Mental Illness

[moiflan]

Can anyone explain to me about mental illnesses?I have recently heard of an old friend who has been sectioned for six years now.How many patients are in full time institutions?Is it physiological or brought on by stress? Is one pre disposed to mental illness by way of our genes?I know another person who was diagnosed as bi polar but refuses to take medication preferring to have a drink.Surely if the symptoms are so unnerving to both himself and his family he would do anything to make him feel better?Would be grateful for any insights.Thanks.

[islasmum]

I once knew a mother and daughter who both had manic depression - nowadays is that bi-polar? I get the feeling that quite a lot of mental illnesses can be inherited, and will be interested to read the other posts on this thread.

[karenmac60]

The problem with medication is that it doesn't always make the person 'feel better'. It may alleviate the symptoms of their illness, but it causes a whole other way of feeling that is not normal - so they stop. They are also more used to feeling the strangeness of their illness than the doped up feeling of being medicated. And when they are off their meds they are not thinking straight, so they don't want to be medicated.

[BagPussAA]

There are so many different mental illnesses that it would take quite a long time you explain them to you. They vary in severity and impact on both the patient and their life and family. Someone with bi-polar for example, that you mention in your question, would probably not need to be sectioned and could be treated as an out patient with medications and therapy. The medications that treat many mental illnesses can be very strong and can make the patient feel like they are not themselves. They can make them feel like they are drowsy, lethargic and not really very nice so some patients prefer not to take them. They are quite prefer the illness to the way the meds make them feel.
This comes from personal experience as I am bi-polar and so is my mother. She only takes the meds until she feels better then stops which means that she starts to get bad again which starts the whole cycle again. When I first started taking the meds, I hated them and preferred how the illness made me feel as I felt more real but now that I have got the right combination of drugs and therapy, I am much happier.

[ganesh]

Good point BP,those who I know who have taken ant-depressants have come off them as they give them an 'artificial'feeling of happiness and they still feel 'depressed' deep down.I think I know what they mean,same with a lot of drugs I suppose,even when you have a problem which needs painkillers,you are still 'aware' of the problem sometimes.I think we are genetically pre-disposed to depression as well.

[Buenchico]

I can't find a figure for the number of in-patients in psychiatric hospitals at any one time but "in 2009/10, there were more than 45,755 admissions or detentions made under the Mental Health Act".
Source:
http://www.mentalheal....uk/psychiatric_wards
. . . and
"One in four people in the UK has a mental health problem at some point"
as well as
"Every year in the UK, more than 250,000 people are admitted to psychiatric hospitals"
Source:
http://www.nhs.uk/Con...ges/Introduction.aspx

See also here:
http://www.nhs.uk/con...ges/Introduction.aspx
and here:
http://www.nhs.uk/Con...ges/Introduction.aspx
(Click through 'Symptoms', 'Causes', etc, for both links)

Chris

[ganesh]

I always think that the brain is just another part of your body that goes wrong occasionally,and we shouldn't have this big difference between 'mental' and 'physical' problems or think that one is somehow less real than the other..We can be treated medically for both and sometimes we can cure ourselves, or they can get better in time by themselves.

[ummmm]

I used to work in a psychiatric hospital. Some patients become institutionalised very very quickly.

Mental health is such a wide spectrum. Some people suffer because of what life throws at them. Others because they are wired up a little bit wrong.

One day, hopefully, there will be no stigma attached to it.

[rowanwitch]

I've suffered severe bouts of depression since my early teens..I am open about it and try to use my experiences to reassure others...i.e it is possible to feel 'normal a lot of the time' hassle your GP til you find pills that suit you...this can take a while months maybe even a year or so... When you feel like hurting yourself or worse...get help straight away don't drink alcohol, it often makes it worse, And I can understand why some people take themselves of medication....they feel better so think they don't need them....they haven't got the connection that they only feel better because they have taken them

[Old_Geezer]

No expert but I would expect the causes of mental illness to be many and varied.

Since it is a mental illness being discussed, why would you assume the individual affected has the desire or ability to do what you consider to be the rational thing ? By definition the thoughts & feelings are exactly that which is having problems. Besides there may be side effects in the case you refer to which gives the individual reason not to want to be medicated.

[lcg]

genetic predisposition and environmental factors cause mental health problems - i.e. nature and nurture. all of your questions can be answered if you google the individual parts, and there simply isn't enough room here to 'tell' you about them. after working in mental health for 20 years, i am still learning and see something new every day.

your friend's circumstances will be very individual and unfortunately not unusual - the longest i have known a person to be sectioned for is 27 years...but there has to be good justification for this (that they are a risk to themselves, others and/or cannot be treated another way - at home, for example or required treatment that has to be monitored in an inpatient setting) and these reasons are examined closely by the mental health act requirements at regular intervals to justify continued detention and medical intervention.

you would have to become more involved with your friend if you want to help - consent needs to be gained for information to be shared, families, friend and carers are valuable assets in the recovery of someone who has been so unwell for this period of time...but you may have to face the fact that even with medication, supervision and a lot of support that your friend may never be free of symptoms and cannot be managed in a less restrictive environment - or may be subject to forensic mental health sections (i.e. has been sentenced by a court to remain in hospital until he is deemed well enough and the sentence has expired).

mental health is fascinating and some of the research and publications are riveting to read - for example...if a mother uses drugs during labour, babies are more susceptible to alcohol and substance misuse in later life / forms of dysfunctional communication between parents and developing children are shown to cause schizophrenia (double-bind) / if you have a first rank relative with schizophrenia you have increased chances of developing it yourself (i.e. identical twins 65%...non-identical 40%...parents 20%...siblings 12%...etc.). this is just some of the stuff i have read in the past which sticks in my mind, but there is oodles more out there for you to find.

you could read this stuff all day every day for the rest of your life and not know everything about your friend or the field of mental health, but it is interesting, rewarding and humbling to be around...and i think that understanding mental health and illness makes people more tolerant, less judgemental and better people all round.

i wish you the best of luck and why not try to contact your friend and support him? just make sure you have boundaries to stick to and are prepared to give a certain amount of your time, money and/or efforts, but make sure that you stay ok and have sufficient resources (physically, emotionally and financially). however, do not and never involve yourself in a relationship that costs you too much in terms of your own mental health and wellbeing as you have to make sure that you are ok in order to be able to support others. take care x

[VHG]

As has been said, "mental illness" can cover a whole range of things.

Anorexia is a mental illness, as is often depression, also panic attacks and anxiety are all forms of mental illness.

It could be said being scared of something like flying or snakes is a mental illness.

So a mental illness is seeing the world "not quite right". A person who has anorexia is seeing themselves as fat or ugly, a person who is depresed may see the world in a totally negative way.

Many people live in society with a mental illness and are no danger to anyone.

But there are some mental illness that are so bad that the person is a danger to themselves or society.

A person with a mental illness may want to kill themselves, or maybe they get "messages" in their head to kill other people.

The ex boxer Frank Bruno was sectioned because it was felt by friends he was a danger to himself. He seems a lot better now.

I do have some experience of mental illness as I have suffered from depression most of my adult life, and have contemplated suicide a few times.

[RATTER15]

I work in a severe dementia unit, we hold several people against their will, this is for there own safety and for the safety of others. These people are detained under the "Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and Mental Capacity Act 2005"

These people are usually suffering from age or alcohol induced dementia.

[moiflan]

I want to thank everyone who took the time and trouble to help me understand this condition.Your sensitive and enlightening replies have helped me already.I will print out the links sent to me and take on board your advice.I would especially like to thank those of you who have been brave enough to share your experiences.In truth I feel I struggle to keep it all together in difficult circumstances,and tho normally I would say I could offer my old friend support and I will try,because it is encumbent upon me to do so,as one human to another,it freaks me out in a way as I don't know what to expect and let's face it, it's a thin line between coping and "not coping".As Deepak Chopra says"Every cell in your body is eavesdropping on your internal dialogue"so we need to think positive ,uplifting thoughts!Thanks again.

[andy-hughes]

Little to add to the comprehensive responses listed thus far.

Interestingly, the normally 'behind closed doors' hearing for a patient requesting release from Broadmoor is to be carried out in public at the patient's request. The problem is, the symptoms of his illness manifest themselves in his belief that the health authority is in collusion to keep him locked up - a perfect Catch 22 situation if ever there was one.

As advised, mental health conditions are many and varied, not helped by the fact that different conditions can exhibit similar symptoms, making diagnosis and treatment even more tricky in this inexact science.

Fortunately, understanding continues to gorw and expand, and hopefully, the social stigma of mental illness will eventually be eliminated, which has to be good for all concerned.