Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income. Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mental illnesses are serious medical illnesses. They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence. Mental illness falls along a continuum of severity. Even though mental illness is widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion-about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 Americans-who live with a serious mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that One in four adults-approximately 57.7 million Americans-experience a mental health disorder in a given year (About Mental Illness., n.d).
Schizophrenia is thought to affect about 1% of people worldwide. I personally know a woman who is suffering from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it difficult to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses, and to behave normally in social situations (About Mental Illness., n.d). Romana a grandmother is very close family friend. She has two sons. I was very young when I found out Romana is suffering from schizophrenia. She is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Cause of her schizophrenia is genetics. Her mother suffered from a same illness and now one of her son is also suffering. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia in her early 30’s. She doesn’t remember any of us except her son and daughter-in-law (who she hates a lot and express her emotions openly), she doesn’t remember anything current, she likes to talk about her past and she likes to know if you were her neighbor or relative. Her family told us that she hallucinates and gets angry most of the time. She remembers her young life to every detail and likes to share her stories. She is taking medications which sometimes improve her symptoms. She is living with her other son who is taking care of her and his brother. I think due to her family help and support she was able to live a better life. Following image shows some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. (http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199561988/resources/illustrations/ch09/)
Reference:
About Mental Illness. (n.d.). NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. Retrieved November 16, 2010, from http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Inform_Yourself/About_Mental_Illness/About_Mental_Illness.htm
Thanks for sharing your story about your friend. It sounds like it can be quite a struggle but thankfully there are treatments that can help your friend. I think a support system is one of the most important things in helping someone. They need friends and family supporting them just like anyone else in anything we do. Without that, it is easy to feel alone and depressed. It is true what you said about genetics and that a lot of people with disorders really can't help it.
ReplyDelete-Sarah Petersen
Thank you for sharing your story! I never really knew about schizophrenia and how many people it affects in all different ways. I thin family support through any mental illness is extremely important and friends getting involved by having someone to talk to about it can make a huge difference. This was a very good read!
ReplyDeleteSara Abbasi
Great story! Your friend is lucky to have you in her life since most people tend to shy away from family or friends with a mental illness as if it is contagious. If we don't understand an illness, we must educate ourselves before passing judgement or disregarding for something that is past their control. The complexity of the brain is amazing and we must respect it and hope that one day we can understand it fully.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Dana Anderson