What do you know about Mental Health?

Few weeks ago I had the opportunity of rotating at chainama hospital for my clinical practice. Now as usual I must confess that before starting, I had a generalized thought that patients found there are simply mad people. And a typical description of a mad man is a person who picks up dirt, dresses up inappropriately and talks irrelevantly, and even though these  are key to make a diagnosis,there is way more needed to make a definitive diagnosis. Few days in I heard stories of how these people came to this place and why they were here. I first hand saw people living with schizophrenia, Bipolar, depression and alcohol or drug induced mental illnesses, it was nolonger just something I saw in white people movies. This broadened my knowledge on the whole spectrum of mental health.                                                                            One obvious thing I learned was how mental illness maybe as a result of hereditary descent or simply as a result of an individual going through things that cause them severe pain and stress leading to them being traumatized or depressed and further have psychotic episodes .                        Another key thing I learned is how people around an individual play a part on the prognosis of an affected person.                              I once sat one on one with a patient trying to clerk them , it was difficult to get the patient to speak and give information in chronological order but guess what I did manage. In the midst of the confusion between me and the patient I looked at the questions I jotted down and wondered what answers I would have given if I asked myself these questions. Of course I waited until I got home and answered those questions religiously . I later accessed my answers and compared them to the book used to diagnose patients in psychiatry, lord that wasn’t what I was expecting. Anyway the days that followed caused some uncertainty in me, great fear of having a mental illness.                Now one thing about learning something as a medical student you always feel like you have a certain disease or Illness but 90% of the time you don’t have it.even though I knew this, part of me still felt uncomfortable with the answers I gave.

It wasn’t till I sat down with one of the Doctors there and he explained to me the boundaries,stages  and how one gets to a place where they are mentally unstable and manifestations are seen.             Majority of people have strains of unstableness in their mind but it is to an extent to be taken as an illness. Certain thoughts and practices are questionable in individuals . Others choose to suppress them , others deal with them, while others learn to live with them accepting that that’s how they are but remember unless you deal with questionable thoughts and practices you will fall victim to them . Remember most people who kill didn’t just do it without long term thoughts. Daily we meet people going through different situations,how these situations affect us is different .One may classify certain things as small issues, for others those are the reasons why they are in mental institutions .                                             My deduction is  ;Mental Illness is something that’s talked about very often but because it’s based on individual reactions to experiences , it will still remain a major problem. One solution may help for a number of people but not work for all.                                                                           Another key issue is the constant debate of who is at fault for the increasing number of mental illness cases and suicides. 80% of the conversations I’ve witnessed and actively taken part in have dominated the conclusion of blaming the people around an individual.Even though this is a common occurrence. we all must understand that;  firstly how each person is going through difficult situations and actually being able to help others through their struggles is hard for them because they too are trying to figure out things. They too are frustrated and tired of the hell balls of life.     Secondly Mental Illness is an Illness of one’s mind meaning  principle element is the individual .                                                                      Now I’m mentioning this to show that it’s not just one factor but a collection of factors that influence the rising levels of mental health problems.According to WHO, burden caused by mental disorders continues to rise as predicted by Murray and Lopez in 1996. So from this we know working out ways of reducing the incidence is more important and crucial .                  Now here are some among the many ways we can reduce the income and improve the outcome of problems rising as a result of mental health.                                                                  1. Recognising and Accepting that mental illness exist everywhere, it’s not just a white people problem but affects people from everywhere and anywhere.           2.Educate yourself on what mental health is. Take time to learn more on mental illnesses,how they come up and problems caused. This not only helps one be aware of what they are going through but also they are able to recognise what another person is experiencing.                                                                          3. Early identification of different risk factors for mental illness whether it be environmental factors or genetic predisposition                           4..Awareness campaigns and advocacy for mental health . Using different platforms to promote mental health and share information about mental illnesses.                                               5.anti-stigma campaigns to reduce the stigma associated with mental illnesses ,creating environments allowing for more people to be open to talk about their experiences and listen to different perspectives .

6.Individuals engaging in healthy lifestyle habits like eating healthy, resting, exercising and reduce intake of alcohol and smoking.

7.Going for therapy this can be done online or attending sessions physically.if not watching videos and reading articles that may help.      8.Coming up with activities and new hobbies that help one cope with life’s challenges.              This like I said is just some of the many ways to help, feel free to add to the list and together we can help change the outcome .Remember if you are going through something you are not the only one and you are not alone. Don’t give up, try and keep trying till you find something that helps . You might get tired and of course it’s hard to get better but surely I tell you it’s not impossible.