"I want the whole world
to see,
not the difference,
but the sameness
of
people with disabilities..."
"Thank you for seeing
us
through the eyes of
acceptance..."
^the two quotes are quotes that I found on the
'net (at beautiful faces.org) and placed them here
to educate others to better understand
that disabled individuals aren't that 'DIFFERENT'.
Depression: Depression is the most frequently diagnosed mental illness, and
for the great majority of those who suffer with depression,
it is a treatable condition. According to
the National Institute of Mental Health, depression
can affect anyone - adults, adolescents and children - of any socio-economic background.
In some cases it may cause a general lack of energy and enthusiasm that comes and goes. In more severe cases it can prevent the individual from handling even simple daily tasks. Depression has been linked to suicide.
BUT IF YOU GET HELP-EARLY ON-CHANCES ARE YOU'LL BE ABLE TO START FEELING BETTER shortly...
SYMPTOMS:
Symptoms may range from mild to severe. Sometimes individuals
describe depression as having the "blues." In many cases, there may well
be a chemical imbalance underlying the depression. Some symptoms of
depression are as follows:
Inability to think clearly.
Loss of appetite or increase of appetite
with a possible weight loss or weight gain.
Inability to take care of responsibilities such as job, family, and personal appearance.
Poor memory - "Can't concentrate".
Irritability or agitation.
Feelings of emptiness-"Don't care about anyone
or anything."
Feelings of guilt and low self-esteem.
Inability to sleep (insomnia)
or sleeping too much (hypersomnia).
Physical complaints with no apparent cause,
such as fatigue, headaches, backaches, nausea,
or indigestion.
Feelings of hopelessness and/or
suicidal thoughts.
Signs of DEPRESSION checklist/self test...
Please respond to the following questions with:
1- None or little of the time
2- Some of the time
3- A good part of the time
4- Most of the time
Choose from the above responses by indicating 1, 2, 3 or 4 to the
following questions.
1.I feel downhearted, blue and sad.
2.Morning is when I feel the worst.
3.I have crying spells, or feel like it.
4.I have trouble sleeping through the night.
5.I don't eat as much as I used to.
6.I don't enjoy looking at, talking to and
being with attractive women or men.
7.I notice that I am losing weight.
8.I have trouble with constipation.
9.My heart beats faster than usual.
10.I get tired for no reason.
11.My mind is not as clear as it used to be.
12.I don't find it easy to do things
I used to do.
13.I am restless and can't keep still.
14.I do not feel hopeful about the future.
15.I am more irritable than usual.
16.I do not find it easy to make decisions.
17.I feel that I am not useful and needed.
18.My life in not very full.
19.I feel that others would be better off
if I were dead.
20.I do not enjoy the things I used to.
Total your score - below 40 is the normal range. A score between 40 and 47 indicates a mild depression.
If you scored 48 or above, a professional
evaluation should be considered.
And if you scored above 56, you should definitely
SEEK HELP-ASAP!!...
TREATMENT:
When treatment is begun early enough, it may be more effective. If
depression goes untreated, an individual may start to feel so bad that he
or she becomes suicidal. There are two important components in treating
depression. First of all, medication is often very important.
Antidepressants help correct imbalances of certain chemicals in the brain.
Anti-depressants do work somewhat slowly, so it may take a few weeks
before there is a noticeable improvement in the depression. Sometimes,
other medications such as minor tranquilizers, are used to treat anxiety
that may accompany depression. The second component of treatment is
psychotherapy. The therapy may include individual counseling, group
therapy, educational groups (such as problem solving), stress
management, and assertiveness training. The goal of all therapies is to
help alleviate symptoms and allow an individual to identify problems, find
solutions to those problems, and develop appropriate support systems.
CONCLUSION:
Sometimes depression can be managed as an outpatient with medication
and individual therapy. However, if the depression is so severe that an
individual is no longer able to function on a day to day basis or has
developed thoughts of suicide, hospitalization may be required.
Hospitalization involves the appropriate administration of medications,
individual therapy, group therapy, and provides a safe environment for an
individual until the crisis has passed. While hospitalized, the individual is
given a complete physical examination, including labwork, to rule out
anything physical that might be causing or contributing to the depression.
It is very important to remember that getting help for depression is not a
sign of weakness, but a sign of strength and good judgment. Depression
is the most treatable of all mental illnesses.
Anxiety: Anxiety can cripple a person's ability to function by triggering a fear or flight response. It may provoke chronic worrying, magnifying a situation out of all proportion. It can lead to chronic insomnia. It is often linked to depression, and, like depression, is a highly treatable condition.
Bipolar Disorder, Manic Depression: These mental illnesses are often confused with generalized depression, but they belong to the category of mental illness that is linked to physiological imbalances or deficits in the brain.
They involve several specific symptoms that help doctors distinguish them.
These include delusions, marked swings in mood and personality disorders. As with all mental illness, the mental anguish and debilitating effects can be severe.
A variety of medications are effective in treating these disorders.
Schizophrenia: This is a serious mental illness that affects children, adolescents and adults in all walks of life. Symptoms may include hallucinations, hearing voices and failure to perceive reality. Doctors believe schizophrenia is rooted in a physiological imbalance or deficit, and the most effective
treatment is with medications.
Panic Disorder...
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A PANIC DISORDER?
Does it mean someone is panicked and out
of control all the time?
Not exactly. Everybody, at one time or another,
feels stressed-out or panicky.
But people with panic disorder have more than
just "a case of nerves."
When they are in the grip of the panic attacks
their illness brings on, they are swamped
with symptoms so sharp that they may be
convinced they are having a heart attack
or stroke, or that they are going crazy
or dying.
Panic attacks are a common reaction
to extreme stress.
Not everyone who has a panic attack has
panic disorder.
To be diagnosed as having the illness, a person
must have had at least four panic attacks in a
four-week period.
The attacks must include a combination of
symptoms such as sweating, shortness of breath,
heart palpitations, chest discomfort,
unsteady feelings, choking or smothering
sensations, tingling, nausea or abdominal
distress, feelings of unreality, fear of
losing control, dying or going insane.
The pain these symptoms bring is sometimes so acute that it drives the panic disorder sufferer to a hospital emergency room; doctors unfamiliar
with the illness may judge the patient is in no danger and send him or her home, an embarrassing process that may be repeated many times if the proper diagnosis isn't made.
Often the undiagnosed panic disorder sufferer starts avoiding situations or places like elevators or buses where panic attacks have occurred, sometimes even becoming reclusive.
Panic disorder afflicts twice as many women as it does men. It knows no racial, economic or geographic boundaries. Because victims often hide their illness and because health care professionals often do not recognize it, it is difficult
to gauge how widespread panic disorder is, but the best
estimate places the number of Americans suffering
with panic disorder or phobias at 13 million.
Recent studies suggest that panic disorder's roots are both physical and psychological. Researchers have
found the illness runs in families a fact
which supports the idea that the condition
may pass genetically from generation
to generation.
Exploring this lead, some researchers are
looking into the brain and its chemical
processes for clues to panic disorder's causes.
Panic disorder has been called one of the
great imposters among illnesses because it is so
easily mistaken for other medical or psychiatric
problems, such as heart disease,
thyroid problems, respiratory problems
or hypochondriasis.
To correctly diagnose the disorder, the physician
or psychiatric physician will first ensure that
the patient has had a thorough physical exam,
and will piece together a complete knowledge
of the patient's background, history of drug
and alcohol use (or abuse) and medical history
to gain the complete understanding needed
to begin treatment.
Today, psychiatrists treating panic disorder
have a number of medicines and therapies
they can use to help their patients.
Typically, treatment involves education
about the illness, medication if warranted,
psychotherapy and behavioral treatment
techniques such as relaxation training.
Effective treatments and ongoing research
are bringing new hope for recovery.
Earlier diagnoses are significantly reducing
the complications of untreated panic disorder
and, with appropriate psychiatric treatment,
nine out of ten sufferers will recover
and return to normal life.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
SYMPTOMS:
Symptoms may range from mild to severe.
They may include:
Extreme perfectionism that prevents completion
of tasks
Excessive cleanliness
Preoccupation with personal health
Preoccupation with fear of dying
Constant thinking about the same topic
Inability to "let go" of a feeling or activity
Making irrational connections between actions
and consequences
Anxiety
DEFINITION:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a term that
can apply to seemingly normal behaviors.
It is used to describe a preoccupation with a
fixed idea or unwanted feeling or emotion
that is often accompanied by feelings of anxiety.
Some people with obsessive-compulsive disorder
may feel compelled to wash their hands
constantly. Others may engage in ritualistic
or superstitious activities like always driving
the same way to work even when it's
the longest way to go.
Some people who suffer with
obsessive-compulsive disorder perform
these tasks in order to maintain a sense
of safety.
CAUSES:
The exact causes of obsessive-compulsive disorder
are not fully understood, but because it often
runs in families and responds to treatment with
medications, many clinicians believe it is
physiologically based.
all of this information was prepared
as a public service by the
American Psychiatric Association.
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PANIC DISORDER:
1.Panic disorders and phobias affect at least
13 million persons.
TRUE. Because its victims often hide their illness
and because so many health care professionals
do not recognize the disorder,
it is difficult to set accurate estimates
of its prevalence.
However, the best recent estimates
place the number of Americans suffering
with panic disorder or phobias at 13 million.
2.More women than men suffer from
panic disorder.
TRUE. Surveys have shown that more women than
men are afflicted with panic disorder by
a ratio of approximately two to one
and that panic disorder knows no racial,
economic or geographic boundaries.
3.Effective treatment begins with proper
medical diagnosis.
TRUE. Following diagnosis by a psychiatrist or
other physician, treatment can be undertaken
through a variety of medical approaches including
behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, medication,
or combinations of therapy and medication.
4.With appropriate medical treatment,
9 out of 10 sufferers of panic attacks
will improve and return to normal activities.
TRUE. Today psychiatrists and other physicians
have a number of medicines and therapies they
can use to help panic sufferers.
A psychiatrist will usually first seek to ease a
panic sufferer's symptoms with education
about the illness, medications if they are
warranted, and other therapies to help
manage a panic attack.
He or she will then help the patient
work against the agoraphobia and
other symptoms the attacks have produced.
They will continue to work together,
through a variety of therapeutic methods,
to address the ongoing consequences
of the illness.
5.Your health insurance plan will cover all the costs for treatment of panic disorder.
FALSE. Most health insurance will cover some
costs of treatment. Panic disorder is an
illness like any other and should have
the same amount of coverage.
Check your policy to see if treatment
for panic disorder is covered equally.
...
I don't believe in suicide as an 'answer'
to a crisis situation-and if you're having
difficulty seeing any other way out...
PLEASE GET HELP--there is HOPE and HELP
and with the proper treatment and support
you should be able to start feeling better soon,
I know because I've been there and found a way out
with help and support, and you should be able to
do the same...
As I said, I don't believe in this as an 'answer'
to a crisis situation (and I'm not meaning to be judgemental-that's not part of who I am)-I just mean to point out there there's a way out OTHER THAN THIS...
a site that I feel will be quite helpful to those in emotional pain from mental illness, or stress, or loss, and also helpful for those in physical pain, or any other kind of pain, or any kind of crisis situation--page with words of encouragement and comfort...