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In general what are your thoughts on mental illness?

Spruce Bringsteen

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Oops, not trying to derail this thread here.

What do you think causes it?
The majority of chronic illnesses/illnesses are caused by nutrient deficiencies. And exposure/ingestion of harsh chemicals.

What do you think is the most effective way of treating them?
Proper nutrification of the body, healthy diet and a heathy life.
 

annexfriesia

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Eh, don't know who that is....

I kind of think the opinions of others' offends you, meh, not my concern...

It's a fact that mental illness is a silly label, don't get pissed off because it contravenes "conservative society".
 

Chick24

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So what are they?
I will use the clinical (psychological) description, feel free to educate yourself on different perspectives (religions, different beliefs) regarding the term: mental disorders or mental illnesses. "A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above." –DSM 5 (you should check it out!)

What do you think causes them?
What causes them? How can I answer this question when scientists don’t even have a definite answer yet? Sorry if I offend anyone but my answer will be quite different from what you heard was the cause of mental illnesses.

1-There’s the spiritual world, physical world, and psychological mind (human mind). These three can affect each other, so something wrong in the spiritual world will manifest itself in the physical body (physical world) or in the psychological mind. I think all of these play a role in the ‘cause’ of mental illnesses. Some are the cause (where things go wrong in it’s nature E.G HIV, AID) and others are the source of ‘effect’ or punishment. It’s like how can you know the nature of a plant If you have not looked inside it’s body to see how it functions. Nor at how the weather can affect it. And so on. Whether you are spiritual or not, I think it’s best to always keep your options opened or look at different perspectives even if they don’t meet your ‘logic’. Or it can only be two (out of the three: SW, PW, PM) that affect one another , physical things might have an affect on your psychological mind or vice versa. But these three are the main categories that overlook all the little things and principles and laws that go within them.

Are you scared of people who are mentally ill?
I am not scared of people with mental illnesses. In some cases, I definitely would be afraid of what they might possibly do to me.

Do you know anyone who is?
I will list all the mental illnesses my friends have been diagnosed with: bipolar, ADHD, OCD,
depression, anxiety, autism, paranoia, cynical disorder, agoraphobia etc

What do you think impact on society is?
I will only list the impacts I think society contributes to the development of mental disorders in certain individuals. Society has it’s own morals, values and standards that some individuals find hard to achieve (eating disorders e.g) or are emotionally attached or affected by.

These problems in certain individuals starts to affect them emotionally (how they view themselves and the world), then it develops as ‘habits’ in their head. This affects how they treat their bodies. Due to not eating or whatever, their bodies inevitably can’t and don’t function probably or effectively. This affects their emotional and psychological mind to a higher degree or negatively.

Mental health and physical health need to be kept on the same plane.

Sometimes people abuse drugs to fit in with society/people or for whatever reason, then they get addicted. Some televisions shows and whatever media out there affects how we think and see the world. Violent video games can cause people to do violent things sexually or psychical harass others) out in the real world. The people who were victim to the violence caused by the ‘violent’ video game player inevitably develops serious problems.
Their psychological mind becomes a bad place. Then they start developing emotional problems which unfortunately affect their physical body (self harm, drugs, something goes wrong in their bodies). The people (friends and family) around the person who now has mental health problems or mental illness become worried and emotionally hurt. This is a long string that affect anyone in it’s way. Okay I think you get my point, every bad thing that someone does in society affects different people in different ways. Everyone get’s affected! Be the change you want to see in the world. Hopefully you understood that ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What do you think is the most effective way of treating them?

Some mental illnesses have been shown to be treatable by brain surgery (?) or medicines or therapy or exorcism and prayer (depending on what you believe). I think different mental illnesses need different treatments or mixture of both or few. But I think we should keep looking and find the most effective solution.

Do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?

I am gonna answer this question the way I answered the previous one. Some mental illnesses are more noticeable than others so I think to a certain extend you can know who has it and who doesn't. I think it depends on what the mental problem or illness is and how it manifests itself in the outside world. I think I am pretty good at telling who has a mental illness and who doesn't. (due to my many years of obsessively reading and searching everything related to mental illness).
 
W

WhoCares

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Mental illness is a label for people existing outside of a very narrow definition of norms. Pretty much every genius, inventor or artist can be and probably has at one time been described as mentally ill. Society is largely intolerant of anyone who rocks the boat, so labels are affixed so that those who consider themselves normal can be happily certified normal while everyone else is abnormal. Strangely this kind of inclusion\exclusion and diagnose behaviour is quite typical of humans.

There is a wide spectrum of human behaviours present on the planet but humans insist that only a very finite number of them are considered okay. Whatevs....:shrug:
 
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My thoughts on mental illnesses are that I'm glad I don't have any. Oh wait. I do. You'd think I'd remember, considering I have to break out of a straitjacket every day to steal my roommate's jello, then get on here to type to you guys, and other things crazy people do. But I love my fuckupedness. I embrace it. My only complaint so far is that I don't like green jello.
 
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Mental illness is mostly a symptom of the fucked up civilizations we live in and the unnatural way of living it provides.

I am perfectly sane however, and have a job at the church licking windows.
 

Tiltyred

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so what are they?
They can be a lot of things. Mostly I guess the label occurs when the person is so different from what society calls normal that they have trouble functioning within that society.

what do you think causes them?
I think genetics probably account for most of them, and the rest are caused by bad parenting, childhood traumas, other outside influences that happen to a person while they are very young. Sometimes both.

are you scared of people who are mentally ill?
Sometimes. If they're hallucinating and acting unpredictably, for example.

do you know anyone who is?
Yes

what do you think impact on society is?
It's a bit of a cog in the wheel of society. The first thing that comes to mind is homelessness.

what do you think is the most effective way of treating them?
Medication can work for many mental illnesses, and after proper medication, if the world can be just a bit accommodating, sometimes things can work out. It depends on how strong the person's hold on reality is, though.

do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?
Sometimes. If someone is sitting next to me at the bus stop talking to people I can't see, I begin to suspect something might be awry.
 
L

LadyLazarus

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so what are they?
As follow.

what do you think causes them?
I believe most of them are simply something you are born with, however I do think some of them are derived from certain experiences.

are you scared of people who are mentally ill?
A bit. However, despite the fact that they make a little uneasy, I try not to let it show as I do not believe it was their choice to be mentally ill, plus they're people too and deserve to be treated as such.

do you know anyone who is?
No.

what do you think impact on society is?
I don't believe the mentally ill have either a negative or positive impact on society or at least not in anyway that I am able to think of at the moment. I could see them being economically impactful though.

what do you think is the most effective way of treating them?
Therapy, along with medication when absolutely necessary.

do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?
I think it really depends on the specific illness and its' severity. In mild cases, I would think not.
 

Frosty

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so what are they?

They are states of functioning/thinking that cause a person significant problems in life. They are parts of a person that touch upon every aspect of their life. They can be mood disorders, which means disorder where a persons emotional state doesnt necessarily reflect their current situation- your feelings are off (sometimes causing guilt because you sort of get the message from just everyhing that ‘if you just tried harder, they can be psychotic disorders- which means your perception of reality is off and you struggle with that, personality disorders- which means you react to reality in a way that is off

Those are all simple definitions and not necessarily good ones but... oh well.

what do you think causes them?

Genetic issues that cause differences in the way the brain processes information- emotional, sensory, relationship wise- ect. Also some of it is probably related to upbringing as well, especially when it comes to personality disorders.

are you scared of people who are mentally ill?

Not in general. I am afraid of dangerous people in general. But yeah, I think people with certain personality disorders- such as antisocial and narcisisstic have a tendency to be more dangerous. But even them... I mean. If you are born some way you can only do the best you can to be the best person you can be with whatever situation you were born into. So, I do think that good people with antisocial personality disorder exist- so. Im am afraid of bad people in general. Bad mentally ill people and bad not mentally ill people.

do you know anyone who is?

Yep.

what do you think impact on society is?

I think there are positives and negatives. Mentally ill people cause taxpayers a lot of money, I will admit to that. But I think there being mentally ill people, and people who decide to try to understanf them, can cause people and society to be more understanding and compassionate- which I think is a good thing. Plus, some mentally ill people see things differently and might be able to create art and possibly solve problems- or understand problems- others might not see. Who knows. I think my experience has made me more compassionate personally, and better able to understand others in similar situations.


what do you think is the most effective way of treating them?

With compassion, medication, therapy, and social support. Helping them understand that they are not alone.

do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?

Maybe if it was particularly severe, or with time maybe. But lots of people, because of stigma, well. Try to pass as being totally fine, and the only way you would know otherwise is with a good amount of time
 

dougvincent1138

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First of all, I want to thank [MENTION=360]prplchknz[/MENTION] for starting this post. I think mental illness in general is something that does not get talked about nearly enough, especially where I live in the U.S., and as a result, there are many people who have a lot of mistaken notions about it.

so what are they?
I guess I would say anything related to one's thoughts and/or emotions that significantly negatively impacts one's ability to interact with others and society in general in a healthy, positive way. That's probably the best definition I can come up with by myself, without "cheating" and looking up the clinical definition. (The reason I say "cheating" is because I'm assuming that prplchknz is asking for people's personal beliefs on this subject, not just copying something from Wikipedia...)

what do you think causes them?
There can be different causes depending on which type of mental illness it is. Some are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, which can be linked to genetics or possibly other causes, some are caused by brain injuries, and some by trauma experienced either as a child or as an adult.

are you scared of people who are mentally ill?
No, not usually. I suppose if the person exhibited violent behavior while in my presence, I would be, but having a mental illness is far from a guarantee that a person will be violent, and there are many people who do not have a specific mental illness diagnosis who are violent. I would probably be afraid of anyone who is violent, regardless of whether or not they have been diagnosed with a mental illness, but I would definitely never assume that anyone who has a mental illness diagnosis is violent or dangerous.

do you know anyone who is?
Yes, I myself (ourselves) have a diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder). Previous to this diagnosis, I was diagnosed as borderline personality disorder, but I am confident that that was a misdiagnosis, due to the fact that I made much more positive progress in the first six months after being diagnosed as DID (by a therapist who had a lot of experience dealing with this disorder) than I did in the previous nine years with five different therapists combined. I/we have reached a point, after several years of therapy, of being a lot more stable emotionally and mentally, so I'm not sure if we would technically still qualify as being "mentally ill", because our condition doesn't cause nearly as much dysfunction in our life as it once did. I like to think of it as that we have reached the point where we have dissociative identities, but not necessarily a lot of disorder. But it takes a lot of constant effort to maintain that stability. But anyway, I also know several other people with DID, both people that I have met in person through a DID therapy group that I used to be in, and people that I have met online. I also know/have known several people who have other mental illnesses and/or disabilities, either diagnosed or undiagnosed, such as bipolar, clinical depression, anxiety, autism, ADD, downs syndrome, alzheimer's/dementia, and mental impairment due to brain injury.

what do you think impact on society is?
I think I'm going to answer this question by saying the more important thing to contemplate is the opposite, the impact of society on the mentally ill. Unfortunately, at least here in the U.S., and probably in a lot of other countries as well, there is still a LOT of negative stigma associated with mental illness. Many people who don't know much about it unfairly assume that anyone with a mental illness is automatically, by definition, either dangerous to others and/or a pathetic weakling who cannot ever learn to function in society outside of a psychiatric hospital. I know we have experienced these stigmas personally, as have many of our friends and family members who have mental illnesses. This stigma has much more of a negative impact on mentally ill people than just hurting our feelings. It can make many of us afraid to seek treatment, due to being afraid that we will be "locked away" for the rest of our lives, or that people will be afraid of us, or that people will see us as weak. This, in turn, can lead to mentally ill people getting much worse in their dysfunction due to not understanding what is happening to them, which can, in many cases, lead to self harm, including suicide. That's why society's misunderstanding of mental illness needs to be taken much more seriously than it is...because it can actually be fatal.

what do you think is the most effective way of treating them?
There isn't any one treatment that is effective for all mental illnesses, because different diagnoses are caused by different factors. Mental illnesses that are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, can be treated with medication, while ones that are caused by trauma, such as DID and PTSD, need to be treated through therapy with a qualified therapist. However, one thing that I can say applies to all people with mental illness is that they should be treated with compassion and respect, not pity or fear.

do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?
Usually not, only in cases that are on the severe end of the spectrum of that particular diagnosis. Many people with mental illnesses are quite skilled at hiding it and pretending to be "normal", because we are afraid of what people will think of us if they know the truth. I know there have been some people that have known me my entire life, such as one of my uncles, who, when I revealed my DID to them, they said "I never in a million years would have guessed that." Many people unfairly assume that anyone with a mental illness will behave in a "crazy" manner all day, every day, but this couldn't be farther from the truth.

Again, thank you for asking these questions, and if anyone has any additional questions after reading my answers, feel free to ask. I am happy to educate people about what it is like to live with DID, because it is far too misunderstood by society in general, and like I said, that misunderstanding can be fatal to those who are misunderstood. Thank you for taking the time to read my responses, and I look forward to answering any questions that anyone may have.

Thank you,

Leyna Vincent (INFJ) of the Doug Vincent system
 

prplchknz

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Thanks for bumping this thread, I didn't realize i made an awesome thread like this. Still not gonna answer, even though I want to.
 

Mole

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Two thousand years ago they had almost no medical knowledge so it was quite logical to believe that physical and mental illness was cause by demons. So healers of the day charged patients to cast out demons. And even today we talk about people struggling with their demons.

Wiht our medical knowledge today we know demons don't exist, but still we have a Society of Exorcists, ready and able to cast out demons, registered at the Vatican.
 

dougvincent1138

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Thanks for bumping this thread, I didn't realize i made an awesome thread like this. Still not gonna answer, even though I want to.

That's okay, I don't think you should be pressured into talking about it if you don't want to. But I just thought it was awesome that you got the ball rolling so to speak, and got people talking about mental illness. I wanted to be sure to give my answers to your thoughtful questions, because I am really passionate about wanting to educate people about mental illness, and especially DID. The only way we are ever going to end the unfair stigma is if we increase people's awareness and education about what it is really like. So I try to do that whenever I get the opportunity.

Thanks again!

Leyna
 

LightSun

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mental illness results in the Nature-Nurture paradigm. Half is genetics and the other half developmental learning as a young child. if one is raised in a dysfunctional household they are 2/3 likely to repeat in some form dysfunction. Either a repetition or overcompensation through defense mechanisms. Neither is healthy nor balanced. For raising our children right prevention is key with the utilization of the 40 developmental assets found in resilient children. Once a person has mental illness they may spend the rest of their life suffering for their parents mistakes in child rearing. Prospective parents should use this as a guide-list and checklist in raising a healthy child.


These are the 40 developmental assets I've discussed that lead to resiliency and are crucial in the child rearing age and development. What is more the main article shows parents and providers how to implement these developmental factors in a young child's life. Please Read.

Our parents are metaphorically our gods and they can shape and mold the child just as they would a vase. If the parents provide love, safety and proper boundaries the child will most likely grow up with a healthy self concept. The reverse is also unfortunately true. If the parents don't provide these nourishing factors into a child's life and abuse them emotionally, verbally, sexually, physically and psychologically the 'vase' or child will not be straight but dysfunctional leading an entire lifetime of distress all stemming from childhood.

The earliest intervention of an adult figure not in the immediate family can help regulate a child through the storms of home life. There are 40 developmental assets that instill resiliency. If the child does not have access to these other developmental assets then sadly statistically they will suffer from mental illness, dysfunction and or substance abuse. Resiliency studies have replicated these scientific findings that in a dysfunctional home life one of three children can still thrive despite the odds, The unacknowledged truth due to emotional reasoning, rationalization, denial, blind spots, defense mechanisms and overcompensation still regulate the other two children to be in the throws of the dysfunctional cycle.

Children and this country would be better off learning the two mental disciplines of critical thinking (being aware of distortions in the thought, written and speech format of our thinking. We need to be taught to think critically. All the wise sages say it so but the government stares at the wisdom on the road as if blind and do not address this quality. The second crucial learning is developing empathy skills to grow up more humanitarian and with Agape compassion for all life: human, animal and plant."
https://www.search-institute.org/…/40-developmental-assets-…


EXTERNAL ASSETS: SUPPORT

1.Family Support | Family life provides high levels of love and support.

2. Positive Family Communication | Young person and her or his parent(s) communicate positively, and young person is willing to seek advice and counsel from parents.

3. Other Adult Relationships | Young person receives support from three or more non-parent adults.

4. Caring Neighborhood | Young person experiences caring neighbors.

5. Caring School Climate | School provides a caring, encouraging environment.

6. Parent Involvement in Schooling | Parent(s) are actively involved in helping the child succeed in school.


EXTERNAL ASSETS EMPOWERMENT

7. Community Values Youth | Young person perceives that adults in the community value youth.

8. Youth as Resources | Young people are given useful roles in the community.

9. Service to Others | Young person serves in the community one hour or more per week.

10. Safety | Young person feels safe at home, school, and in the neighborhood.


EXTERNAL ASSETS BOUNDARIES AND EXPECTATIONS

11. Family Boundaries | Family has clear rules and consequences and monitors the young person’s whereabouts.

12. School Boundaries | School provides clear rules and consequences.

13. Neighborhood Boundaries | Neighbors take responsibility for monitoring young people’s behavior.

14. Adult Role Models | Parent(s) and other adults model positive, responsible behavior.

15. Positive Peer Influence | Young person's best friends model responsible behavior.

16. High Expectations | Both parent(s) and teachers encourage the young person to do well.


EXTERNAL ASSETS CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF TIME

17. Creative Activities | Young person spends three or more hours per week in lessons or practice in music, theater, or other arts.

18. Youth Programs | Young person spends three or more hours per week in sports, clubs, or organizations at school and/or in community organizations.

19. Religious Community | Young person spends one hour or more per week in activities in a religious institution.

20 Time at Home | Young person is out with friends "with nothing special to do" two or fewer nights per week.


INTERNAL ASSETS COMMITMENT TO LEARNING

21. Achievement Motivation | Young person is motivated to do well in school.

22. School Engagement | Young person is actively engaged in learning.

23. Homework | Young person reports doing at least one hour of homework every school day.

24. Bonding to School | Young person cares about her or his school.

25. Reading for Pleasure | Young person reads for pleasure three or more hours per week.


INTERNAL ASSETS POSITIVE VALUES

26. Caring | Young Person places high value on helping other people.

27. Equality and Social Justice | Young person places high value on promoting equality and reducing hunger and poverty.

28. Integrity | Young person acts on convictions and stands up for her or his beliefs.

29. Honesty | Young person "tells the truth even when it is not easy."

30. Responsibility | Young person accepts and takes personal responsibility.

31. Restraint | Young person believes it is important not to be sexually active or to use alcohol or other drugs.


INTERNAL ASSETS SOCIAL COMPETENCIES

32. Planning and Decision Making | Young person knows how to plan ahead and make choices.

33. Interpersonal Competence | Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and friendship skills.

34. Cultural Competence | Young person has knowledge of and comfort with people of different cultural/racial/ethnic backgrounds.

35. Resistance Skills | Young person can resist negative peer pressure and dangerous situations.

36. Peaceful Conflict Resolution | Young person seeks to resolve conflict nonviolently.


INTERNAL ASSETS POSITIVE IDENTITY

37. Personal Power | Young person feels he or she has control over "things that happen to me."

38. Self-Esteem | Young person reports having a high self-esteem.

39. Sense of Purpose | Young person reports that "my life has a purpose."

40. Positive View of Personal Future | Young person is optimistic about her or his personal future.
 

Yuurei

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After many decades I have come to the conclusion that many ( not all) of what we call "mental disorders" are in fact perfectly rational reactions to irrational external stimuli.
 

tkae.

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so what are they?
You can define it accurately in a lot of different ways, but I'd sum it up as a disruption in normal brain functioning (be it neurological, cognitive, emotional, or otherwise) that causes the individual distress and disrupts their daily functioning.

what do you think causes them?

A number of things, and I'm very likely to forget a few off the top of my head. Abnormal brain structure is one (neurodevelopmental disorders, traumatic brain injuries, changes in brain functioning due to drugs, etc). Traumatic experiences are another (acute trauma, complex trauma, traumatic grief, etc). Neurochemical imbalances is another (mood disorders, anxiety disorders, etc). Childhood experiences, socioeconomic experiences, things like that can be another (behavioral disorders, adjustment disorder, etc). Then there's a shit ton that don't fit neatly into those categories, like personality disorders, some of the ones I mentioned that have definite causes across categories. For example, Borderline Personality Disorder has components with strong roots in both traumatic experiences and abnormal brain functioning. Schizophrenia is theorized to have strong roots in genetic predisposition based on external stressors which disrupt the brain's ability to appropriately process or produce dopamine. I was very basic when I summed them up, because there's a lot of overlap in causation. But those are the general areas I tend to look at during an assessment.

are you scared of people who are mentally ill?

No. I work in a psychiatric hospital, so I'm scared of certain situations, but never of the individual. For example, if you're in a room with 10+ people and are the sole staff trying to keep them calm while there's an incident right outside the door, it can be pretty intense emotionally. But that's a situation, not anyone in particular. And I'd just be as scared if I worked a desk job and there was an active shooter. That doesn't mean I'm scared of desk jobs.

Since I work with people who are unstable emotionally, it requires a respect for the possibility of certain behaviors, and definitely requires an understanding of their root cause. But that's exactly why I'm NOT scared of them. And anyways, to the best of my knowledge there are only two mental health disorders with statistically higher averages for violent crimes -- Antisocial Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia when there are paranoid delusions. All others are below the national average, mostly because people with mental illnesses are too busy dealing with their own shit to dole it out to others. I'm much more irritated by the general population.

do you know anyone who is?

Every one of my clients, some of the people I work with, mostly all of my family, and more than a few casual acquaintances have mental illnesses. It's more common that people realize, but I'm also at the epicenter of it.


what do you think impact on society is?

Every society makes a choice how they deal with mental illness, so it depends on how they decide to handle it. For exaple, a lot of cultures have treated people with serious mental illnesses (schizophrenia, etc) as religious leaders or blessed by gods, and the community pays tribute to them and oversees their care. In Western societies, they're mostly seen as a drain on society and it's up to sympathetic individuals to oversee their care. Then what happens is the quality of care becomes dependent on society's willingness to provide appropriate resources to those individuals to actually care for them adequately. At its best, you have appropriate and compassionate treatment where individuals with mental illnesses can gain a lot of ground towards living quality lives. At its worst, you have the asylums people see in horror movies, which is mostly due to overburdened and underfunded mental health agencies.

At the end of the day, though, societies don't have the choice of dealing with mental illness. I'd use America as an example. You can deal with it positively, which involves adequate access to well-funded mental health resources, or you can choose to deal with it negatively, which involves those people not recieving the resources they need and shooting up workplaces, walking out in front of busses, making daily trips to the ER, becoming homeless, etc. People don't just disappear, whether the government deals with them or not. But what the impact looks like depends on how the situation is dealt with culturally and socioeconomically.

what do you think is the most effective way of treating them?

I mean, it all depends on what the mental illness is. The only real common thread I can advocate for is appropriate funding for mental health resources to ensure there's appropriate capacity and access to treat people who need services. What that ends up looking like is compassionate and well-trained staff that are patient and supportive while providing evidence-baed treatments.

Other than that, it just really depends. The cheat sheet I use in my head is that behavioral problems should be treated with behavioral techniques and emotional problems should be treated with cognitive techniques. That's very simplified and is a guideline for choosing which tool I pull out to deal with something. You have to consider the person, the situation, the larger picture, etc. For example, some people HATE Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. My boyfriend is one of them. If he's super upset and I word something in a CBT way, he instantly gets prickly. Some people HATE Client-Centered Therapy. I've had people get absolutely pissed off if I'm nondirective with them for too long. You also have to consider where they are emotionally, how well they know you, etc.

So I don't think this is a question that can really be answered if you're looking for a "What treatment is best?" answer. The only common thread is that there needs to be good funding and training.

do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?
ect

100% of the time? No. I can't even tell 100% of the time from an hour-long assessment. There's very detailed diagnostic criteria that have to be met, and you have to be careful that you're diagnosing a mental illness instead of a natural response to external stimuli. For example, if you have a woman who spends all day in bed crying, sleeps 12+ hours a day, doesn't eat, has nightmares, etc, you could argue depression. But if that woman is in a warzone and just lost her son in a suicide bombing, that's a different situation entirely. You have to really get into the guts of it to know for sure.

But 50-75% of the time I can get clinically suspicious that something might be going on. If the interaction goes on long enough, then things that are said, how they're said, etc can be clues. That number is probably super high because I'm working with people who come in specifically for help. But I've had plenty of times where I thought the only thing holding back a dignosis was personal distress and wanting help. Which is more common that you'd think.

I'd say about 10-20% of the time I know for sure that there's a mental illness. Usually if it's active hallucinations or delusions, a neurodevelopmental issue, or a recent suicide/homicide attempts, those are the dead giveaways. Then 50% of the time the dead giveaway is that they outright say they have a mental illness. 50% of the time I hear that it's someone who's self-diagnosed and I'm just rolling my eyes inside.
 
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Frosty

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You can define it accurately in a lot of different ways, but I'd sum it up as a disruption in normal brain functioning (be it neurological, cognitive, emotional, or otherwise) that causes the individual distress and disrupts their daily functioning.


A number of things, and I'm very likely to forget a few off the top of my head. Abnormal brain structure is one (neurodevelopmental disorders, traumatic brain injuries, changes in brain functioning due to drugs, etc). Traumatic experiences are another (acute trauma, complex trauma, traumatic grief, etc). Neurochemical imbalances is another (mood disorders, anxiety disorders, etc). Childhood experiences, socioeconomic experiences, things like that can be another (behavioral disorders, adjustment disorder, etc). Then there's a shit ton that don't fit neatly into those categories, like personality disorders, some of the ones I mentioned that have definite causes across categories. For example, Borderline Personality Disorder has components with strong roots in both traumatic experiences and abnormal brain functioning. Schizophrenia is theorized to have strong roots in genetic predisposition based on external stressors which disrupt the brain's ability to appropriately process or produce dopamine. I was very basic when I summed them up, because there's a lot of overlap in causation. But those are the general areas I tend to look at during an assessment.



No. I work in a psychiatric hospital, so I'm scared of certain situations, but never of the individual. For example, if you're in a room with 10+ people and are the sole staff trying to keep them calm while there's an incident right outside the door, it can be pretty intense emotionally. But that's a situation, not anyone in particular. And I'd just be as scared if I worked a desk job and there was an active shooter. That doesn't mean I'm scared of desk jobs.

Since I work with people who are unstable emotionally, it requires a respect for the possibility of certain behaviors, and definitely requires an understanding of their root cause. But that's exactly why I'm NOT scared of them. And anyways, to the best of my knowledge there are only two mental health disorders with statistically higher averages for violent crimes -- Antisocial Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia when there are paranoid delusions. All others are below the national average, mostly because people with mental illnesses are too busy dealing with their own shit to dole it out to others. I'm much more irritated by the general population.



Every one of my clients, some of the people I work with, mostly all of my family, and more than a few casual acquaintances have mental illnesses. It's more common that people realize, but I'm also at the epicenter of it.




Every society makes a choice how they deal with mental illness, so it depends on how they decide to handle it. For exaple, a lot of cultures have treated people with serious mental illnesses (schizophrenia, etc) as religious leaders or blessed by gods, and the community pays tribute to them and oversees their care. In Western societies, they're mostly seen as a drain on society and it's up to sympathetic individuals to oversee their care. Then what happens is the quality of care becomes dependent on society's willingness to provide appropriate resources to those individuals to actually care for them adequately. At its best, you have appropriate and compassionate treatment where individuals with mental illnesses can gain a lot of ground towards living quality lives. At its worst, you have the asylums people see in horror movies, which is mostly due to overburdened and underfunded mental health agencies.

At the end of the day, though, societies don't have the choice of dealing with mental illness. I'd use America as an example. You can deal with it positively, which involves adequate access to well-funded mental health resources, or you can choose to deal with it negatively, which involves those people not recieving the resources they need and shooting up workplaces, walking out in front of busses, making daily trips to the ER, becoming homeless, etc. People don't just disappear, whether the government deals with them or not. But what the impact looks like depends on how the situation is dealt with culturally and socioeconomically.



I mean, it all depends on what the mental illness is. The only real common thread I can advocate for is appropriate funding for mental health resources to ensure there's appropriate capacity and access to treat people who need services. What that ends up looking like is compassionate and well-trained staff that are patient and supportive while providing evidence-baed treatments.

Other than that, it just really depends. The cheat sheet I use in my head is that behavioral problems should be treated with behavioral techniques and emotional problems should be treated with cognitive techniques. That's very simplified and is a guideline for choosing which tool I pull out to deal with something. You have to consider the person, the situation, the larger picture, etc. For example, some people HATE Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. My boyfriend is one of them. If he's super upset and I word something in a CBT way, he instantly gets prickly. Some people HATE Client-Centered Therapy. I've had people get absolutely pissed off if I'm nondirective with them for too long. You also have to consider where they are emotionally, how well they know you, etc.

So I don't think this is a question that can really be answered if you're looking for a "What treatment is best?" answer. The only common thread is that there needs to be good funding and training.



100% of the time? No. I can't even tell 100% of the time from an hour-long assessment. There's very detailed diagnostic criteria that have to be met, and you have to be careful that you're diagnosing a mental illness instead of a natural response to external stimuli. For example, if you have a woman who spends all day in bed crying, sleeps 12+ hours a day, doesn't eat, has nightmares, etc, you could argue depression. But if that woman is in a warzone and just lost her son in a suicide bombing, that's a different situation entirely. You have to really get into the guts of it to know for sure.

But 50-75% of the time I can get clinically suspicious that something might be going on. If the interaction goes on long enough, then things that are said, how they're said, etc can be clues. That number is probably super high because I'm working with people who come in specifically for help. But I've had plenty of times where I thought the only thing holding back a dignosis was personal distress and wanting help. Which is more common that you'd think.

I'd say about 10-20% of the time I know for sure that there's a mental illness. Usually if it's active hallucinations or delusions, a neurodevelopmental issue, or a recent suicide/homicide attempts, those are the dead giveaways. Then 50% of the time the dead giveaway is that they outright say they have a mental illness. 50% of the time I hear that it's someone who's self-diagnosed and I'm just rolling my eyes inside.

I just wanted to say thank you for this post. I think its absolutely wonderful and just- a bunch of it is stuff that I wish more people understood. (Especially the stuff about the mentally ill being dangerous- its so true, the mentally ill have enough to worry about with coping with their own issues usually that for the majority, them being dangerous isnt really super likely. I wish people wojld stop being afraid. It sucks and is so isolating)

Anyways. Beautiful post, seriously
 

Chad of the OttomanEmpire

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OK, I've been giving this a lot of thought lately, so I'll bite. Prolly won't say anything other posters haven't said. Sorry if my ideas offend anyone.

so what are they?
I mean, I'm not a professional, but my understanding is that a mental illness is something that affects your ability to perceive and or cope with reality, in a way that's different from your baseline, in a way that disrupts daily life for the individual in question.

I find, on a personal note, that there's a lot of trivialization of mental health these days--everyone seems to be an armchair psychologist, telling the world about their narcissistic ex, their sociopath boss, their bipolar teenage daughter, whatever. And I mean...I think it's more than JUST negative or difficult personality traits--mental illness can really mess things up for the life of the individual in question. It seriously affects the brain. There's a line between "I'm an anxious person" and "my anxiety makes it hard to deal with actual life". I'm not sure everyone realizes that mental illnesses are like...a palpable force and constant companion, not just personality traits you don't like or discomfort you're going through. I know because once I made this mistake.

what do you think causes them?
I can only speak from my own experience, but I'm strongly biased towards thinking that environment, events, and trauma are the determining factor here.

It seems to me that, in the popular conception of mental illnesses anyway, it's all something you were born with--genetic, or due to "chemical imbalances"--and it's something that you're stuck with for life. Eg, the perception that people with PTSD are just permanently broken. People with depression have "an imbalance" and need meds to go get fixed.

I'm not sure this is the right approach. It seems to me that nature usually does things right--not that there can't be people just born with an imbalance (or for example, schizophrenia which seems to be genetic), just like some people are born without the ability to produce, say, insulin. I'm just saying, why are tens of percentage points of the US public on medication for anxiety and/or depression? Probably has something to do with environment (ie, modern life) than something ONLY biological.

Also, I'm not saying there aren't underlying genetic tendencies, ie towards schizophrenia or depression or anxiety. Just that humans usually aren't machines that just came off the assembly line wrong.

are you scared of people who are mentally ill?
No. I mean, there are some weird people I've seen on the streets...like at the bus stop this one time, this filthy woman was taking off her shirt and folding it in the air and putting it back on and doing weird stuff like that. And it kind of made me...back away. Like seriously, I don't know what's going on with her and how she'd react to me. But not scared, per se. I've actually been the person people are scared of, and the whole time I just kept thinking that I wasn't really very fearsome deep down--just betrayed, shut down, and wanting to find some vestige of humanity that was still worth believing in.

do you know anyone who is?
Mentally ill? I mean depression seems to affect some on my mother's side. My grandfather may have been depressed most of his life. One of her cousins once had a psychotic break (maybe with more serious problems). My cousin was in and out of the psych's office throughout her teens and 20s and was officially diagnosed with bipolar and SAD.

My father's side had lots of people with anxiety disorders--him, his father, his grandfather. Some guy claiming to be his son insists he has OCD so bad he is incapable of working. My father was on medications most of his life and had to learn breathing exercises to control his anxiety attacks.

I didn't inherit the tendency towards anxiety really, but I've dealt with legit depression and an ASPD-like event in my life after repeated traumas.

what do you think impact on society is?
I don't even know how to speculate on that. It would depend on the society in question. Mental illness is a very different phenomenon in Japan than it is in the US or UK--it's not necessarily culturally recognized, and there are disorders there that there aren't here (eg, koro). Society plays a role in shaping what we say about it at all. I understand that in Korea it's an absolute taboo and you can be terminated from your job if word surfaces that you've been treated for something simple like anxiety or depression. It's seen as a weakness and a failure. Contrariwise, it's regular talk in Afghanistan, to discuss mental health and the treatments you may have received. No stigma at all. Third world countries, despite having more difficulties and fewer mental health resources than developed nations, often report fewer issues with mental health and better response rates.

So instead, I'd pose the question, What is society's effect on mental health?

what do you think is the most effective way of treating them?
Well, developing countries would indicate that community support and purpose in life would be a really good start. Acceptance of those who are displaying symptoms, even if it's something disturbing like schizophrenia.

In my own case, I knew it was something related to life events, and I just wanted to process these intense feelings and let them pass, and have some people around I trusted who I could talk to, who could acknowledge that, yes, my life events suck.

I'm not saying medications couldn't be effective in some cases. Of course, so could alcohol. I can't speak for every person with a mental illness, just overall things I've noticed that also check out with my own experience.

do you think you can tell who does or doesn't have a mental illness just by a sole interaction?
It depends on what that is. Like I told you about the mentally ill woman taking off her shirt at the bus stop. That was fairly obvious. And there are some manifestations of schizophrenia where the individual with withdraw and stop practicing hygiene, or start talking to non existent others, etc. But I think more often than not, it's less obvious than you would think. That person who snapped at you in line might not be bipolar after all, but just having a bad day. Likewise, the waitress who always provides service with a smile might be suicidally depressed. Even amongst your own family, what you think a clinically messed-up behaviour is, might actually be their baseline--this was the case for me in my own family.

I am not going to share mine, nor give you my reasoning for creating this thread. I'm just curious to see how you perceive it.
I hope this helps. I'd be curious in one day hearing how YOU perceive it. :)
 
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