Mental health refers to any mental condition that interferes with ones feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Mental illness on the other hand represents a mental condition that affects ones feelings, thoughts and behavior to a great extent. This paper has used the case study of Mary who is suffering from depression. Management of depression should be holistic and based on patients unique identity. However, recovery depends on the ability to manage stigma in the society concerning mental illness and promotion of physical health since there is an association between physical and mental health.
Healthy lifestyle is a critical aspect of ones wellbeing and development. Attainment of a healthy lifestyle implies that ones wellness is holistic and integrates all aspects of health including mental health, physical and social self. This paper considers the case of Mary, a 41 year old lady living with her husband and three children aged 17, 14, and 10 years respectively. Mary occupies a senior position in a large organization and has a supportive husband with whom they have been married for 18 years.
In this paper, Marys case and experience is used to explore and discuss the meaning of mental health, mental illness and principles of recovery while illustrating the relationship between mental and physical health. This approach is based on the understanding that mental health often has an impact on physical health. On the other hand, physical health and wellbeing may also affect ones mental health status. In order to assess this two-way correlation, the paper identifies and explains the needs of people with mental illness. Most importantly, the paper highlights some of the effective strategies for supporting such individuals using the case and experience of Mary. This paper will also reflect on the knowledge of how practice in the sphere of mental health can influence my future work as a health professional in the area of nursing.
Mental Illness, Mental Health and the Principles of Recovery
Meaning of Mental Illness
Mental illness is a term that is broadly used in reference to any health problem that greatly affects a persons feelings, thinking, behavior and social relationships. The medical conditions that can easily disrupt ones thoughts, feelings and reduce his/her ability to interact with other people in his or her social environment are generally referred to as mental illness. Mental illness is, therefore, a condition of the brain that affects or interferes with ones normal cognitive functions such as thought processes, behavioral aspects such as feelings and social aspects like relationships and interactions.
Meaning of Mental Health
A person is described as mentally healthy if he or she has good emotional and social well-being and is capable of coping with changes and challenges in his or her social environment (Barlow 2008, p. 61). Mental health thus has great semblance with mental illness. However, there is a slight distinction between the two conditions based on the severity of ones status. Although mental health shares some of the characteristics used to classify one as mentally ill, mental health issues are not as severe as mental illness.
Presentations of Mental Health in Relation to Marys Case
With this distinction spelt out, it is imperative to shift the focus to Marys case in the context of the discourse of mental health and illness. Mary was diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 39 and was hospitalized for five weeks. Depression is a mental illness related problem that seems to be a family problem in Marys family. Her own mother lived with depression for 35 years. The medical and developmental history of Mary shows that she has been physically healthy and has had no medical history. She does not consume alcohol or smoke neither does Mary have any drug use history. She has also appropriately achieved the developmental milestones throughout her life from childhood to adulthood. When she got diagnosed with clinical depression, Mary was given antidepressants which she stopped taking after feeling that the drugs were no longer necessary. From this background information, it can be loosely argued that Marys depression is not a consequence of any medical history, sickness or use of drugs and alcohol.
Stigmatization of People with Depression
People diagnosed with depression often become victims of social stigma in their society. There are various forms of stigmatization that victims of depression like Mary often experience. People like Mary who have been diagnosed and confirmed to be suffering from depression are often victims of stigma from their social environment. Sometimes such stigma originates and is sustained by the family members, caregivers and significant people around the patient. Some of the elements of stigma that people like Mary easily become victims of include the perceptions that depressed people are just weak and really sick in the actual sense. There is a likelihood that even the family members of people suffering from depression may not understand or believe in the reality of depression.
The perception and generalization that people with mental illness are generally dangerous is also a source of stigma for people like Mary. There is a biased generalization that all people with mental illness such as depression are unusually crazy and dangerous and can easily commit murder. This implies that such people are likely to be shunned, isolated and left as lone rangers because of the perceived risk of associating with the mentally ill. They are considered crazy and people associating with them are also likely to be branded as crazy. This is likely to transcend into social exclusion as friends shy away from being close to the mentally ill. This may make it difficult for the people diagnosed with any form of mental illness to disclose their condition.
