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<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Confirmed : # Jamaica continues to ...s (Gleaner)...</span>
Stigmatised, shunned, discarded and abandoned, mental illness is as common as any other disease or illness in Jamaica. The problem is a lack of understanding and acceptance.A man, believed to be of unsound mind and homeless, speaks on a 'dummy phone' on Old Hope Road in St Andrew recently.Photo Credit: (Gleaner)People with severe mental illnesses like bipolarity, schizophrenia, or major depression are no different from persons with heart disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Mental disorders do not have a racial background, class or creed, and it is dismissive of one's financial background or circumstances.Mental illness is a psychological or behavioural disorder pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability outside of normal development or culture. It is also defined as a change in a person's mood, feelings, thinking, and actions, which is directly manifested in the way they socialise.There are as many myths about mental illness as there are many truths.Mental illness can be caused by many factors, of which heredity is one. Trauma experiences such as illnesses, loss of a job, divorce, death of a loved one, deteriorating health, and financial woes, can add stress, trigger emotional problems, and start an ongoing mental illness such as depression, and anxiety disorders. Mental-health warning signsSymptoms of mental disorders vary depending on the type and severity of the condition. Some general symptoms that may suggest a mental illness include: In adults:Confused thinkingLong-lasting sadness or irritabilityExtreme highs and lows in moodExcessive fear, worry, or anxietySocial withdrawalDramatic changes in eating or sleeping habitsStrong feelings of angerDelusions or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not really there)Increasing inability to cope with daily problems and activitiesThoughts of suicideDenial of obvious problemsMany unexplained physical problemsAbuse of drugs and/or alcohol. In older children and pre-teens:Abuse of drugs and/or alcoholInability to cope with daily problems and activitiesChanges in sleeping and/or eating habitsExcessive complaints of physical problemsDefying authority, skipping school, stealing, or damaging propertyIntense fear of gaining weightLong-lasting negative mood, often along with poor appetite and thoughts of deathFrequent outbursts of anger. In younger children:Changes in school performancePoor grades despite strong effortsExcessive worry or anxietyHyperactivityPersistent nightmaresPersistent disobedience and/or aggressive behaviourFrequent temper tantrums.If these patterns of behaviour are noticed, the individual should be closely monitored and should see a psychiatrist so a diagnosis can be made and the appropriate treatment and therapy provided.In Jamaica, there seems to be a general fear of interacting with the mentally ill. Many also think they look or act a certain way and thus misconstrue that homelessness and mental illness are one and the same. They are not.When one thinks of Isaac Newton, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Winston Churchill, Vincent Van Gogh, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, and Abraham Lincoln, one thinks of greatness, and with Princess Diana, one is reminded of beauty and style; yet they all suffered from mental illnesses. They were not defined by it. They rose in spite of it.- Contributedhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...70933772949852
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Confirmed : # Jamaica continues to ...s (Gleaner)...</span>
Stigmatised, shunned, discarded and abandoned, mental illness is as common as any other disease or illness in Jamaica. The problem is a lack of understanding and acceptance.A man, believed to be of unsound mind and homeless, speaks on a 'dummy phone' on Old Hope Road in St Andrew recently.Photo Credit: (Gleaner)People with severe mental illnesses like bipolarity, schizophrenia, or major depression are no different from persons with heart disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure. Mental disorders do not have a racial background, class or creed, and it is dismissive of one's financial background or circumstances.Mental illness is a psychological or behavioural disorder pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability outside of normal development or culture. It is also defined as a change in a person's mood, feelings, thinking, and actions, which is directly manifested in the way they socialise.There are as many myths about mental illness as there are many truths.Mental illness can be caused by many factors, of which heredity is one. Trauma experiences such as illnesses, loss of a job, divorce, death of a loved one, deteriorating health, and financial woes, can add stress, trigger emotional problems, and start an ongoing mental illness such as depression, and anxiety disorders. Mental-health warning signsSymptoms of mental disorders vary depending on the type and severity of the condition. Some general symptoms that may suggest a mental illness include: In adults:Confused thinkingLong-lasting sadness or irritabilityExtreme highs and lows in moodExcessive fear, worry, or anxietySocial withdrawalDramatic changes in eating or sleeping habitsStrong feelings of angerDelusions or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not really there)Increasing inability to cope with daily problems and activitiesThoughts of suicideDenial of obvious problemsMany unexplained physical problemsAbuse of drugs and/or alcohol. In older children and pre-teens:Abuse of drugs and/or alcoholInability to cope with daily problems and activitiesChanges in sleeping and/or eating habitsExcessive complaints of physical problemsDefying authority, skipping school, stealing, or damaging propertyIntense fear of gaining weightLong-lasting negative mood, often along with poor appetite and thoughts of deathFrequent outbursts of anger. In younger children:Changes in school performancePoor grades despite strong effortsExcessive worry or anxietyHyperactivityPersistent nightmaresPersistent disobedience and/or aggressive behaviourFrequent temper tantrums.If these patterns of behaviour are noticed, the individual should be closely monitored and should see a psychiatrist so a diagnosis can be made and the appropriate treatment and therapy provided.In Jamaica, there seems to be a general fear of interacting with the mentally ill. Many also think they look or act a certain way and thus misconstrue that homelessness and mental illness are one and the same. They are not.When one thinks of Isaac Newton, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Winston Churchill, Vincent Van Gogh, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, and Abraham Lincoln, one thinks of greatness, and with Princess Diana, one is reminded of beauty and style; yet they all suffered from mental illnesses. They were not defined by it. They rose in spite of it.- Contributedhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...70933772949852