A quick quide to mental health
Anxiety Disorders: There are a number of different anxiety disorders, each with specific symptoms. However, it’s generally the case that an individual feels so anxious and uncomfortable that they start to avoid whatever it is that causes these feelings. Phobias fall within this category.
Depression: Symptoms include difficulties with sleeping, change in appetite, a loss of interest, feelings of guilt and thoughts of death and suicide.
Manic Depression: Also known as bipolar disorder, and is characterised by extreme mood changes.
Eating Disorders: This category includes anorexia nervosa, where sufferers eat very little because they think that they are too fat, and bulimia nervosa, the symptoms of which include binge eating, vomiting and the taking of laxatives.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Individuals may have flashbacks or keep thinking or dreaming about a disturbing event they have experienced such as an accident.
Personality Disorders: These relate to the way an individual acts and behaves . There are various diagnoses including paranoid personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder.
Schizophrenia:
Individuals may lose touch with reality and see or hear things, such as
voices.
Treatment available for mental health disorders
Medication: depends on the diagnosis but examples include anti-depressants such as Prozac, tranquillisers to help reduce anxiety, or anti-psychotic medication if an individual is suffering from schizophrenia or manic depression.
Talking
Treatments/Psychological Therapy: these include
psychotherapy or
counselling. Generally an individual will meet with a qualified mental
health professional to talk about their difficulties and come up with
strategies for dealing with them.
Complementary Therapies: there are many different types. Popular ones include aromatherapy, reflexology, and hypnotherapy.
Self-Help:
there is a wealth of self-help advice available. Numerous
books have been published, support groups formed, and online links
developed via the internet.
Treatment
is administered in a variety of settings, such as hospitals and health
centres, and by professionals who possess different qualifications.
These include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers,
counsellors, mental health nurses, and occupational therapists.
Community
mental health teams (CMHTs), which provide services in the community,
are multi-disciplinary and have a wide array of staff attached to them.
In addition, in some areas specific teams have been set up. These
include assertive outreach teams which work with people who have a
severe mental illness and who are reluctant to engage with services,
and crisis resolution teams that can be contacted at any time of day if
someone needs their help.
Detention under the Mental Health Act 1983
Most
people with mental health problems who receive treatment in hospital
are there on a voluntary basis. However, around 15 per cent are not and
have been detained under a section of the Mental Health Act 1983. This
is also known as “being sectioned”. In order for a
person to be
detained, three people must agree that this is necessary –
two doctors
and an approved social worker (a social worker who has received
additional training in mental health). Sections two and three
of the
act are often used to detain people. Under section 2, a person can be
detained for up to 28 days, while section 3 allows for a person to be
detained for up to six months – and can then be renewed.
Under section 117 of the act, patients who have been detained
are entitled to free aftercare after they have left hospital.