Mental Health Education – What Do We Need?

 

Mental Health – What Is It?

Mental health is something that everybody has. Some people may have good mental health, others may have bad or ill mental health. Either way, it’s extremely important to take care of your mental health. Mental health education is an important part of learning how to take care of it.

 

Why Is Mental Health Education Important?

Mental health is an important part of life. The state of your mental health can be the difference between you struggling or performing well at work, maintaining relationships or struggling to keep them, and more. Mental health education may help people who are struggling to realise the cause, and what they can do to help. For example, somebody who struggles to concentrate at work may not realise that this is due to anxiety or low mood caused by underlying low self-esteem. Self-esteem can be a huge help in navigating life.

 

How Do We Know When Somebody Needs Help?

Signs of ill mental health vary from person to person. Somebody could withdraw from their usual activities and social life, their outlook on life could change to become quite bleak, and they may talk about death. These are quite obvious signs of a negative change in mental health. However, some people mask their emotions and continue as if nothing is wrong. This makes it harder to tell if there is a problem. Their symptoms may be things like lack of concentration and difficulty sleeping – these are things that others may not notice straight away.

 

How Can We Educate Further?

Communication is key when it comes to mental health education. Our workplaces need to have a certain amount of time allocated to education on mental health, in order to ensure employees have somewhere to go when they are struggling, or to help them recognise if they are struggling. Our schools need to also have these resources, so that children can grow up equipped with resilience and coping skills for difficult times. Some may argue that this is too much for a child, but it can help to develop an understanding of mental health problems that I argue would be very beneficial to them.

 

What Mental Health Problems Need To Be Spoken About?

Currently, there is a very generalised approach to mental health education for the general public, with a big focus on depression and anxiety. This is because the symptoms of depression and anxiety are much easier to relate to than symptoms that may come with other mental health problems. Most people can understand low mood and feeling anxious, because both of those things are things that everybody experiences to varying degrees.  Although knowing the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety and knowing what you can do about those things is important, it’s also vital that we speak about other mental health problems that have more stigma and less understanding attached to them. Examples of these mental health problems would be eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder (now more often known as emotionally unstable personality disorder), post-natal depression, post-partum psychosis, and dissociative identity disorder. Here at Mental Health TV, we create content on not just depression and anxiety, but other more stigmatised mental health problems like the ones listed above.

Pyschopharmacology Treatment – An Important Part Of Psychiatric Treatment

 What Is Psychopharmacology?

Psychopharmacology is the study of the effect that drugs have on peoples’ minds and behaviour. Without psychopharmacology, we wouldn’t have anti-anxiety medications, anti-psychotic medications or anti-depressants. Thanks to psychopharmacology, many lives have been changed for the better, and many find that their mental health problems are now manageable. However, this can’t be said for everybody, as the mind is a complicated thing, and everybody is different.

 

Why Do Psychotropic Medications Have A Bad Reputation?

Medications used to treat mental health problems have a lot of stigma attached to them. We’ve all heard people say things like, “They turn you into a different person,”, and, “They make you feel numb to everything.” Although exercising regularly, having a healthy diet and taking time for your own hobbies and relaxation all have a good effect on mental health, for some, this is not enough. Medication affects every person differently. Some people benefit greatly from mental health medication. They might find that anti-depressants take the edge off of their lows, allowing them to continue with their therapy, their routine or their work. They can make things more manageable. Like all medication, there is the possibility of side effects. Possible side effects are what the medication is supposed to prevent. To minimise risk, doctors insist on monitoring patients who are new to anti-depressants to make sure that they start to have the right effect.

 

Why Is Psychopharmacology Important?

For many, psychopharmacology treatment is life-saving. For those people, the ‘cure’ to their depression isn’t simply going on more walks in nature, or taking more time to relax. They need more. Unfortunately, many people that take medication for their mental health are judged for their decision to take medication. People sharing their negative beliefs with those who take medication for their mental health don’t realise that sometimes they’re acting as a saboteur to that person’s mental health.

 

Side Effects

Like any treatment requiring medication, psychopharmacology treatment has side effects. Side effects are a little less predictable with certain psychoactive medications. Some side effects may be weight gain and difficulty sleeping, difficulty concentrating or difficulty staying awake. Some may prefer their life without the side effects, and life may be more manageable without the medication. However, for some who need medications like anti-psychotics, weight gain or insomnia may be favourable to the alternative, which could be psychosis, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations and anything else that could put them or others at risk.

 

What About Addiction?

Some substances used to help treat mental health problems have a bad reputation because they are addictive. This is true, but sometimes it is the best option for somebody who is suffering. Also, most   medications have some kind of withdrawal effect. Newer versions of anti-depressants are said to have less severe withdrawal than older ones. These are known as SSRIs (serotonin sensitive reuptake inhibitors). It’s important to be guided through treatment and monitored regularly by a psychiatrist or your GP to ensure things are under control.

Bereavement In Obstetrics – Could Abortion Be Seen As A Bereavement?

 Bereavement In Obstetrics

Bereavement in obstetrics is a difficult topic to cover. Due to recent news about the change to abortion laws in Texas, I think we should think about bereavement in obstetrics in relation to abortion. Although abortion is a choice, it can still come with guilt and grief that need to be processed.

What Is A Miscarriage? 

A bereavement in obstetrics can be anything from a miscarriage to stillbirth. Miscarriages are most likely to happen in the first 3 months of pregnancy and usually happen through no fault of the pregnant person. However, they bring a lot of grief and guilt to the mother, who may feel like it is their fault. Miscarriages can happen later in pregnancy. Any loss up until 24 weeks of pregnancy is considered a miscarriage, and anything after that is considered a stillbirth. 

Complications With Miscarriage

Miscarriage can be extremely challenging physically, as well as mentally. Miscarriages in the first trimester tend to have fewer complications, though it is possible that complications may arise. Sometimes, miscarriages are incomplete. This means that some tissue does not come away and is left in the womb. When this happens, bleeding and cramping can last longer than the expected amount of time. Although incomplete miscarriages can resolve on their own, occasionally further treatment is required to clear the womb. There is also a higher risk of infection. It is possible to have these kinds of complications with abortion as well.

Abortion Laws

Recently, in Texas, abortion laws became very strict. Abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy are now banned. There is up to a $10,000 reward for people who report illegal abortions. Having an abortion is not an easy choice to make and comes with a lot of guilt. A person may know that they want a child at some point in their life, but at the point in time that they become pregnant, they may be living in difficult circumstances. This can make the decision to have an abortion devastating. For some, contraception fails and they choose abortion because the pregnancy was something that they never wanted to happen. Most people who have abortions feel guilt about their decision, even if it was the right decision for them. Sadly, this law may put a lot of vulnerable people in danger. If someone is desperate for an abortion, they will find a way – and often it will be a higher risk than visiting an abortion clinic.

Bereavement In Obstetrics And Emotional Support

Some might ask if abortion counts as bereavement in obstetrics. I think it’s extremely important that anybody who has experienced a bereavement in obstetrics, including abortion, receive emotional support. I also think it’s important that the benefits of emotional support and possible counseling or therapy be explained to them, as some people might feel that they’re fine as they are. I also think it’s important that there is emotional support provided for both parents. Education on what causes miscarriages, that it isn’t always something in your control, and complications of miscarriages could also really help others in the future. I think that regardless of the fact that abortion is a choice, it still can and should be seen as  bereavement in obstetrics because there is still a huge amount of emotional and physical change that follows.