Lecture 1- Mental Health: Understanding and Awareness

 Understanding Mental Health and Wellbeing

 Understanding Mental Illnesses and Problems
 Language and Stigma; society and acceptance
 Myths VS Facts

Understanding Mental Health and Wellbeing

Being mentally healthy and living well is important to every single one of us; whether we are
living with a mental illness or not.

Defining Mental Health

Mental Health is a positive concept related to the social and emotional wellbeing of
individuals.

Having good mental health, or being mentally healthy is more than just the absence of
illness, rather it’s a state of overall wellbeing.

Mental health generally relates to:

 The enjoyment of life

 Having the ability to cope with and ‘bounce back’ from stress and sadness

 Being able to set and fulfil goals

 Having the capability to build and maintain relationships with others.

Influences on mental health and wellbeing

Mental health is influenced by several biological, psychological, social and environmental

factors which interact in complex ways. These include:

 Structural factors such as safe living environments, employment, education, freedom from
discrimination and violence, and access to economic resources

 Community factors such as a positive sense of belonging, community connectedness,

activities to highlight and embrace diversity, social support, and participation in society

 Individual factors such as the ability to manage thoughts and cope with stressors and having
communication and social skills to support connection with others.

Understanding Mental Illnesses and Problems

The broad term ‘mental ill-health’ is often used by us and others as an umbrella term that
includes both mental illness and mental health problems.

Mental illness

Mental illness can be defined as any illness experienced by a person that affects their
emotions, thoughts or behavior, is out of keeping with their cultural beliefs and personality,
and produces a negative effect on their lives or the lives of their families.

A mental illness is a disorder diagnosed by a medical professional that significantly

interferes with an individual’s cognitive, emotional or social abilities. There are different
types of mental illness and they occur with varying degrees of severity. Examples include
mood disorders (such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder), psychotic disorders (such
as schizophrenia), eating disorders and personality disorders.

Symptoms of illness can appear in the form of persistent changes in mood, perception of
reality, or capacity to organize or maintain thoughts. Such changes will interfere with the
person’s usual beliefs, personality or social function.

Mental health problems

 Someone with a “healthy mind” has clear thoughts, the ability to solve the problems of
daily life, enjoys good relationships with friends, family, and work colleagues, is spiritually
at ease, and can bring happiness to others.

A mental health problem also interferes with a person’s cognitive, emotional or social
abilities, but may not meet the criteria for a diagnosed mental illness.

Mental health problems often occur as a result of life stressors, and are usually less severe
and of shorter duration than mental illnesses.

These often resolve with time or when the individual’s situation changes.

However, if mental health problems persist or increase in severity, they may develop into a
mental illness.

Language and Stigma; society and acceptance

Preferred Language

Certain ways of talking about mental illness can alienate members of the community,
sensationalise the issue and contribute to stigma and discrimination.

Below is a summary of preferred language to use when communicating about mental illness.
Do say Don't say Why?
A person is ‘living with’ or ‘mental patient’, ‘nutter’, Certain language
‘has a diagnosis of’ mental ‘lunatic’, ‘psycho’, ‘schizo’, sensationalises mental illness
illness ‘deranged’, ‘mad’ and reinforces stigma.

A person is ‘being treated for’ ‘victim’, ‘suffering from’, or Terminology that suggests a
or ‘someone with’ a mental ‘affected with’ a mental lack of quality of life for
illness illness people with mental illness.

A person has a ‘diagnosis of’

A person is ‘a schizophrenic’, Labelling a person by their
or ‘is being treated for’
‘an anorexic’ mental illness.
schizophrenia

Descriptions of behaviour that

The person’s behaviour was ‘crazed’, ‘deranged’, ‘mad’,
imply existence of mental
unusual or erratic ‘psychotic’
illness or are inaccurate.

Antidepressants, psychiatrists Colloquialisms about treatment

‘happy pills’, ‘shrinks’,
or psychologists, mental health can undermine people’s
‘mental institution’
hospital willingness to seek help.

Reword any sentence that uses ‘psychotic dog’, using Terminology used out of
psychiatric or media ‘schizophrenic’ to denote context adds to
terminology incorrectly or out duality such as misunderstanding
of context ‘schizophrenic economy’ and trivialises mental illness.

Mental Health: Myths VS Facts

Mental illness is common, but it is still often misunderstood. Myths and misconceptions about
mental illness add to stigma and make life harder for the people affected.

 Myth: mental illness is a life sentence

Fact: Most people will recover fully, especially if they receive help early. Recovery will be
different for everyone and some people may require ongoing treatment to manage their illness.

Some people have only one episode of mental illness and will completely recover. For others,
symptoms associated with mental illness occur only occasionally with years of being well
between episodes. For a minority of those with a more severe illness, periods of acute illness may
occur more regularly and, without medication and effective management, leave little room for
recovery.

 Myth: mental illnesses are all the same

Fact: There are many types of mental illness. Simply knowing a person has a mental illness will
not tell you how well or unwell they are, what symptoms they are experiencing, or what impacts
the illness is having on their life.
Though a particular mental illness will tend to show a certain range of symptoms, not everyone
will experience the same symptoms - for example many people with schizophrenia may hear
voices, while others may not.

Mental illnesses are not purely 'psychological' and can have many physical features. While a
mental illness may affect a person's thinking and emotions, it can also have strong physical
effects such as insomnia, weight loss or gain, increase or loss of energy, chest pain and nausea.

 Myth: people who live with mental illness are violent

Fact: Research indicates people receiving treatment for a mental illness are no more violent or
dangerous than the general population. People living with a mental illness are more likely to be
victims of violence, especially self-harm.

There appears to be a weak statistical association between mental illness and violence. This
seems to be concentrated in certain subgroups, for example - people not receiving treatment,
those who have a history of violence, and those who use drugs or alcohol.

 Myth: some cultural groups are more likely than others to experience mental illness
Fact: Anyone can develop a mental illness and no one is immune to mental health
problems. However, a person’s cultural background affects how they might experience mental
illness and how they understand and interpret the symptoms of mental illness.