1. What is Health

2. Health Past = absence of disease or illness
Today = “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
“health is not just a state, but also a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living”

4. Leading cause of death in US for ages 12-19

5. What is Mental Illness
A group of mental disorders that causes severe disturbances in thinking, feeling and relating. People with a mental illness often have difficulty dealing with daily life.
Changes in thinking, mood, behavior
Decreases ability to function
Leads to:
Pain; disability; injury; loss of freedom; death

6. Mental Illness What causes mental illnesses?
Changes or abnormalities in the brain’s chemistry
General medical factors
Psychological scars/emotional trauma
Heredity
Who can get a mental illness?
Occurs in all age groups, ethnicities, and religions
Males and Females
Research underway to learn more about the reasons people develop mental illness

7. Mental Illness Facts
More than half of all chronic mental illnesses start by age 14
Three-fourths of all chronic mental illnesses start by age 24
(National Comorbidity Survey Replication, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, 2005)
Many cases of mental illness start with easy-to-miss symptoms, such as mild anxiety or shyness
In most cases, these symptoms will ease over time and will not interfere with a person’s life
But sometimes these mild symptoms can progress into severe depression, phobias and clinical anxiety

8. Reasons for delay in seeking treatment:
Lack of knowledge
Lack of medical insurance
Stigma – afraid of what others will think
Early intervention leads to a higher chance of recovery, but stigma delays treatment

9. Depression
Depression strikes millions of Americans each year, with less than half receiving treatment.
It is normal to feel blue or depressed in response to experiences such as the loss of something or someone of great value, divorce etc.
Major depressive disorder is a form of chronic mood disorder that involves extreme and persistent sadness, despair, and hopelessness.

10. Depression significant weight loss or weight gain.
Other symptoms include:
significant weight loss or weight gain.
inability to find joy in pleasure-giving activities.
preoccupied with failures, over concern with what others think.
diminished or increased appetite.
fatigue and loss of energy, slow reactions.
sleep too much or too little, insomnia.
loss of interest in close interactions with others.
withdrawal from friends and family.
feeling agitated, hopeless, or worthless.
recurring thoughts that life isn't worth living, thoughts of death or suicide.
difficulty concentrating.

11. Depression Facts and fallacies of depression.
True depression is not a natural reaction to crisis and loss.
People will not snap out of depression by using a little willpower.
Frequent crying is not a hallmark of depression.
Depression is not "all in the mind."
It is not true that only in-depth psychotherapy can cure clinical depression.
Two-thirds of all people suffering from depression are women.
Biological theory states hormonal fluctuation in women as the reason.
Women may be under more stress than men.

12. Depression
There are several different types of therapy used to treat depression.
Cognitive therapy aims to help patients look at life rationally.
Interpersonal therapy helps correct relationship problems.
Antidepressant drugs relieve symptoms in nearly 80% of chronic depressives.
There are many types of antidepressants available, care should be taken to fully explore the need for their use and their potential side effects before accepting a prescription. Be sure to ask your physician about the medication.
Electroconvulsive therapy is a lesser-used form of treatment.

13. Anxiety disorders
Anxiety disorders affect between 20 and 30 million people. They are plagued by persistent feelings of threat and anxiety about everyday problems of living. They include:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder involves excessive worry and anxiety that interferes with normal living.
Phobias are deep persistent fears of objects, activities, or situations.
Panic Disorder are sudden onsets of disabling terror suddenly and repeatedly without warning.

14. Other types of Mental Illness
Post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) affect people after they experience severe traumas
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) – A person is plagued by constant thoughts or fears that cause them to perform certain rituals or routines. The disturbing thoughts are called obsessions, and the rituals are called obsessions.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) – a type of depression known as the winter blues, associated with reduced exposure to sunlight
treated with light therapy, stress management, sleep restriction, medication, and psychotherapy.

15. Schizophrenia Characterized by:
the alteration of senses
the inability to sort out incoming stimuli and to make appropriate responses
an altered sense of self
radical changes in emotions, movements, and behaviors.
Victims of this disease may not be able to function in society .
It is treatable, but not curable.
Treatments include hospitalization, medication, and supportive therapy.

16. Bipolar Disorder
An illness that causes a person’s mood to swing from “high” and/or irritable (mania) to sad and hopeless (depression), sometimes with periods of normalcy in between
The symptoms for the depressed state in someone with Bipolar Disorder are the same as those in someone who has depression.
Symptoms for mania:
Excessive activity, restlessness, racing thoughts and rapid talking
Denial that anything is wrong
Uncharacteristically poor judgment
Decreased need for sleep
Unrealistic beliefs in one’s own powers or abilities
Easily irritated or distracted
Ongoing period of behavior that is different from usual, such as dressing or acting differently
Extreme high feelings – person is on top of the world and even bad news and tragic events can’t change those feelings