Change Your World Week Winter 2022 (Archived)
Mental Illness: You're Not Alone
Welcome to Our Webpage!
Mental Illness is around us every day. Unfortunately, it often goes untreated, people feel alone or that there is no end in sight for this extremely complicated illness. Some people may not even realize that they have a mental health issue they may think that they are “just that way.” Please explore our webpage and learn about the different categories of mental illness, the good and the bad sides of mental illness, treatment options rather you want to go a holistic or pharmaceutical route, and support options that are out there.
- Warning Signs Of A Mental IllnessIf you feel that you are suffering from a mental health disorder please follow this link. This website is a credible site that goes into a paper test that can give you a score of how likely it is that you have bad mental health as well as more warning signs.
Areas Of Mental Illness
Depression is the most common mental illness effecting approximately 14.8 million Americans . Fewer then 50% of individuals with depression seek treatment despite the fact that 70%of individuals with depression have a full remission with effective treatment. (pharmacology)
Anxiety is the mind and body's reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It's the sense of uneasiness, distress, or dread you feel before a significant event.
The bad side of mental health
Bad mental health is often behaviors that usually have a negative effect on the way we think and usually on the way we feel about ourselves. We often believe that our mood and our mental health are solely dependent on external factors, and we only have little ability to control them.
Here are some signs that your mental health could be getting bad
- Sleep or your appetite is changing- Sleep and appetite change dramatically and you don’t have any desire for personal care.
- Your mood changes- drastic changes in your mood and you have depressed feelings.
- Withdrawal- you seem to have lost interest in activities that you once enjoyed doing.
- There is a drop in your activities- there’s a drop in functioning at school, work, or social activities, you quit sports activities, fail in school, and you have a difficult time performing familiar tasks.
- Problem thinking- you have a hard time thinking about problems, memory or logical thought, and speech that may be hard to explain.
- Feeling disconnected- feeling of being disconnected from yourself or your surrounding and a sense of unreality
Here are some psychological factors that could cause mental illness. You have harsh psychological trauma that you may have suffered as a child. For example, emotional, physical, and or sexual abuse. Maybe you had an early loss in your family. Neglect. You could have trouble relating yourself to other children. Also, there are environmental factors that could contribute to bad mental health, and here are some examples 1) A death or divorce, 2) dysfunctional family life. 3) low self-esteem, anxiety, anger, or loneliness, 4) changing jobs or school, 5) social or cultural expectations. For example, to have loads of friends and be popular 6) substance abuse may be by the person or the person’s parent.
There are always two sides to mental health, you have the good sides and the bad sides of it. Here are some good examples of good mental health
Having good mental health is going to look different for everybody, and everybody has their definition of what good mental health is for them and how they define it. But it is generally being able to think, feel and react in the ways that you might need and want to live your life to the fullest and possibly independent if you feel like it. Also having good mental health doesn’t always mean that you have to always have to feel happy or that you don’t have bad days, or you are moody. When you are having good mental health, you can cope with your stress, you can work productively and get everything that you need to get done, and realize you have potential. When you have good mental health you have great emotions, for example, you might have love, joy, and compassion, plus you feel really satisfied with your life.
Making time to do some self-care for your mental health is also really good, these self-care tips could be helpful to help you maintain good mental health. Some self-care you could do is exercise, you can just do 30 minutes of walking, running, jogging, or anything you’d like. Another one would be eating right/ healthy and staying dehydrated. A balanced meal and drinking water can improve your energy and focus throughout the day, also limit your intake of caffeine. Make sure you are getting 7-9 hours of sleep each day and make a schedule for what time you want to sleep and what time you want to wake up and stick to it, blue lights will make it difficult for you to sleep such as your phone, or computer before you are going to bed. Set goals and priorities for yourself, make a list for yourself if you need to so you have an idea of what can be done now and what can wait till another time, also learn how to say no to new tasks if you are doing too much.
Here is a checklist to see if you have good mental health
- You are confident when faced with new situations or people
- You feel optimistic
- You don’t always blame yourself
- You set goals
- You feel good about yourself
- You have good self-esteem
Treatment of Mental Illness with Medications
In the world of Mental Health, Psychologist often prescribe medication for those struggling with mental illnesses. Sometimes a primary doctor will prescribe medications for mental illness but usually they will refer you to a psychologist. Regardless of who is prescribing, there are many medications to help lessen the symptoms.
In anxiety, anxiolytics are used for treatment. These include benzodiazepines and Azapirones.
Benzodiazepines include alprazolam, Diazepam, Lorazepam, Oxazepam, Chlordiazepoxide hydrochloride, and Clorazepate dipotassium.
Azapirones includes Buspirone hydrochloride.
In Depression, there are three different types of depression: 1) reactive, 2) major, and 3) bipolar disorder or manic depression. Reactive depression usually comes on after an event, such as loss of a loved one. Major depression is portrayed by loss of interest in work or home, lacking the ability to concentrate, complete tasks, difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much, and feelings of worthlessness.
The Holistic way of trying to fight depression
- The Break Down Of DepressionMany that struggle with depression and or anxiety most of the time think of going to a pharmaceutical doctor, but I think we forget about the holistic route of healing.
The way depression is believed to work is when one of three transmitters which are dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin is underactive. Psychologists over time have noticed medication that targets one of those transmitters that is lacking has not helped persistent depressive disorder. With the numerous studies that have been done at Yale University they have noticed targeting the neurotransmitters that send chemical messages to the main transmitters helps immensely. These neurotransmitters are called GABA and Glutamate, both amino acids which means we can consume them through natural remedies or supplements. - Foods that increase GABA-Barely
-Beans
-Peas
-Rice
-spinach
-broccoli
-Sweet Potato
-Kale - Foods that increase Glutamate-asparagus
-beets
-bone broth
-broccoli
-carrots
-cheese
-corn
-eggs
-green tea
-Meat
-Mushrooms
-Onions
-Peas
-Seafood
-Soybeans/ Fermented soy products
-tomatoes - Natural supplements that can help depression-Sadenosylmethionie:Also known as SAMe. This is a dietary supplement chemically made up of a natural occurring chemical that we naturally provide in our body. There’s been many studies shown that SAMe is helpful for depression in higher dosage but it can cause nausea and constipation
-omega-3 fatty acids: you can also consume these through your daily intake through foods like cold water fish, flaxseed, flax oil walnuts and additional foods. Studies have shown taking omega-3 supplements could possibly treat depression for people that also have bipolar disease. There are amazing benefits in the end of still taking the supplement and helping with heart health.
-Dehydroepiandrosterone: also known as DHEA. This is a warm on our bodies naturally produced studies have been linked to by taking a supplement that can raise your levels of serotonin. You can also consume this naturally through soy or wild yams.
Natural supplements that can help with anxiety
-Pure Encapsulation Magnesium Glycinate: This supplement is already an essential mineral that plays a role in our bodies that directly respond to stress responses. A study was done in 2012 showed people that who took over 248 mg a day for six weeks had significant improvement in depression and anxiety.
-Saffron: This supplement is loaded with antioxidant compounds. In 2016 a study was done with 60 people that suffered from depression and anxiety they took 100 mg of saffron every day for 12 weeks straight they said their depression anxiety symptoms drastically plummeted compared to the medication they were on from a pharmaceutical company called fluoxetine.
-Vitamin D3 5000 IU: Vitamin D is a fat supplement that is essential for the brain to function and regulate mood. Studies show that people who suffer from anxiety or depression are more common to have vitamin D deficiencies. A study was done in 2020 where 106 people that suffered from depression, took 1600 IU of vitamin D per day for six weeks and had improved anxiety symptoms.
-Chamomile: Straight from a camomile flower this supplement provides anti-anxiety and anti-depression properties. You can also find this supplement in many teas.
-L-Theanine: This is a supplement a lot of athletes take because it is a main source of amino acids which are also found in green tea and has amazing stress relief and anti-anxiety effects. This is a natural supplement that has also been found to help reduce stress symptoms with people that suffer from schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and major depressive disorder.
Thank You for Coming to Our Webpage
Works Cited
Newroads. (2020, December 9). Five warning signs of mental illness. New Roads Behavioral Health. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://newroadstreatment.org/five-warning-signs-of-mental-illness/
“Good Mental Health.” Healthdirect, Healthdirect Australia, https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/good-mental-health.
https://bebrainfit.com/glutamate-neurotransmitter/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/supplements-for-anxiety#how-to-choose
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/expert-answers/natural-remedies-for-depression/faq-20058026