1. Mental Flu and Mental Illness:

1.1 What is the “Mental Flu”?

Do you feel defenseless and lost sleep when you are being yelled for no reason? Do you feel anxious and restless for days before an important event? Do you feel lost and confused for days when you are inexplicably laid-off? If so, you could be experiencing depression or anxiety. You may find that you are constantly distracted, suffering from insomnia, or feeling helpless in balancing a healthy lifestyle. You may not even notice the effect that your mood has on others. Much like the flu, your depression and/or anxiety can be contagious, distressing those around you.

Analogous to the typical flu, the mental flu shares the similar symptoms: feel sick, counterproductive, and contagious. Oftentimes, people catch it without knowing that they have it themselves. Unlike normal flus, however, those affected receive not the care and compassion they need, but face persecution and ostracism. Prolonged mental flu could become chronic and develop into mental illness.

Here at Sunny Breeze Park, we would like you to view the mental flu as a legitimate concern. While none of us is immune to mental flu, we are not scared if friends, classmates, peers or family members catch the flu. However, it becomes an issue if prolonged mental flu becomes chronic and develops into mental illness. It is the goal of this website to remove this stigma surrounding mental disorders and provide resources for prevention and recovery.

If you ever feel that you have a particularly serious case of the mental flu, you should take precaution by visiting a  psychologist or psychiatrist for advice about preventing the mental flu from developing into something much larger. We do not offer psychological or psychiatric services; rather, our website’s focus is preventing the mental flu

and providing complementary recovery resources. We believe that leading an active social life and implementing various exercises can go a long way in preventing minor flu from spiraling out of control, and improving the sustainability of recovery processes.

 

1.2 What is a Mental Illness?

According to National Alliance on Mental Illness [http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness]

“A mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.”
“Serious mental illnesses include major depression, anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and borderline personality disorder.
Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion or income. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing.”

“The good news about mental illnesses is that they are treatable., as most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan. The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible”.

Many mental disorders, for example, depression and anxiety disorders including PTSD, are commonly seen chronically developed. Readers are encouraged to consult with psychologist or psychiatrist for other mental disorders which are complicated with biological factors. Unlike physical illness, mental disorder is unique to each patient and their causes, treatment, and recovery plans are unique as well.

2. What is Mental Health Stigma?

Mental illnesses are generally viewed as internal issues rather than problems caused by external factors. As a result, those affected are often ostracized, and are pushed away by those they love. Mental Health Today explains the stigma attached to mental illnesses [ http://www.mental-health-today.com/stigma/stigma2.html ]

“Stigmatization of people with mental disorders is manifested by bias, distrust, stereotyping, fear, embarrassment, anger, and/or avoidance. Stigma leads the (public) to avoid people with mental disorders. It reduces access to resources and leads to low self-esteem, isolation, and hopelessness. It deters the public from seeking, and wanting to pay for care. Stigma results in outright discrimination and abuse. More tragically, it deprives people of their dignity and interferes with their full participation in society.”–U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher.”

Those uninformed about the causes and effects of mental illnesses inadvertently contribute to a harmful environment, creating barriers to recovery. Many fear that which they cannot see, resulting in the stereotyping of patients as uncontrollable psychopaths. This cannot be further from the truth, however.
From MSN Causes:http://causes.msn.com/mental_health_month_2013#section=article_6_3
Cited from a psychiatrist,

“only a very small percentage of mentally ill people pose a danger to others. Slightly more are dangerous to themselves (suicidal, neglecting health care and hygiene, manic, or apt to endanger themselves because they’re not attuned to their surroundings). Most mentally ill people are not as dramatic or visible as most people think.”  Nonetheless,” none of us is immune.”

In another word, mentally ill people should be hospitalized or isolated from the general public is the old and wrong perception. Majority of mentally ill people can take care of their daily life. Their diminished capacities were likely caused by distraction of certain pre-occupied issues which took away their productivities and abilities to think and work intelligently.

3.  How to Overcome Mental Health Stigma:

Mayoclinic recommends several ways to overcome the stigma surrounding mental health disorders: [http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mental-health/MH00076]

• Get treatment. You may be reluctant to admit you have a condition that needs treatment. Don’t let the fear of being “labeled” with a mental illness prevent you from seeking help. Treatment can provide relief by identifying what’s wrong in concrete terms and reducing symptoms that interfere with your work and personal life.

• Don’t let stigma create self-doubt and shame. Stigma doesn’t just come from others. You may have the mistaken belief that your condition is a sign of personal weakness, or that you should be able to control it without help. Seeking psychological counseling, educating yourself about your condition and connecting with others with mental illness can help you gain self-esteem and overcome destructive self-judgment.

• Don’t isolate yourself. If you have a mental illness, you may be reluctant to tell anyone about it. Have the courage to confide in your spouse, family members, friends, clergy or other members of your community. Reach out to people you trust for the compassion, support and understanding you need.

• Don’t equate yourself with your illness. You are not an illness. So instead of saying “I’m bipolar,” say “I have bipolar disorder.” Instead of calling yourself “a schizophrenic,” call yourself “a person with schizophrenia.” Don’t say you “are depressed.” Say you “have clinical depression.”

• Join a support group. Some local and national groups, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offer local programs and Internet resources that help reduce stigma by educating people with mental illness, their family members and the general public. A number of state and federal agencies and programs also offer support for people who have mental health conditions. Examples include agencies such as Vocational Rehabilitation and Veterans Affairs (VA).

• Get help at school. If you or your child has a mental illness that affects learning, find out what plans and programs might help. Discrimination against students because of a mental health condition is against the law, and educators at primary, secondary and college levels are required to accommodate students as best they can. Talk to teachers, professors or administrators about the best approach and available resources. If a teacher doesn’t know about a student’s disability, it can lead to discrimination, barriers to learning and poor grades.

• Speak out against stigma. Express your opinions at events, in letters to the editor or on the Internet. It can help instill courage in others facing similar challenges and educate the public about mental illness.Others’ judgments almost always stem from a lack of understanding rather than information based on the facts. Learning to accept your condition and recognize what you need to do to treat it, seeking support, and helping educate others can make a big difference.

3.1  Role of family and the society in eliminating stigma:

 

Support! Support! Support!

We can not assume the person suffering mental illness is aware of his/her own condition, as the definition of mental illness is

“a mental condition that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning”. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.”

Family members, friends, colleagues, and others should help a loved one gain proper support and jointly find the path of recovery for the best interests of the individuals as well as the community.

Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board at Ohio promotes a mental illness recovery program using outcomes to assess effectiveness of recovery, http://mhrecovery.com. The support from family, peer, and the community, together with the empowerment of patients themselves, demonstrated some positive outcomes. The positive outcomes leads to the believes in the multiplier effect of preventing or recovering from mental illness. By preventing one person from becoming mentally ill or helping one person from being mentally ill to healthy and capable, society can reduce the cost spent in treating mental illness, freeing the care giver, and gaining from the productivity of more than one healthy person. A little care goes a long way

.