“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”- Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
It’s all in the mind. Indeed, the ways we are influenced and behaved is normally called the system. Everything starts with cognition, what comes next is action. But, what happens when the mind goes awry? This can mean that our behavior will function abnormally. The mind is a very powerful part of us that somehow, whatever it thinks becomes seemingly real for the individual when actually it is not. When this happens, our whole personality is affected and could have an impact in our lives as well as affect the people around us.
Psychiatric disorders are mental health disorder. It is a clinically significant behavioral that occurs in an individual that is associated with present distress such as a painful symptom, disability, or a significantly increased risk of death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom. Moreover, this pattern must not be merely an expected and culturally sanctioned response to a particular event. For example, the loss of a loved one. Schizophrenia and major depressive disorder are some examples of mental illnesses. One is diagnosed with psychiatrical disorder when one experiences the following symptoms: confusion; erratic behavior; hearing voices; hallucinations; headaches; depression; anxiety; fatigue; weight loss; anorexia. If a person has three or more of these symptoms, then he/she might have a psychiatric disorder.
Mental disorders do not have definite causes. However, a blend of biological, psychological, and environmental factors would contribute to the acquirement of certain mental disorders. Some biological factors consist of genetics, prenatal damage, and substance abuse. Substance abuse could affect the chemical balance in the brain which can lead to it’s dysfunction. Psychiatric disorders can also be hereditary. Example, a person with schizophrenia is said to have a relative also having schizophrenia. Psychological and environmental factors may include abuse. These experiences could have an impact on the person’s well being and thus if emotional wounds are not immediately mend, these could lead to mental disorders.
Psychiatric disorders are treated with therapy- behaviors or cognitive, and medications. Antidepressants are used for individuals who have clinically depression and anxiety. Anxiolytics are used for anxiety disorders. This can be also used by people afflicted insomnia. There are mood stabilizers for bipolar disorders and antipsychotic for psychotic disorders. Furthermore, electroconvulsive therapy is sometimes used in severe cases when other interventions for depression have failed. Creative therapies such as music, art, and drama therapy are also being used. Also, in line with the cognitive-behavioral treatment, lifestyle adjustments and supportive measures are used such as support groups.
Some disorders are transient and some may last a lifetime. In some way, the given treatment will never take away the disorder but will only lessen the symptom to be able to make an individual live a normal life. Some disorders may be very limited in their parctiacl effects, while others may engage substantial disability and support needs.
There is no choosing on who can be affected with psychiatric disorders. Based on varying personalities, one could possibly build up a mental disorder depending on how he/she react to stimulus around his or her environment such as stressful events in one’s life. For example, a loss of a loved one is a traumatic yet natural phase in a person’s life. Everyone in this lifetime will really experience loss. A person’s natural reaction to loss is grieve, anger, pain, and other negative emotions. However, any emotion normally has its limit. Thus, the negative feeling soon subsides and is replaced with hope and strength so as the person tries to recover from the loss. On the other hand, when one’s negative emotion such as sadness does not subside, the diagnosis is different. Moreover, when this emotion leads to the person’s dysfunctional- his/her normal life is disrupted and health is negatively affected- the person might be needing professional help. This is when we can say that someone has not recovered from the loss and thus has acquired a mental disorder.
We are indeed prisoners of our own minds. As they say happiness is a state of mind; then so is sadness and all other emotions and cognitions that may lead us to losing our sanity.