturous means.
Still others considered that any sickness was the displeasure of god and in
fact that was a punishment for sins or wrongdoing.
The different positions of these ancient people increased the knowledge
about mental illness and produced changes in cultural, religious, and socio
political attitudes.
Hippocrates, about 400 B.C .., is credited with being the first person to
believe that all diseases had a natural cause rather than supernatural.
Hippocrates associated insanity and mental illness with an irregularly in the
interaction of the four body fluids- blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm.
He called these body fluids HUMORS, and associated each one with a
particular disposition.
Disequilibrium among these four humors was thought to cause mental illness,
and it was often treated by inducing vomiting and diarrhea with potent
cathartic drugs.
In early Christian times (1-1000 AD), Jesus healed by faith, therefore
people believed only the grace of God would provide a cure for physical or
mental illness.
-During the same period,. All diseases were again blamed on evil spirits, and
the mentally ill were viewed as possessed.
Priests performed exorcisms to rid evil spirits. When that failed, they use
more severe and brutal measures, such as incarceration in dungeons,
flogging, and starving.

-In England during the Renaissance (1300-1600) people with mental

disorders were distinguished as criminals. Those considered harmless were
allowed to wander the countryside or live in rural communities, but the more
dangerous lunatics were thrown in prison.
-In 1547, the hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem was officially declared a
hospital for the insane, the first of this kind.

THE PERIOD OF ENLIGHTENMENT AND CREATION OF

MENTAL INSTITUTIONS
-In the 1790s, a period of enlightenment concerning people with mental
illness began. Philippe Pinel in France and William Tukes in England
formulated the concept of asylum as a safe refuge offering protection to
people with mental illness at institutions
-The First hospital in America to admit mentally ill clients was established
in Philadelphia in the middle of the 18th century. Benjamin Rush, often called
the father of American psychiatry, was a physician at the hospital.
With this movement began the moral treatment of the mentally ill.
-The period of enlightenment was short-lived. Within 100 years after
establishment of the first asylum, state hospitals were in trouble.
Attendants were accused of abusing the residents, the rural locations of
hospitals were viewed as isolating patients from their families and homes
where people were whipped, chained, beaten, and starved just because they
were mentally ill.
and the phrase insane asylum took on a negative connotation.
-In the United States, Dorotea Dix began a crusade to reform the
treatment of mental illness after a visit to Tukess institution in England.
She was an instrumental in opening 32 state hospitals which offered asylum
to the suffering. Dix believed that society was obligated to those who were

mentally ill; she advocated adequate shelter, nutritious food, and warm
clothing.
SIGMUND FREUD AND TREATMENT OF MENTAL DISORDERS
The period of scientific study and treatment of mental disorders began with
Sigmund Freud and others such as Emil Kraepelin and Eugene Bleuler.
With these men, the study of psychiatry and the diagnosis and treatment of
mental illness started in earnest. Freud challenged society to view human
beings objectively. He studied the mind, its disorders,, and their treatments
as no one had done before. Many other theorists built on Freuds pioneering
work. Kraepelin began classifying mental disorders according to their
symptoms, and Bleuler coined the term schizophrenia.
DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
A significant advance in treating people with mental illness was the
development of psychotropic drugs in the early 1950s.
Chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic drug, lithium, and antimanic agent,
were the first drugs to be developed.
Over the following 10 years, monoamine oxidase inhibitor
antidepressants, haloperidol, antianxiety agents, were introduced.
For the first time, drugs actually reduced agitation, psychotic thinking,
and depression.
Hospitals stays were shortened and many people were well enough to go
home.
The level of noise, chaos, and violence greatly diminished in the
hospital setting.
Today, mental illness is seen as a medical problem with symtoms causing
dissatisfaction with ones characteristics, abilities, and accomplishments;
ineffective or unsatisfying interpersonal relationships, dissatisfaction with

ones place in the world, ineffective coping with life events; and lack of
personal growth.
CAUSES OF MENTAL DISORDERS
Some mental disorders develop from traumatic or stressful life
experiences.
Some mental disorders can be inherited, schizophrenia
Some mental disorders are caused by physical disorders or injuries.
Brain tumors, alcoholism, some infections, TBIs
Whatever the cause, many mental disorders can be treated or cured.

TYPES OF MENTAL DISORDERS

ANXIETY DISORDERS
-PHOBIA: It is a strong, irrational fear of something specific, such as heights or
social situations.

Common phobias include fear of animals, or situations , such as flying. Social

phobia is a disorder that causes people to fear social situations, such as giving a
speech or meeting new people
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Acrophobia - Fear of Heights

Claustrophobia - Fear of Enclosed Spaces
Nyctophobia - Fear of the Dark
Ophidiophobia - Fear of Snakes
Arachnophobia - Fear of Spiders
Nosophobia - Fear of Having a Disease
Triskaidekaphobia - Fear of the Number 13

-OBSESSIVE COMPULSE DISORDER: People with this disorder always have

persistent thoughts, fears, or urges (obsessions) leading to uncontrollable
repetitive behaviors (compulsions). For example, the fear of germs leads to
constant hand washing.
-PANIC DISORDER: Attacks of sudden, unexplained feeling of terror . Panic
Attacks are accompanied by trembling, increases heart rate, shortness of
breath.
MOOD DISORDERS
A person with a mood disorder experiences extreme moods that are more severe
than the normal highs and lows everyone experiences. Mood Disorders include
depression and bipolar disorder.

-Bipolar Disorder, is marked by extreme mood changes, energy levels and

behavior.
-Depression is a disorder that causes a mood of extreme sadness or
hopelessness. The following are common symptoms of depression:
Lack of energy
Loss of appetite or overeating
Too much or too little sleep

 Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness

-Mania is a mood that causes excessive energy and irritation. Manic people
are very active and need little sleep. Their thoughts may race and become
disorganized. They may talk fast and may be difficult to interrupt.
Schizophrenia
Is a disorder in which a person breaks from reality in several ways. People
with the disorder do not always have the same symptoms. Most people who
have this disorder express little emotion. They usually have hallucinations
and delusions, and often they feel paranoia.
People who have mental illness usually require life-long treatment to regain
control of their lives. Once treatment is established for people who have
schizophrenia or other mental illness, they can often lead happy lives .
CONDUCT DISORDER
It is a pattern of behavior in which the rights of others or basic social rules
are violated. Examples of conduct disorder include stealing, cruelty, lying,
aggression, violence, truancy, arson, and vandalism.
EATING DISORDERS
People with eating disorders have an obsession with food and weight.
o Anorexia- eat very little and excessive exercise
o Bulimia- eat and then purge Both can be a form of mental illness
It can leads to unhealthful weight loss and death.