Mental Illness

1. MENTAL ILLNESS Mental Illness

2. What are the symptoms of Mental Illness? Mental Illness What do you think causes Mental Illness?

3. By the end of the lesson you will need to be able to: Mental Illness Describe the differences between anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. List two factors that can lead to mental illness. Explain how some mental illnesses share symptoms.

4. Understanding Mental Illness Health problems that affect a person’s behavior, thoughts, and emotions can be scary. Mental Illness These problems are illnesses that can often be successfully treated, just like other health problems. Understanding these illnesses can make them less mysterious.

5. Understanding Mental Illness cont. The brain controls thoughts, feelings, memories and actions. Mental Illness When the brain is working properly, it responds to life events with normal emotions. But the brain’s responses can be changed by illnesses that affect the balance of chemicals in the brain.

6. Mental Illness

7. Understanding Mental Illness? Mental illness is a disorder that affects a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Mental Illness One out of every six people has a mental illness.

8. Cause of Mental Illness? It is not completely understood. Many illnesses are more common in some families than others. Mental Illness Inherited traits may influence mental illness. Sometimes stressful events can trigger a mental illness, so the environment may also influence mental illness.

9. Mental illnesses can be grouped by the kinds of emotional and behavioral changes they cause. Anxiety disorders, mood disorders and schizophrenia are common mental illnesses. Mental Illness Treating these illnesses involves counseling as well as medicines that balance the brain chemistry. When people who have mental illness find and continue proper treatment, they can live normal lives.

10. Anxiety Disorders Anxiety is a feeling of extreme nervousness and worry. Mental Illness An anxiety disorder is an illness that causes unusually strong nervousness, worry, or panic. They vary inhow long the nervous feelings last and in what causes those feelings to occur.

11. Anxiety Disorders cont. Panic disorder is an anxiety that causes a person to have brief periods of extreme anxiety called panic attacks. Mental Illness During panic attacks, people become extremely scared and may think they are having a heart attack. They may experience a fast heart rate, difficulty breathing, shaking and lightheadedness.

12. Anxiety Disorders cont. Panic attacks that are triggered by specific things are called phobias. Mental Illness 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. 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

13. Anxiety Disorders cont. Sometimes anxiety is triggered by repetitive thoughts called obsessions. Mental Illness Some people develop rituals, or compulsions, such as excessive counting or washing, to try and overcome this anxiety. This combination of anxiety and ritual activity is an anxiety disorder called obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Medicines and counseling can usually treat people with OCD successfully.

14. Bipolar Mood Disorder A mood disorder is an illness in which people have uncontrollable mood changes. Mental Illness Bipolar mood disorder (BMD) is one kind of mood disorder. BMD causes a person to experience two extreme moods: depression and mania. It is also referred to as manic depression. Different behaviors and emotions occur during each extreme of BMD.

15. Bipolar Mood Disorder cont. Depression is a disorder that causes a mood of extreme sadness or hopelessness. It may cause people to sleep or eat or less than they normally do. Mental Illness Mania is a mood that causes excessive energy and irritation. Manic people are very active and need little sleep. There thoughts may race and become disorganized. They may talk fast and may be difficult to interrupt. The two extremes of BMD are usually separated by periods of normal moods. Periods of depression or mania can last from weeks to months.

16. Bipolar Mood Disorder cont. People who have BMD may also experience and believe things that are not real. A hallucination is sensing something that is not real. E.g. A person may hear voices when no one is talking. Mental Illness A delusion is a false belief. Manic people may have delusions that they are famous. Or, they may think that they have a special relationship they have never met. Some symptoms of BMD occur in several mental illnesses. This can make BMD hard to recognize and treat. Once diagnosed, BMD can be treated.

17. Schizophrenia skit-se-free-nee-uh Is a disorder in which a person breaks from reality in several ways. People with the disorder do not always have the same symptoms. Mental Illness Most people who have this disorder express little emotion. They usually have hallucinations and delusions, and often they feel paranoia. Paranoia is the belief that other people want to harm someone. Many people who have the disorder suffer from disorganized thinking, which can lead to nonsense speech.

18. Schizophrenia cont. Some people who have this disorder go through periods of time during which their bodies are frozen in one position. Mental Illness Schizophrenia, like other mental illnesses, affects a person’s thoughts and actions. 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.

19. What can you remember? Describe the differences between anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. Mental Illness List two factors that can lead to mental illness. Explain how some mental illnesses share symptoms.