Mental health actually is all about how you think, behave and feel. Specialists of mental health can help you with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addiction & other conditions that cam affect your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Mental health can have impact on living style, your relationships and your physical health.
However, this can work & result in the other way. Your personal type of connections, and many physical factors can contribute & lead to mental illness.
Looking after & maintaining mental health can save your ability to enjoy life. It involves balancing activities of life, your responsibilities and efforts to get psychological spirit & resilience. Stress, anxiety & depression can all affect your mental health & it can disrupt your routine.
Although, there are many doctors & health care providers use this term or word like mental health often because they recognize & believe that many psychological disorders & illnesses can have their physical roots.
This article by iveals.com will explains what people mean when they say mental health & mental illness. We will also describe this issue in detail with the most common types of mental health disorders that include their early signs, symptoms & how to avoid and treat them.
What is mental health?
According to WHO it is actually more than the absence of mental disorders / disabilities. Good mental health or healthy mind is not only about how you manage active conditions but also includes looking after the happiness & wellness.
Also, it emphasizes that saving & restoring brain or mental health is individually very important and on community & society level too.
In the US (United States), almost 1 in 5 adults has brain or mental health problems every year. Only about 5.6%, has a serious type of psychological problem, according to NIMH.
Risk factors for conditions of mental health
Everyone now a days is at some risk of evolving a disorder of mental health. It is regardless of sex, age, income or ethnicity. In the United States (US) & much of the world which is developed, mental health disorders are one of the main reasons of disability.
Financial & Social conditions, bad experiences in childhood, biological factors & underlying medical conditions can all make your mental health. Many people who have problems of mental health have many conditions at a time.
Also, it is very important & crucial to note that a good mental health lies & depends on a good balance of different type of factors. There are many elements that can lead & cause to develop these mental health disorders.
So, the following conditions or factors can lead to its disorders.
Continuous Economic & Social Pressure
Having financial resources that are limited or belong to a persecuted / marginalized ethnic group can increase risk of having disorders of mental health.
A study describes that there are several socioeconomic reasons of mental health disorders. It includes poverty & living in large city on the outskirts.
Also, that study described flexible & inflexible (nonmodifiable) factors that can affect the quality and availability of treatment of mental health for certain groups.
Factors that are modifiable for disorders of mental health include:
- Conditions of socioeconomic like whether work or job is available in the local area
- Occupation
- education
- Your level of social involvement
- gender
- housing quality
Factors that are Nonmodifiable:
- age
- gender
- nationality
- ethnicity
The study found that being a female can increase the risk of low level of mental health status by 4 times nearly. People who have a “weak economic status” also scored high level for issues of mental health.
Childhood adversity
Many studies support the point that adverse experiences of childhood like child abuse, parental separation, parental loss and illness of parents significantly affect the mental & physical health of a growing child.
Childhood abuse & other adverse events are linked with many psychotic disorders. Also, these experiences can make people to develop PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder).
Biological factors
Genetic history of family can increase the risk of mental health problems like genes specific & gene variants can put you at higher risk.
However, there are a lot of other things & factors that can lead to these disorders.
Mental health Problem types
Some mental health disorders are grouped because the common features they have. Some types of these are as follows:
- Disorders of anxiety
- Disorders of mood
- schizophrenia disorders
Anxiety disorders
Disorders of anxiety & depression are the most common causes of mental issues & illness.
People who have these conditions have severe symptoms of anxiety related to certain situations. Many with a disorder of anxiety try to avoid things that triggers the anxiety.
Early signs of Mental Health Problems
No physical Scan or test indicates reliably that if a person has developed a mental disorder. However, you must look out for the following signs that are possible for a mental health disorder:
- Avoiding family, friends, and colleagues.
- Away from activities that you would enjoy.
- Sleeping little or too much.
- Extra eating or too little.
- Hopeless feeling
- Low energy
- Using alcohol & nicotine frequently.
- Showing negative emotions.
- Confused.
- Having delusions
- Unable to complete routine tasks.
- Persistent memories.
- thinking physical harm.
- Hearing different voices.
Diagnosis of Mental Health Disorder
Its diagnosis is a multi-step procedure. A doctor check by looking at your medical history. He can perform a complete physical exam to check physical conditions or problems that can causing the disorder symptoms.
There are no medical tests for it. However, laboratory tests like imaging exams & bloodwork for other possible underlying conditions can be done.
Also, doctors can do a psychological evaluation. This evaluation includes asking about experiences, symptoms and how these impacted the lives. Sometimes, they can ask to fill out mental health questionnaires. It will get an idea about feelings, thoughts and patterns of behavior.
Treatment for Mental health Problems
There are many different techniques & methods for the treatment of mental health problems. Its treatment is very individual type. What works for one patient may not work same for another patient.
Some treatment options are given below for mental health disorders.
Talking therapies or Psychotherapy
This is a psychological approach to for treatment of brain disorder. For example, CBT (Cognitive behavioral therapy), dialectical behavior therapy & exposure therapy.
Psychiatrists, psychotherapists, psychologists & some primary care physicians can do this type of treatment.
It can help to understand the main cause of mental illness and start to work on more healthful pattern of thought that can support living routine and reduce the risk of self-harm & isolation.
Medication
Prescribed medications are another way for some patients. It includes antipsychotics, antidepressants, and drugs of anxiolytic.
However, these medications cannot cure mental health disorders. Some medications can improve its main symptoms & can help a you to resume social interaction.
Some medications of these types can boost the body’s capacity to absorption of good feeling chemicals like serotonin from the brain. Other drugs & medications either boost the overall levels of these type of chemicals or they can prevent their destruction.
Self-help
If you are coping & handling mental health problems, then you may need to change your daily routine to facilitate mental wellness.
These changes include reducing intake of alcohol, more sleeping and eating a Healthy Diet. You may need to take time & walk away from your work. Also, you may need to resolve issues with your personal relationships. These can be the main cause of damage to your mental health.
Must try relaxation techniques to get relief from anxiety that include Meditation and Mindfulness.
Myths vs facts
There are so many misconceptions & beliefs about mental health. Below are some examples of it.
Myth: If you are suffering a mental health problem then you have low intelligence.
Fact: It can affect anybody regardless of high or low intelligence, social status or income.
Myth: Teenagers or children do not have mental health disorders. They just have swing of mood due to their hormone’s fluctuation.
Fact: It is true that children or teenagers often have swing of mood but it does not mean that there are no mental health problems.
There many other myths & misconceptions about mental health issues but we are not going to waste our time on them, lets get to the solution.
How to preserve mental health
Practice of self-care can significantly help to improve a person’s mental health. It can reduce the risk of illness. Also, it can increase levels of energy, and reduce stress. You can begin with the self-care routine given below:
Exercise:
Exercising for at least 45 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week, can significantly improve mental health.
Eat a Healthy Diet and stay hydrated:
Eating a healthy, balanced diet & keep yourself hydrated can give a continuous supply of energy levels throughout the day.
Good sleep:
There are many studies that found good sleep can lead to greater improvements in the mental health issues. You can check article by iveals.com on Sleep Meditation
Relaxing activities:
Exercises of breath, meditation, wellness apps, & journaling can reduce stress symptoms and improve overall health.
Gratefulness:
You can practice gratitude & mindfulness by actively identifying things for you and you must be grateful for them.
No negative thoughts
You can practice positivity and avoid harmful thoughts by becoming aware of your all negative things & you can easily challenging them.
Search positive social interactions
Have connections and relationships that are meaningful can reduce stress. It can be a good source of support and practical help in difficult times.
Also, don’t forget to read our article on Power of Healing Words: How Healing Words Can Change Life
Prevention of Suicide
If someone you know or you care about is at risk of suicide, hurting another person or self-harm, then do the following:
- Ask him / her: “Are you thinking or considering suicide?”
- Listen to them without any judgment.
- Stay with them until the arrival of professional help.
- Try to remove any type of harmful things or weapons, medications, or other objects.
If someone having thoughts of this type, a hotline for prevention is available for help. Call & get immediate help from the emergency helpline.
Outlook
While mental health problems can be common but they also vary in severity. Many people can easily handle their symptoms. They can live full life by getting proper treatment & accessing support.
However, for others, recovery procedure & period may not be the same as their earlier normal lives before they get mental health problems but, learning new methods & ways to cope & gaining more control over their lives can help a lot.
It can happen mostly in people with the ages 18–25, but drops in people aged 50 & above.
Having issues with mental health, especially anxiety & depression is strongly connected with severe type of chronic health conditions like stroke, diabetes, hypertension, cancer and heart problems.
Final Words
We hope that our effort about what is mental health? & Its types & solutions in detail can help you a lot with this issue. Giving hope to these people can lead to peace for them as well as it gives a feel of satisfaction to you & us. We are doing this with the wish that everyone gets a happy life. Don’t forget to share with your loved ones.
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