Mental Health

Mental Health

The idea behind mental health is that there is a normal
level of happiness, sadness, worry, and stress that a
person should experience throughout their life. This, of
course, lets us know that some of us, at some point or
points in our lives, may experience abnormal amounts of
these emotions. An excess of sadness, worry, even
excessive happiness, can be a sign or symptom of illnesses
such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. How we
cope with not only the undue stresses, worries, and
exceptional events in our lives, but also the day-to-day
experiences contributes largely to our mental health.

Moods

He's in a mood. She's just moody. The term mood is used
loosely in our society as a description of a person or a
person's affect. When mental health professionals talk
about moods they are referring to an emotional state
sustained over time. So, moods are essentially just longer-
lasting emotions. A woman may feel sad if she loses a big
account at work; she experiences sadness at losing her
job. As this sadness will continue for some time it would be
considered a mood. When moods persist over long periods
of time and interfere with a person's life, as depression
does, we refer to the interference as a mood disorder.

Mood Disorders

The term mood disorder is used to describe a particular set
of psychological disorders which are characterized by
changes in a person's ability to self-regulate their moods.
The ability to self-regulate our emotions and moods is a
skill we learn from infanthood. This skill allows us to
(somewhat) control how we are feeling, often in the face of
adversity or even just having to attend a special occasion
on a bad day. The person who can self-regulate can talk
themselves into feeling up for the event in a good mood
and have a good time while there. A person suffering from
a mood disorder has a far harder time managing their
internal state. Although they may seem perfectly happy,
individuals with a mood disorder are really only able to
control their presentation to the outside world; their inner
world may be a different story altogether. Depression,
Dysthymia, and the cycling mood disorders Bipolar and
Cyclothymia are all examples of mood disorders.

Dysthymia

The more common form of depression is referred to as
dysthymia. Although dysthymia is commonly construed to
be the less serious depression, it can have a major impact
upon one's relationships, work/career, and life. Dysthymia
can be caused by situational factors, a genetic
predisposition, developmental factors, or a combination.
While many health professionals understand that changes
in eating or sleeping habits and general energy levels can
be fairly reliable markers when diagnosing depression, the
key to dysthymia specifically is the loss of enjoyment in
previously enjoyed activities. As an example, we'll use a
person who has always been typically social. This person
usually enjoys the odd night out and keeps in touch with
their friends. However, they begin to feel strained going
out, or picking up the phone just seems that much more
taxing as they feel their laughter is forced or faked,
perhaps they feel they have little joyfulness to bring to the
conversation. Such changes are what mental health
professionals mean when they speak of a loss of
enjoyment and they are a strong indicator of a person
suffering from dysthymia.

Depression

It would be easy to assume that treatment for depression
would be fairly uniform given that it affects so many people.
However while spontaneous recovery is possible for some
people, for others depression may require treatment. The
treatment must be individualized because not only does
depression come in many forms, affecting each person
differently, it can even affect individuals differently at
different stages of their lives. It is for this reason that we will
look at the different types, as well as the different sources
of depression.

Major Depression

The more intense form of depression is referred to as
major depression. This type of depression is characterized
as being extremely debilitating and interfering in almost all
facets of a person's life. Major depression can be so
pervasive that the changes in sleeping habits result in the
person being physically unable to rise in the morning.
Luckily, major depression is the (much) less common form
of depression and is generally treatable when a
spontaneous recovery (yes that can and does happen)
does not occur. Genetic, environmental/situational, or
developmental factors, or a combination of these factors,
can play a role in a person's development of major
depression and the intensity and duration of their distress.
While dysthymia is characterized by a loss of enjoyment in
everyday activities, the person with dysthymia or dysthymic
tendencies will most likely be able to force themselves into
activities. One suffering from major depression will be
unlikely to be able to stand everyday activities; sometimes
even simple hygiene tasks are too much to accomplish.
While this description may be difficult to understand for
people who have not experienced any forms of depression,
it is nonetheless valid.

Sources and Causes of Depression and Other Mental
Health Issues

What most people want to know is very simple: Where does
depression come from?
The answer to this question can really be applied to all
mental disorders, but depression is a good example to use
because it is probably the most common mental health
issue and can come and go throughout a lifetime. It is
important to note that over 30% of all people report that
they have experienced some form of depression at some
point in their lives. Mental health professionals expect that
this number is actually much higher as many people don't
see their doctor and receive a diagnosis of depression.
Instead, they choose to just deal with it on their own or they
explore non-medical avenues. While this number may seem
alarming, it also (in an admittedly strange way) gives
mental health professionals hope for new forms of
treatment and overall recovery rates. If depression is that
common and not everyone seeks treatment, it means that it
is possible for people to recover on their own, without the
use of therapy, medications, or a combination thereof.
Some doctors and psychologists even focus their studies
on this area: they work with people who have recovered
from depression without outside treatment to try to find out
what helped them so it can be used to help others. The
especially intriguing thing about mental disorders such as
depression is that their cause is not directly known. You
can run a test for strep throat and actually see the
organisms in order to make a diagnosis. Mental disorders
cannot be seen. Mental health professionals look at
several factors when studying depression, including:

Heredity:
Do others in the family suffer from or have they had bouts
of sadness or depression?

Environment:
What was it like growing up in that family? Was it a
supportive environment that taught coping skills and
positive thinking? Or are there past issues to examine in
therapy?

Current Life Situation:
Has something gone wrong in the person's life recently?
Their employment? Have they lost a loved one? Even the
loss of a family pet can create a period of grief that affects
a person's life.

Resiliency:
There are also personality factors that come into play. It
appears that some people are just more robust than others
and less likely to be affected by mental disorder. You know
that friend you have, the one who had the really crummy
childhood?
The one who should have ended up like their peers from
the neighborhood group, with a criminal record and no
future? Yet your friend has an education, has a job,
supports others, and has a generally positive outlook on
life mental health professionals are now examining this
robustness for clues as to how it works for these people;
and therefore how they can use it to better treat others.

All of these factors and a few others must be taken into
account; very confusing stuff. For example, schizophrenia
is known to be the most hereditary of the mental disorders.
However even in identical twins that have exactly the same
genetic makeup, generally grew up in the same household
with the same parents, and (presumably) received the
same treatment growing up; it is not guaranteed that if one
twin develops schizophrenia the other will too. In fact, it's
more common for only one twin to develop it. It's this
interaction of factors that mean each and every person
must be considered as an individual case and not as one
of many with the affliction.

Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive therapy is one of the more commonly used
treatments for mental health problems such as depression.
Perhaps not surprisingly, depression and low self-esteem
tend to travel as buddies in the mental health scheme.
Putting it simply, people with low self-esteem think poorly of
themselves;

this negativity about oneself can be depressing and a
vicious cycle can be perpetuated. However, it’s not just
those suffering from depression who can benefit from
cognitive thinking or therapy. Cognitive therapy is useful for
people from all walks of life and can help you in many day-
to-day situations. Treating a person using cognitive
therapy involves uncovering and discussing how an
individual thinks and then using that knowledge to help the
person reframe their thinking, often in a more positive way.
This may mean that the person is taught how to express
thoughts and feelings to their therapist. The cognitive
therapist and patient then look at how the person thinks
and draws conclusions from the world around him/her.

Cognitive therapy can help you become a positive thinker
and help you to start thinking about your thinking. It is
important for our personal well-being and mental health
that our conclusions are not biased unfairly. Much, or even
most, of the information we get from our environment and
those around us is ambiguous and subject to some
interpretation. What we gather from ambiguous situations
greatly affects how we see the world; how we see the world
is a reflection of our inner self.

The goal of cognitive therapy is to examine how we
interpret situations and what that situation means for our
personal health. For example people suffering from
depression have a tendency to assume the worst in
situations - whether they are ambiguous, negative, or even
positive. In cognitive therapy, the therapist and patient
examine how the patient reads his/her environment through
inner self-talk. A person who has a negative view will have
negative self-talk. For example a young woman with low
self-esteem who goes out with her friends one night may
spend the entire evening negatively comparing herself to
her friends, “Janie’s hair is nicer than mine. I wish I were
thin like Andrea. I don’t think Jen really meant it when she
said she wished she had my body.”

Cognitive therapy is aimed at identifying when and where
the negative self-talk occurs and then focusing on
consciously stopping and replacing the negative self-talk
with positive or non-judgmental statements The ultimate
goal of cognitive therapy is that the patient eventually
speaks in a positive or neutral manner to themselves
without having to consciously monitor themselves.
Cognitive therapy can be and sometimes is the most
effective treatment for mental health.

Cognitive Thinking

Is it time to think about how you’re thinking?
Our mental and physical h ealth can be affected by many
things. A subtle, but important, aspect of our moods can be
how we think. Thinking about our thought processes can
be difficult, but it may allow us greater insight into not only
our thoughts, but also our emotional state and our general
level of mental wellness. Take a moment to reflect on how
you draw conclusions. Each day you probably make
countless quick decisions - but how often do you think
about how you make these decisions? How much time do
you spend on your choices? Why do you make the one
decision rather than a different one? We don’t have time to
ponder each choice indefinitely, and, interestingly,
research shows we actually do better and are happier with
the choices we make quickly. Did you know that our way of
thinking can affect our mental and physical wellness?
Changing how we think so we can improve our mental and
physical wellness is what cognitive thinking is all about.

When listening to the radio or reading popular magazines,
it’s common to get the message that using positive thinking
can make you happier and more successful. This message
is not surprising, but an important component is often left
out how to become a positive thinker. The term “think
positive” is great, but it’s somewhat unrealistic to expect
people to start doing it unless they learn how to think
positively. Here are some questions to think about as you
try to change your thought patterns to take on a more
positive spin:

To what do you attribute success in your life?
To what do you attribute failure in your life?
Most importantly: How do you talk to yourself inside
your head?

For example, do you take credit for the hard work you put
into a project or do you assume the account just came to
you because the competition was weak? If you didn’t
succeed in landing the account, do you look at other
factors that may be involved: you didn’t do your best
because you had a cold, the account has a history with
another company, or the project fell through from lack of
funding? And all the while, how are you talking to yourself
inside your head? Would you say those things aloud? If
not, why not?

Most of us find it’s easy to talk to ourselves in a negative
fashion because there’s no one else there to provide an
alternative interpretation. Cognitive thinkers, however,
police their own thoughts. They recognize how they are
talking to themselves and make a conscious effort to
change negative thoughts to positive ones. It may take
time, but stopping yourself from saying negative things
about yourself internally (and sometimes externally too)
can greatly increase your mental and physical wellness.
Each time you berate yourself it’s important to stop and
think about how you are talking to yourself inside. Actively
working to change your negative thought to a positive, or
even a neutral, statement can help to make positive
thinking a reflexive action so that eventually you won’t have
to actively stop and think – you’ll just do it naturally.n’t get
the job, an internal statement such as, “Well, I couldn’t
have done it anyhow” will only reinforce a negative attitude
in the future. It’s time to start making the effort to stop and
really think about what you are saying to yourself. If you
couldn’t have done it, then why did you make it as far as
the interview in the first place? When you catch yourself in
negative thinking, stop and make a conscious effort to
change it. For example, saying instead, “No, I think I didn’t
get the job because I don’t have enough experience yet”
can have a profound effect on your level of mental wellness
and, thus, your happiness. The more you are aware about
cognitive thinking, the more likely you are to improve your
mental outlook. Depending on your level of
self-talk, it can take as little as the knowledge that you are
doing it to help you stop thinking negatively.