Myth #7: Depression and other illnesses, such as anxiety disorders, do not affect children or adolescents. Any problems they have are just a part of growing up.
Fact: Children and adolescents can develop severe mental illnesses. In the United States, one in ten children and adolescents has a mental disorder severe enough to cause impairment. However, only about 20 percent of these children receive needed treatment. Left untreated, these problems can get worse. Anyone talking about suicide should be taken very seriously.
As if teenage years aren't hard enough, right?
There's a huge need for treatment providers for adolescents with mental illnesses, especially since many of the serious mood disorders begin to present themselves during this time.
I always appreciated adults who took me and my emotions seriously when I was an adolescent/teenager, especially my mom.
Emotions are real no matter what age you are; as is mental illness.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Top 10 Myths about Mental Illness: #7
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Top 10 Myths about Mental Health: #5 and #6
Myth #5: Schizophrenia means split personality, and there is no way to control it.
Fact: Schizophrenia is often confused with multiple personality disorder. Actually, schizophrenia is a brain disorder that robs people of their ability to think clearly and logically. The estimated 2.5 million Americans with schizophrenia have symptoms ranging from social withdrawal to hallucinations and delusions. Medication has helped many of these individuals to lead fulfilling, productive lives.
I spoke about schizophrenia in my first post about mental illness, but I think this fact is important.
I'd like to talk a little more about "Multiple Personalities," though. The media and pop culture make schizophrenia and "multiple personalities" a joke, but both are devastating illnesses.
"Multiple personalities" is actually referred to as Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID. It's a terrible sickness that inflicts many people, especially women, who have been sexually abused in their childhood or teen years, and the abuse is "usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse."
The disorder ranges from "mild dissociation, which is like daydreaming or getting lost in the moment while working on a project. However, dissociative identity disorder is a severe form of dissociation, a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity...The dissociative aspect is thought to be a coping mechanism -- the person literally dissociates himself from a situation or experience that's too violent, traumatic, or painful to assimilate with his conscious self."
It's really tragic and not funny to me at all.
I've only worked with three women with this disorder. When they "switch" between their alter egos, it is kinda scary. Therapy is very complicated, especially since people with DID also have symptoms of
- Depression
- Mood swings
- Suicidal tendencies
- Sleep disorders ( insomnia, night terrors, and sleep walking)
- Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias (flashbacks, reactions to stimuli or "triggers")
- Alcohol and drug abuse
- Compulsions and rituals
- Psychotic-like symptoms (including auditory and visual hallucinations)
- Eating disorders
- and others...
Myth #6
Erik EriksonFact: It is not normal for older adults to be depressed. Signs of depression in older people include a loss of interest in activities, sleep disturbances and lethargy. Depression in the elderly is often undiagnosed, and it is important for seniors and their family members to recognize the problem and seek professional help.
I think this is important information. First, it's good to know that it isn't just an inevitable thing to become miserably depressed as one ages. Second, if depression does strike during older age years, it's comforting to know that there is treatment available to alleviate the symptoms.
We've had many elderly clients in my work who are faced with depression, especially lately when triggered by losing their homes, retirement funds, and pride with this economic crisis.
From a cognitive perspective, I find Erikson's final stage of psychosocial development an interesting viewpoint. It focuses on his theory of the emotional development options for elderly persons:
Integrity vs. Despair
- This phase occurs during old age and is focused on reflecting back on life.
- Those who are unsuccessful during this phase will feel that their life has been wasted and will experience many regrets. The individual will be left with feelings of bitterness and despair.
- Those who feel proud of their accomplishments will feel a sense of integrity. Successfully completing this phase means looking back with few regrets and a general feeling of satisfaction. These individuals will attain wisdom, even when confronting death.
According to Erikson, this stage begins when people begin to transition from actively raising their children and pursuing their careers or ambitions to a more "completed" state or retired from their careers and being parents of adult children. But I won't begin to pretend that I understand the intricacies of gerontology social work. That's definitely not my specialty.
What do you guys think?
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Top 10 Myths about Mental Illness: Myth #4 and #8
I thought these two myths were fairly similar, so I decided to combine the two.
Myth #4: Depression results from a personality weakness or character flaw, and people who are depressed could just snap out of it if they tried hard enough.
Fact: Depression has nothing to do with being lazy or weak. It results from changes in brain chemistry or brain function, and medication and/or psychotherapy often help people to recover.
Myth #8: If you have a mental illness, you can will it away. Being treated for a psychiatric disorder means an individual has in some way "failed" or is weak.
Fact: A serious mental illness cannot be willed away. Ignoring the problem does not make it go away, either. It takes courage to seek professional help.
These two myths are probably the most devastating to me, and possibly to many others who struggle with mental illness.
A lot of my clients struggle with educating their family members on these facts. I'm grateful for a family who has tried to educate themselves about the reality that a mental illness, whether it be depression, an anxiety disorder, or a bipolar disorder, cannot just be willed away.
In the past, I've received many insensitive or ignorant "encouragements" to...
"come over to the sunny side of life!" or "Just keep praying." or "I was feeling really depressed one day but I realized I just needed to count my blessings more."
These things are nice, but don't eradicate the pain and/or overcome the burden of a psychiatric illness.
The last thing I'd like to say about these two myths with their respective facts, is that I think that it's often easy for many of us to read these myths and think that you would never treat someone that way.
However, it's a subtle form of discrimination that is deeply embedded in people's minds and judgments-- much like the other forms of racism and prejudice that are present in our "post-racial" America.
Most of these thoughts begin like, "I know she struggles with depression, but..." and then going on to make a very judgmental and hurtful statement.
Also, for those of us who live with mental illness, these facts serve as a valuable reminder to not be quite so hard on ourselves and to use our energies to move forward while loving ourselves for who we are.
Bottom line, we can't know what it's like to live with someone else's trials or burdens. But we can still sympathize and work to increase our sensitivity to the plight of those living with an illness of the mind.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
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