Based on Bring Change 2 Mind Website, mental disorders or mental illnesses affect the most important part of the human body, the brain. People with mental disorders behave differently from the normal person and tend to show some behaviors more than it is expected for example long episodes of anxiety, happiness or agitation. The different kind of behavior depends on the kind of mental disorder an individual has. Mental disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eating disorders which has three categories namely; bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and binge-eating disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and dissociative identity disorder (DID) (Bring Change 2 Mind, n.d). These disorders have different causes which range from genetic factors, to cultural or social factors and other environmental factors. In addition, these disorders can be treated using medicines and other therapies to ensure the individuals lead a normal life (Bring Change 2 Mind, n.d). People living with mental disorders go through a lot as they deal with their condition.
Stigma is one of the things that people living mental disorders go through. Stigma is defined as the unfair or harmful belief on an individual’s reputation. People with mental illnesses are stigmatized and are thought of not being productive. On the other hand, they are associated with violent behavior and are thought to be very dangerous. Because of the beliefs that people have, they are isolated and avoided. This situation worsens their condition because they are not encouraged to seek help or treatment. Stigma causes them to lead unhealthy lives. The beliefs that people have over people with mental disorders are wrong. These people have the potential to lead very healthy lives provided they are treated. In addition, the violence that is shown in some patients is due to the symptoms of the disease and not the behavior of an individual. They should not be avoided but helped to get treatment and encouraged throughout the treatment process (Bring Change 2 Mind, n.d).
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Avoiding stigma among people living with mental disorders starts with an individual being able to understand the facts and myths that surround mental disorders. The society is full of myths about the disorders and it only takes an individual’s or group’s effort to seek the facts surrounding mental illness. Myths are on the frontline in stigmatizing the people living with the disorders. One of the common myths about mental illness is that these people will never heal or get better. The fact about this is that mental disorders can be treated using medicines and other therapies. On the other hand, these treatments enable the patients to lead normal lives just like any other person (Bring Change 2 Mind, n.d).
The other thing about mental disorders is that they affect people of all ages ranging from children to adults. A study conducted identified that one out of ten children live with mental illness. The illness includes depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Bipolar disorder develops during an individual’s late teen years or early in to adult life while most of the cases occur before a person gets to the age of 25. Mental disorders that occur during childhood include the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In addition, mental disorders affect people across all races, economic levels and gender. Eating disorders are mental illnesses mostly observed among women with the rest of the disorders cutting across both sexes (Bring Change 2 Mind, n.d).
The other important to note about living with mental disorders is that the words used when talking to or talking around people with mental disorders impact significantly to the lives of these patients. People should be able to choose their words wisely when talking. The simplest words like ‘crazy’ that are often used by people on a light note should be avoided around people with mental disorders. The use of such terms might trigger a negative emotion in them that in turn tends to be detrimental to their health. People with mental disorders are very sensitive and to avoid problems of causing damage to them, a person should be mindful with the language they use (Bring Change 2 Mind, n.d).
Depression as one of the common mental disorders that cuts across all ages. Depression is not all about feeling ‘low’ for days but involves having negative emotions and hopelessness for a number of weeks. Depression is caused by various factors which include; poor nutrition, stressful conditions, loss of someone like a close relative, having difficult relationships with people and other physical factors can contribute to depression. These causes are expressed in different ways depending on an individual. Some people may start abusing drugs and taking alcohol as a way to get rid of the situation or the problem they are experiencing. On the other hand, some people indulge in other aggressive and dangerous behavior like involvement in sexual activities with different partners. Depressive symptoms can also be expressed through loss of appetite, excess appetite and lack of sleep. These symptoms tend to look like those of other mental disorders making depression a difficult illness to diagnose (Bring Change 2 Mind, n.d).
People with depression tend to have the following symptoms; they present with feelings of sadness and anxiety, some feel unworthy, guilty and helpless, they also tend to lose interest in doing things that excite them like hobbies, some contemplate suicide, in ability to sleep known as insomnia or some might have excessive sleep, present with symptoms that do not go away even after treatment like headaches and digestive disorders, difficulty in remembering activities and events. They also tend to get very tired without engaging in any activity. These symptoms can also be related to the symptoms presented in the other diseases. For proper diagnosis of depression, a physician needs close and careful attention towards the patient.
Bring Change 2 Mind is a website that has set out to create awareness about mental disorders. It is main aim is to reduce discrimination and stigmatization among people living with mental disorders. It gives insight in to the different mental disorders and how to live with people diagnosed with mental illness. This is a website that is well organized because it is content is well arranged and hence easily accessible. The website has clearly defined it is goals and objectives. A person interested in knowing what it deals with can easily understand their purpose when he or she visits the website. The website also gives brief summaries on the different mental disorders. The descriptions are well arranged and easily accessible. Furthermore, the website offers an opportunity to individuals who might be interested in helping people living with mental disorders in one way or another. I believe this is a good channel of reaching the larger population and informing them about mental illnesses and how to cope with people living with mental disorders.
In conclusion, living with a mental disorder presents with different challenges like stigma and discrimination. Knowing how to deal with the people living with these disorders is a breakthrough to reducing the stigma and other challenges in the society. People should take up the initiative of reducing this stigma so that the patients are encouraged to seek treatment for healthier lives. The treatments include medical and other psychological therapies. Bring Change 2 Mind website is an eye opener to every person.
Reference
Bring Change 2 Mind (n.d). Retrieved November 26, 2016 from BringChange2Mind.org
