About Mental Emotional Health

Explore mental and emotional health issues including mood disorders, depression, anxiety and anger problems. We’ll also keep up with the latest scientific research on developments related to mental health. Stress, physical illnesses and pain can trigger negative feelings and despair but we’ll focus on how to cope through those difficult times.

 

 

Eating disorders afflict millions of people in the United States. Thousands of these individuals will die from them each year. It may seem to be a funny obession when we hear kids talk about “losing ALL my weight” or “eating like a bird”, etc. Like any other addiction, eating disorders multiply like mushrooms in the secrecy of the dark. Those places can be in the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the kitchen after everyone else has gone to bed, etc.

 

Parents must be alert to the first warning signs of any eating disorder. Here are the four eating disorders that we are going to be discussing:

 

Anorexia,

Bulimia,

Binge Eating Disorder,

Compulsive Overeating.

 

I am not going to go into detail on any of these in this particular blog because there is far too much to discuss. This initial information is general in nature but vital for your bank of information.

 

You may be a parent who is seeing the signs of one of these eating disorders in your daughter. Girls are more vulernable to the eating disorders but an increasing amount of men are joining their ranks currently.

 

You may be a friend who knows someone at the office or just on a friend basis who has one of these secret eating problems. There is a lot of information to be had and dependent on how severe or how advanced the disorder is, there is help. Sometimes with encouragement and information an individual can turn his or her situation around. More times than not, however, professional help is required. There are facilities where help is available and these eating disorders can be reversed. Lives can be saved, but time’s a-wasting so let’s talk.

 

Anorexia and Bulimia are classified as starvation eating disorders. Binge Eating Disorder and Compulsive Overeating are referred to as excessive eating disorders. Studies have shown that both groups of individuals have an emotional link that is missing. It may be missing from childhood or from the teen years. For girls, the most influential parent figure is a dad. Many times there was an excessive amount of criticism and ridicule from a dad that left a girl feeling unloved, not-good-enough, and dispondent. Unfortunately, this lack of emotional acceptance followed this dear girl as she slipped into further and further into eating disorders.

 

Attention Deficit Disorder

Attention Deficit Disorder is a misfiring of the executive functions of the brain. These executive functions of the brain control inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. These high-order, self-controlling cognitive functions are a guide to an individual’s overall thoughts, emotions, and actions.

 

Attention Deficit Disorder is sometimes referred to as Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). AD/HD has been suspected as a contributing factor when a child, teen or even an adult experiences problems with learning, self-control and addictions, or independent

Functioning in social interaction environments.

 

The America’s Journal of Public Health”, shows that 17% of white boys in one particular region were given medication for ADD while at school. Different rates were 9% for African-American young men, 7% for white young ladies, and 3% for African-American young ladies.

There are two major types of ADD. They are ADD with hyperactivity and ADD without hyperactivity. ADD without hyperactivity must meet six of the following:

 

Fails frequently to give close attention to details;

Difficulty sustaining attention in tasks;

Appears not to listen;

Fails to follow instructions;

Fails to finish work;

Loses school assignments, books, tools, etc.;

Is easily distracted;

Forgets about daily activities, tasks to be accomplished.

 

ADD with Hyperactivity must meet six of the following

 

Fidgety in a squirmy sense;

Runs or climbs excessively;

“On the go” or acting as if “driven by a motor”;

Talks excessively and blurts out comments and challenges;

Difficulty waiting their turn;

Interrupts or intrudes on others.

 

There has been confusion and controversy from some mental health professionals when an assumption is made that everyone diagnosed with ADD has a mysterious, irreversible brain defect. The best ally that a parent can have who is raising a child with AD/HD, is a mental health professional who understands the specifics of this condition and gives hope in management of the disorder.

 

ADD is not a singular “disease”, but rather a collection of behaviors or “symptoms” caused by a wide range of problems which may have their origin from a variety of places or because of a variety of social environment nuances.

 

If you have a child who you believe has ADD or if you, yourself have symptoms of ADD, avail yourself of information every time you can. Search the internet, call a health care professonal and discuss your concerns. Information is power. Power propels you to solutions.

 

Anti-Social Behavior

Anti-social behaviour is that lacking in judgement and consideration for others, ranging from careless negligence to deliberately damaging activity or vandalism. Anti-social behaviour has a great range of severity. Depression can be so minor that it is hardly recognizable. Then depression can be so severe that an individual is unable to function in any degree in society, even to limiting them from holding down a job.

 

Anti-social behaviour or anti-social disorder is behaving in a manner that violates the social or legal norms of society. This individual does things that are hurtful to others and says things that are mean and cutting. They actually may not have the ability to control their actions or their words and if they do have the ability to control it, they do not comprehend the reason to control it.

 

The manner in which they process reality and good and bad is so far to the left of normal that bad may appear to be OK and good is maybe OK also. Antisocial behaviour is based, many times, on a dysfunctionalist point of view.

 

Antisocial behaviour can be explained as resulting from reactions to frustration. These frustrations could be events and conditions of work which can induce anger and frustration accompanied by antisocial acts such as aggression, sabotage, theft and the withholding of output.

 

Antisocial behaviour can include arson, blackmail, bribery, discrimination, espionage, extortion, fraud, interpersonal violence, kickbacks, excessive lawsuits, lying, sabotage, sexual harassment, theft, violations of confidentiality and whistle-blowing.

 

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is a manifestation of anxiety disorder that causes the sufferer to experience high anxiety or panic attacks when attempting to carry out normal tasks away from a person of safety or a place of safety.The clinical meaning of agoraphobia is a dread of circumstances or spots "from which departure may be troublesome or in which help may not be accessible in the occasion"of a panic attack.

 

The beginnings of Agoraphobia may be after a panic attack in an automobile on a crowded highway or in a department store 3 days before Christmas. An individual can experience such a sudden panic attack with no “apparent” rhyme or reason that they make a visit to the emergency room believing they have had a heart attack.

 

The root cause of any number of mild or severe anxiety disorders lies in the Amygdala. The Amygdala is a small organ in the subconscious brain responsible for many emotional decisions icluding the anxiety response. The Amygdala becomes "reset" when life conditions cause it to discharge restless reactions over and again. Because of the continual and repeated anxiety reponses, this small gland learns to become inappropriately anxious.

 

Many have described Agoraphobia as the fear of open spaces. This definition is incorrect. Agoraphobia is ANY anxiety reaction which results from an individual’s geographic location when it is other than the safety of home, or some other familiar place.

 

Avoidance of being away from that safe place may begin and end with only one situation, or it might escalate until a person is completely homebound. Even being homebound is not the answer because they also may have extreme difficulty being alone. Then again, a few people with agoraphobia can go into phobic circumstances as long as somebody is with them.

 

Levels of Mental Health

When I first started writing on this series, I was thinking of mental health vs. mental sickness. To me, health is feeling good, strong, and energetic. The other side to that is sickness. However, I’m finding out that everything that has to do with health or sickness is referred to as “health”. He has “bad health.” She has “good health.” It’s all referred to as health. Also, those with mental sickness may think that they have good health because they’ve never known anything else so it is normal to them.

 

Next on this blog, I’m going to take various mental illnesses or mental conditions and explain them and maybe contrast them to good mental health vs. poor mental health.

 

There are many conditions and levels of health and sickness. I would think that everyone would like to feel strong and healthy rather than sickly and weak. As you read about these conditions, and perhaps even have experienced some of them, make a decision what level of health you want.

 

Mental and Emotional, What?

Health, Brother and Sister, it’s Health!!! I know that it seems that there is more sickness that health today but I want to show you that there is a way to have mental and emotional health. So in order to understand what mental and emotional health is, I believe we need to look at some mental and emotional disorders.

So since I believe that we need to look at these disorders, I did a google search and found a website with 46 Emotional and Mental Disorders. WOW!! sounds like we are going to be together for quite awhile if we’re going to discuss all those. I am going to list a few of these below and if I do not discuss one of the disorders that you are interested in, you can send me a comment asking to discuss it.

 

Agoraphobia

Antisocial Behavior

Attention Deficit Disorder

Explosive Behavior

Grief and Loss

Sleepwalking

Obsession and Compulsion

Panic Attacks

Paranoia

 

These are going to be some of the disorders that we are going to discuss. Let’s look a bit more at health. People, children, teen, and adults, with good stable emotional health are in control of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. included in this behavior is an individual feeling good about themselves and having good relationships with peers, with co-workers and people who have even hurt them. They manage problems by keeping them in perspective.

 

A little side bar — people with emotional health do have emotional problems or illness at times. However, emotionally health people keep their focus on coming out the other side.

 

Don’t Be So Emotional!

I bet you’re smiling now, right? I’m sure you heard this from a co-worker, your husband, your boyfriend or whoever else is close to you. For some reason people think that we are to be stoical and a little bit happy or a little bit sad or a little bit anger.

 

Guess what? I’m giving you a lightbulb moment — “GET EMOTIONAL!” If someone hurt you or you were disappointed, cry, cry hard. You will feel so much better afterwards. Cry is a passage to emotional health.

 

Who has hurt you in the past? Have you ever cried about it? I hope so because healing has taken place. Today, are you sad? Did someone offend you? Did your sister or brother wrongly accuse and thus reject you? If you covered it up and said, “Oh, it’s ok, I’ll just forget it,” then your emotions are bruised and not as healthy as they could be.

 

“Be emotional!” This goes for men and women alike and I can just see you men out there say, “No way, I’m the man. I wouldn’t cry for anything or get emotional. That’s the very thing I tell my wife not to do.” Well, maybe she’s been right all along.

 

So what is emotional health? “…the ability to express all emotions appropriately.” If we break the word down, it is “e-motion”, implies motion or change. Emotional health is not simply the lack of emotional dysregulation or psychiatric disorders. Emotional health is not just the absence of negative emotions.

 

We are dialoging about mental and emotional health here but health is a compartmental issue. "Ideal wellbeing is characterized as a parity of physical, enthusiastic, social, otherworldly, and scholarly wellbeing." All of these aspects have a bearing on the whole man or the whole woman.

 

Be emotional!

Why Define Mental Health?

Good health is relative. So can mental health be relative.It is comparative with what you have encountered in your life.

 

You may believe that you are solid since you feel great as you've each felt.

 

Much the same as you believed that trees were a glob of green before you got glasses.

 

What a stun when you previously put on glasses and saw singular leaves.

 

I’m not suggesting that you are mentally sick….not at all. However, if there is something better, don’t you want to experience it? I, personnally want to be as healthy as possible, physically and mentally. With that said, let’s define mental health then you will know what it is NOT, as well as what it is.

 

The definition of Princeton University for “mental health” is “the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment.” The Connecticut Department of Public Health says that mental health is “the capacity of an individual to form harmonious relations with his or her social and physical environment, and to achieve a balanced satisfaction of his or her own drives.”

 

Mental prosperity is what individuals resemble at themselves, their lives, and the others in their lives; survey their challenges and issues; and examine choices.This includes handling stress, relating to other people, and making decisions.” This is how Dorene Philpot, Attorney at Law, defines mental health. Wikipedia says, “Mental health, mental hygiene and mental wellness are all terms used to describe the absence of mental illness. By this definition, mental status has two prospects: either wellbeing or sickness."

 

Wow, that’s black and white enough! Are you beginning to doubt the extent of your mental health? Well, everyone has the right to be living in a state of exuberant health. If your mental health state is not the best, smile, because it can be the best.

 

What Is “Mental”?

Has anyone said to you recent, “Are you mental, or what?” They were probably referring to some of your crazy behavior. I looked up a definition of “mental” and it was not defined alone. Either it is mental health or mental disorder, mental math or mental impairment, mental illness or mental health professionals…yes, they’ve got a doctor for the “mental” situation.

 

However, mental refers to an individual’s cognitive and emotional capabilities. Now isn’t that funny! I thought that I was going to be writing about 2 different things “Mental Health” and “Emotional Health” It looks like they are tied very closely together. So is “mental” your mind or your brain or is it more of a certain state of being?

 

Well, we will be having a dialog on all the ins and outs of the topic of Mental and Emotional Health and the illnesses connected with these two concepts. We’re not just talking about “being mental” or “being non-mental.” We’re talking about Mental Health or Mental Sickness.

Then there is “Emotional Health”. There again, “emotional” is NOT defined. Emotional health, illness, intelligence, etc. is defined. Emotions are feelings. They may be happy feelings or sad feelings, peace feelings or feelings of fear. All are emotions and all are OK. Sometimes we need to feel the emotion of anger. Tomorrow we may need to feel the emotion of joy. We need all the emotions to be whole healthy people.

 

Mental health problems can be the outcome of many different kinds of experiences such as chronic illness and experiences that undermine an individual’s self confidence. So, now that we have this “baby on the road”, let’s start talking.

All statements made on this website are for informational and educational purposes only.  We believe all statements are factual.  However, they are the individual experiences of each author(s) and are not warranted.  All sources are referenced when possible.  This information is not intended to treat or diagnose any disease or illness – It is simply mothers sharing what treatments worked or didn’t work to help their child’s autism.  We believe all children with autism are unique individuals and should be treated as such.  Therefore, no two children will respond to the same treatments the same way.  All health concerns including, but not limited to, starting or stopping any medication or supplementation should be addressed with a doctor or other appropriate health professional.