When Your Loved One Has a Mental Illness

By Olabisi Ihenyen

The book addresses the issue of ignorance and the myth surrounding mental disorders. It also tries to enlighten the public about the early identification of symptoms and signs of mental disorders.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483562681

Book preview

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INTRODUCTION

Mental illness

The problems of mental illnesses are always talked about in the news all over the world. We usually hear about people who have committed suicide, criminal offences or homicide. There are also cases of the mentally ill, who for the reason of insanity can neither write a will which will be tenable, nor show up in court for a criminal offence that otherwise should necessitate court proceedings and sanctions.

There are some cases of individuals who develop a psychiatric illness after experiencing a catastrophe in life, for example, after being shot and robbed in an armed-robbery attack, or having lost a huge sum of financial investment. It could also result from a failure of a major examination in someone’s academic pursuit.

Some other people may also become mentally ill as a result of excessive and regular consumption of alcohol, indian hemp or other hard drugs that are referred to as illegal substances.

The media is also awash with frightening cases of people who by the way of terrorism, kill several thousands of people like the case of the Oklahoma bombing in 1996 or the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigerian. Equally there are reports of women becoming mentally disturbed during pregnancy, during the delivery of their babies, or after giving birth to a child.

The list is endless, but it should be noted that anybody, anywhere in the world can be afflicted by a mental illness. As a WHO research revealed, 25% of all inhabitants of the world would have a mental illness at one point or the other in their life time, irrespective of race, age, creed or colour.

A mental illness is feared greatly, compared with other disease conditions such as diabetes, stroke, HIV, cancer and asthma. Most people have also been anxious about coping, if any of their loved ones becomes afflicted by a mental illness.

Traditionally we all have pre-conceived beliefs and ideas about mental illnesses which range from causation by drunkenness and drug abuse to evil spirits or bewitchment. Many people are also of the belief that early life experiences can lead to an adult developing a mental illness.

Some of these traditional beliefs are not exactly correct, but they may influence the ways in which people react, when they are confronted with the issues of mental illnesses. For a family, the news of a loved one having a mental breakdown may disorganise the family because of the fear of the unknown as to whether the patient will ever recover or of the stigma attached to the occurrence of a mental illness will be too much for them to bear.

As a result of this, the family may feel a little ashamed of the situation and decide to ensure that the public is not made aware of their suffering. Members of such families should be enlightened about dealing with the disaster, and it is important for them to receive help such as counselling, moral support and finance where necessary.

It is hoped that all these issues as contained in this book, will be studied and discussed, so that professional ideas will be made available when the need arises. It is necessary for us to know that mental illnesses could occur at any time or stage in the life of a human being.

Hence when stress levels are high, one can be afflicted in one way or the other. It could be you, your close relatives or other loved ones.

The intention of this book is to provide information and knowledge about what a mental illness is and what necessary steps a family needs to take when in distress of caring for the mentally ill.

The good news is that the outlook for persons with mental illnesses is much better today than it was 15 to 20 years ago. Technology has over the years been able to complement the care and management of the mentally ill. Modern drugs that have fewer side effects have been produced.

Improvements have continued in all areas of research from the causes to the treatments and preventions.

A mentally ill person unkempt, wandering aimlessly around the town and talking to himself.

Aperson is said to have a healthy body if he/she has a good physical and mental health, has an interest in the world around him/her and a pleasant ability to develop socially.

Hence good health is not just the absence of a physical illness in the person, but an existence of the harmony between physical, psychological, financial, spiritual and social well-being. It is a status in which the state of the mind and the state of the body complement each other.

In addition, it is worthy to note that a healthy mind also has interests in other people and other things and is not preoccupied with itself.

When an individual complains of vague pains and of being uncomfortable, in the absence of any detectable organic pathology, a doctor has to pay attention to the thoughts on the individual’s mind. However, the doctor can only do so if he/she (the doctor) is able to highlight the worries or distressing factors affecting the individual.

In some cultures, whenever the doctor is able to indicate that he/she knows about witches, demons and the prevailing beliefs concerning sickness and death, it is then the patient is sufficiently put at ease.

The unity of mind and body is reflected throughout the world in the current trend to bring physical and psychological medicine together, for example, fear is a psychological feeling, but it can be seen as a blessing and a curse to human existence. Fear makes an individual to fight, flee or develop solutions to a dangerous situation. It also makes a man do strange things or carry out unimaginable exploits. Fear can also lead to anxiety with associated emotional or psychiatric problems.

Palpitations may arise out of anxiety in a patient, and the patient then fears he/she has a serious heart condition. An individual who has a migraine headache or a tension headache could also out of fear believe that he/she has a brain tumour.

Fear in itself can be contagious, and this is reflected in certain group panic reactions, which also may quickly be converted into aggression. For example, a nurse’s fear of an overactive patient is quickly observed by the patient thereby increasing the patient’s fear and anxiety.

Sometimes, some of the indications of illnesses are relatively ambiguous: especially particular forms of infections, swellings or injuries to the bones or soft tissues that may give rise to signs and symptoms as those seen in mental illnesses, such as feeling of distress, poor sleep, feeling of heat in the head, feeling of lump in the throat, and anxiety.

Relatives of a patient often share the patient’s belief that he/she is a victim of witchcraft or a spiritual attack, even though they still regard the excited and distressed behaviour as abnormal.

The effect of early life experiences goes a long way in influencing the outcome in individual characters and behaviours. Maternal deprivation, for example, which implies there are certain events that occur in the early life of the individual can bring about mental disorders in adult life.

The immediate reaction of acute distress seen in many young children may be partly due to a disruption in bonding with their mothers. This is the type that is commonly seen in delinquent behaviour among adolescents.

Delinquency can also be associated with conflict, family discord and broken homes in later childhood and is more of a consequence of distorted family relationships.

The roles of the parents are equally crucial in the cause of a mental illness in an individual. Some parents may be very "immature’’ in their parental role. This can be seen in the case of parental drunkenness, the inability to meet financial demands, promiscuity, and constant misunderstandings within the family.

There are other forms of social pathology that have negative consequences in the children’s early years. The result is that such young adults have invariably lacked not only the role model function expected of their parents but have also lacked security and affection, and these tend to undermine their self-confidence.

This may make it difficult for such a person to achieve a sense of personal and sexual identity when he or she reaches adolescence.

In many cultures, an individual’s work and earnings are major factors in determining his/her social status and self-esteem. It is demoralizing for young school-leavers entering adult life to discover that there are no jobs for them, as unemployment makes them feel that their community has no place for them.

In such a situation, the adverse effect of idleness in a youth is aggravated, especially when he/she watches programmes and commercials on television that show affluent people who are able to enjoy material comfort unattainable by the unemployed.

Among older people, unemployment can bring about a sense of defeat, hopelessness and apathy, whereas among the youth, these feelings are combined with a sense of injustice and with mounting anger which may eventually be expressed in outbreaks of mob violence.

Law enforcement agents and politicians apparently, have failed to recognize that the experience of prolonged unemployment has attitudinal and behavioural consequences such as hooliganism which have to be taken into account as well as other economic factors.

TERMINOLOGIES

A number of terms that are used in mental health are:

Mental Health

This describes the capacity of individuals within groups and the society to interact with one another in ways that promote wellbeing, use of mental abilities and achievement of individual goals within the frame work of the society.

We all need to support one another emotionally to make the world a better place in our effort to achieve a good mental health

A Mental Disorder

It is a diagnosable illness that significantly interferes with an individual’s emotional, social and behavioural capabilities. Mental illnesses are of different types and severity; some of the major ones recognized are:

•    Mood disorders

•    Anxiety

•    Hard drug abuse

•    Schizophrenia

•    Dementia

•    Personality Disorders

Mental Health Literacy

This implies the knowledge and understanding of mental disorders which aid their recognition, management and prevention. It also includes the ability to recognize specific disorders and knowing how to seek mental health information.

It also involves the knowledge of the risk factors causing mental illnesses as well as the ability to seek