Mental Health Awareness

By the end of the session students will be

able to.
Describe the different categories of mental disorder
Outlines a few strategies to promote mental health
Discuss competing perspectives on the cause of mental
distress

Small group exercise

1. Have a short discussion about how you
would define the term mental illness.
2. What you feel to be the causes of
psychological distress.
You may wish to think about a client youve
worked with or even a family member.
Make list of your findings.

How we perceive mental illness

Mental health (wellness)

Mental Ill health (Illness)

Tudor (1996)

Health

Ill-health
Coping
Stress management
Self concept & identity
Self Esteem
Self Development
Autonomy
Social support

Ten Elements of Mental Health

Promotion
Mental Health
Promotion
Environmental quality
Self-Esteem
Emotional processing
Self-management
skills
Social Participation

Mental Health
Demotion
Emotional deprivation
Emotional abuse
Emotional negligence
Stress
Social exclusion

Which mental illness is most

common?
Depression with
anxiety affects 9.2%
of the population
1 in 20 experience
severe depression

How common are mental health

problems?
One in four people will experience mental
health problems in their lifetime
In every year 300 people per 1000
experience a mental health problem.

Group exercise
Write down five factors that help you cope
with the stress of life.
How might you feel if you couldnt rely on
these strategies?

Classification and diagnosis

Three types of functional mental illness
Psychosis

Neurosis

DSM iv / ICD 10

Personality Disorder

Psychotic Scale
Otherwise referred to as severe and
enduring mental illness
Psychosis
Bi polar illness
Severe depression

Neurotic scale

Generalized anxiety disorder

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Post traumatic stress disorder
Specific phobia
Agoraphobia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm
8spZG8dAc&feature=related

Organic Mental Illness

Alzheimer's
Vascular Dementia
Acquired Brain Injury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wbYE
K7O14E

Violence and Mental Health

In 1996 46% of all national press coverage
linked mental health to violence and criminality
In fact only 8% of homicides are committed by
people with mental illness
100 times more likely to kill themselves than
another person.
The link is constantly being made between
mental illness and dangerous or unpredictable
behaviour.

Stigma and mental health

2/3 of organisations setting up facilities
said they faced resistance from the
community
Concerns were:
1. Fear for childrens safety
2. Fear of violence
Concerns usually dissipate once services
are up and running

Victimisation
Kelly & McKenna (1997) surveyed one
hundred people with mental health
problems:
15 had stones thrown at windows
14 were verbally abused
5 had offensive graffiti ( peodo, pervert)
12 harassed outside home

Socio cultural differences

South Asian lower rates of psychiatric
morbidity, men identified feelings of
powerlessness, women isolation.
Chinese report a degree of stigma
attached to mental health services
Vietnamese research terms culturally
inadequate.

 Notable disparities between ethnic

minority groups and majority populations
in the rates of mental ill health, service
experience and service outcome.
provision for patients from minority ethnic
communities remains basic, insensitive
and piecemeal, leading to patients feeling
alienated and isolated.

References
The art and science of mental health nursing, Norman I
and Ryman I.
www.mind.org
www.ucel.ac.uk/medsoc/smh
www.psychology.org
www.rcpsych.org
www.nimhe.org.uk
www.lho.org.uk