MENTAL HEALTH

DR.F.X.LOVELINA LITTLE FLOWERREADER

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORKBHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY

COIMBATORE 641 046

QUESTIONS• 1. Are you always worrying?• 2. Are you unable to concentrate because of

unrecognized reasons?• 3. Are you continually unhappy without justified

cause?• 4. Do you lose your temper easily and often?• 5. Are you troubled by regular insomnia?• 6. Do you have wide fluctuations in your moods

from depression to elation, back to depression, which incapacitate you?

QUESTIONS –cont………• 7. Do you continually dislike to be with people?• 8. Are you upset if the routine of your life is

disturbed?• 9. Do your children consistently get on your

nerves?• 10. Are you “browned off” and constantly bitter?• 11. Are you afraid without real cause?• 12. Are you always right and other person always

wrong?• 13. Do you have numerous aches and pains for

which no doctor can find a physical cause?

ANSWER

• “YES” to ‘ANYONE’ question

• HELP IS NECESSARY.

• Acc.to Dr. Menninger, the questions are the major warning signals of poor mental health.

What is Mental Health?

• “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”

• ‘the state of our minds, how we think, behave and feel’

PROBLEM STATEMENT

• WORLD: mental disorders are not exclusive to any special group, they are truly universal

• Found in people of all regions, countries and societies

• Acc. to WHO,(Global burden of disease, 2000),about 450 million people were estimated to be suffering from neuropsychiatric conditions.

INDIA

• As per IANS: As many as 20 million Indians are believed to be suffering from mental illnesses.

• M.S. Bhatia, head of the psychiatric department at G.T.B. Hospital, said: "A shocking 70 million people suffer from mental ailments and yet, 50-90 percent of them are not able to access corrective services. Awareness of mental health is just not enough."

• According to a health ministry, the ministry has allocated Rs.1,000 crore for the programme in the 11th Five Year plan.

FOCUS

SHOULD BE ON MENTAL WELL BEING INSTEAD OF MENTAL ILLNESS

Characteristics of a Mentally healthy person.

• 1.He feels comfortable about himself. -feels reasonably secure and adequate

- neither underestimates nor overestimates his own ability

• 2. He feels right towards other-satisfying and lasting friendship-able to like and trust others

• 3. He is able to meet the demands of life.-able to think for himself and take decisions-shoulders his daily responsibilities

TYPES OF MENTAL ILLNESSES• Major illnesses:

-Schizophrenia (split personality) in which the patient lives in a dream of his own world-Manic depressive psychosis, the symptoms vary from heights of elation to depths of depression-Paranoia, undue and extreme suspicion and a progressive tendency to regard the whole world in a framework of delusions

MINOR MENTAL ILLNESSES

• Neurosis or Psychoneurosis: the patient is unable to react normally to life situations

• Personality and character disorders, this group of disorders are the legacy of unfortunate childhood experiences and perceptions

CAUSES• Organic conditions• Heredity• Social pathological – comprise of worries,

anxieties, stress, tension, frustration, unhappy marriages, broken homes, poverty, industrialization, urbanization, changing family structure, economic insecurity, cruelty, rejection, etc,

• Social environment not only determines the individual’s attitudes but also provides the “framework” within which mental health is formulated

PREVENTIVE ASPECTS

• “improving the social environment” and promotion of the social, emotional and physical well being

• Early diagnosis of mental illnesses through screening programmes

• Reducing the duration of mental illness and thus reduce the stresses they create for the family and the community

Self-care Techniques• 1. Relax• 2. Practice acceptance• 3. Talk rationally with yourself• 4. Get organized• 5. Do exercises• 6. Reduce Time urgency• 7. Disarm yourself• 8. Care for your hobbies• 9. Watch your habits• 10. Spend time with your friends

THANK YOU