What is mental illness and how to deal with it?

Mental health is essential in each stage of life, from beginning to end. According to surveys, around 13% of the world’s population deals with mental illness and issues.

It has become a major problem for today’s teenagers and adults. But not only teenagers and adults, even kids and older adults are also affected by this disorder. Mental disorders can create a pause in our lives, and we may lose interest in our day-to-day activities like eating, our jobs, social life, etc.

What is mental health?

Mental health is defined as our psychological, emotional, behavioral, and social well-being. The way we act, behave, eat, think, etc., can be affected by our mental health. It also relates to how to deal with stress and cope with other people in society.

Types of mental illness

• Clinical depression- In this disorder, one loses their interest in social and private activities. The person feels sad(depressed) throughout the day and tries to isolate them from society.
• Anxiety  is characterized by persistent feelings of anger, worry, anxiety, and fear about small things,, affecting one’s daily activities.

• Bipolar disorder- This disorder is characterized by frequent mood swings ranging from highly depressed to over happiness.
• Dementia- In this disorder, a group of thoughts usually affects our daily functioning.
• ADHD- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the in which a person becomes hyperactive and impulsive due to lack of social attention.
• Schizophrenia- This disorder affects a person’s capability to feel, think and act properly.
• OCD- Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by repetitive behavior due to excessive thoughts.
• Autism-It is a developmental disorder that seriously affects the ability to interact.
• PTSD- Post-traumatic stress disorder is usually recognized by the failure to recover from a serious event.

Signs and symptoms of mental illness.

The signs and symptoms can vary from one disorder to another. But some general signs include:

• Feeling sad or depressed.
• Detachment from society.
• Overthinking
• Excessive worries and guilt feelings.
• Changes in eating habits.

• Suicidal thinking.
• Losing temper over small things.
• Confused mentality, unable to conclude a decision.
• Stressed
• Extreme mood swings.
• Lack of interest in daily activities.
• Also, some physical problems as stomachache, headache, weight loss, etc.

Causes of mental illness

Causes of mental illness can be majorly categorized into three types:

Biological

• Genetics- Heredity/genetics can play a major role in our mental well-being. Mental illness like bipolar disorder, stress, hyperactivity is usually transferable from parents to the child and to even identical twins. Sometimes, even the dysfunction of genes causes mental illness.
•  Infection- Certainly, infection of brain cells or infections in nerves can cause damage to the brain, resulting in mental illness.
• Brain injury- Injury to the brain cells or defects of neurotransmitters can also be the reason for mental illness.
• Prenatal damage- Some mental illnesses can be caused during birth or early stage due to trauma or lack of oxygen.
• Substance abuse for a longer period of time causes anxiety and depression.
•  Poor nutrition, toxic substances, and drugs are also the cause of mental illness.

Psychological

• Neglect from society
• Traumatic exposure
• Severe psychological harm such as emotional or physical abuse.
• The unexpected loss of family member or close ones.
• Poor relations with friends and people around.

Environmental

• Detachment from closed ones or divorce
• Unhealthy family relations
• The expectation of physical beauty of society.
• Unable to fulfill society’s needs and requirements.
• Failures
• Taunts and comments which affects self-esteem

Self-help techniques to deal with mental illness

• Self-acceptance- Accepting the way you are and love to be is the first step towards dealing with mental issues.
• Deep breathe- Studies have said that breathing exercises help deal with many disorders like anxiety, depression, anger issues, etc.
• Do what you love to do. Even if you’re not enthusiastic to do your favorite activities,, think of what makes you love to do that and start doing those activities.
• Try to keep yourself in a non-judgmental place and condition.

• Take care of your body.
• Eat healthily, avoid smoking and consumption of drugs, sleep well.
• Surround yourself with people who give you positive energy and support.
• Practice meditation- meditation helps a lot to deal with mental illness.
• Bring yourself out from fantasy thinking and start setting goals in a realistic world.
• Ask for help

How to cope with a person dealing with mental illness

• Listen to them carefully. Let them speak their heart out. Just listen to them non-judgmentally and without passing any comments.
• Provide them psychiatric help.
• Give them positive energy. Motivate them to do things that they love the most.
• Try to understand their problems without imposing your opinions on them.
• Please help them to set realistic goals which are approachable.
• Provide emotional support. Please don’t make them feel that they are all alone. Take them out for a ride or a walk. Make them enjoy small things.
• Please don’t blame them for this issue. Instead,, try to help them to come out of it.

If the person is talking about suicidal attempts,, then please speak to the suicide help center.

Our research and study is the beginning step to understand the problem of mental illness. Every 1 out of 5 people is suffering from one or more mental disorders.

We all should be aware of at least some basic ideas about mental health and mental illness so that we can help ourselves and our loved ones from these problems.

So, I hope that this article can be a small but brief contribution to mental health and well-being!!