“Brain is the powerhouse of an individual”
What we can see or what is tangible is the result of a function carried out in our brain. We perceive first and react later. The moment we open our eyes in the morning till we hit the bed, thousands of memories are formed but only those memories are stored which acts as a trigger to something that we have or want to experience in life.
So why is it that we shy away from mental health? Considering brain is our powerhouse, we need go that extra mile to ensure its proper functioning. This blog attempts to educate about the basics of Mental Health and why it is important to take care of it!
Mental illness is of two types: Neurosis and psychosis. Neurosis covers those illnesses that do not impair the functioning of body and mind whereas psychosis covers all those illnesses that are severe in nature and impair an individual’s body and mind. With this basic information, let us now dig deeper into the meaning of mental illness! Any ailment that impairs us psychologically are termed as mental illness. Physical health is required for proper functioning of our body and mental health is required for the proper functioning of our mind.
Our brain/mind is beautifully designed! Have you ever wondered how pain is overcome? How a certain emotion caused by a certain incident is reduced over time? People also say that “time heals”. It is so very true in terms of life events. Our brain is trained to stored memories in stacks of emotions: desire, happiness, and based on events like family, friends and so on. Imagine a huge library from the floor up to the ceiling, our memories are so stored. Any memory that causes distress is difficult for the brain to store and hence causes distortion. This distortion when prolonged causes mental illness.
Mental illness also goes through the same process of: diagnosis by an expert and planning treatment plans. Mental health can be ensured only when it can be diagnosed and it can be diagnosed only when people come forward with such information. There is a social stigma attached to mental illness! People shy away from recognizing the initial signs of mental illness. As in physical illness when initial diagnosis is late, the treatment is more intense so is the case for mental illness too!
Here is a list of things to look out for when recognizing the signs of mental illness:
Consistent change in behavior
Persistent mood swings
Physical inability (in advanced illness)
Inability to be social
Extreme changes in personality
Constant denial and anger
These are some of the generic observable changes in an individual that should raise red flags. Consult a counselor/therapist/psychologist if wither you and anyone you know is raising these red flags.
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