What is Mental Illness?

[Nakosis]

Serious answers only please.

IMO, a problem with the structure of one's brain. Something happened which caused the brain to develop in a way which makes it difficult for the person to functional within societal norms.

 

[Heyo]

What is Mental Illness?

Learn about mental illness, diagnosis and treatment

www.psychiatry.org

I tend to go with the APA description in the link

"Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behaviour (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses can be associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities."

An OK definition but it lacks what @Quintessence added: the person or people in their vicinity have to suffer. That's the difference between a disorder or a simple deviance and an illness.

 

[YmirGF]

View attachment 81912

Of course, there are degrees of everything. What Jung meant, I think, was that all of us live with our personal collection of neuroses, intrusive thoughts, irrational concerns, and mental aberrations. And we could probably all benefit from some form of therapeutic program. And then there are those who simply cannot function without treatment; the tragedy for many of those people is that, even where help is available, they are often the last to acknowledge that they need it.

One of my therapists observed that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who are in therapy and those who need to be!

 

[Heyo]

There are a lot of issues in women's health that are under-addressed, unfortunately. That seems to be one of them. So too, is menopause - something literally every woman goes through but has been neglected by health care for way, way too long.

I've heard (TV docu, so not really a reliable source) that the problems associated with menopause are a western phenomenon. Japanese women for example don't suffer from the same symptoms.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

You see yourself as someone's child. And you act accordingly.

Everyone is someone's child. That's just a fact if life. I'm not a child, but I am one if the three kids my mom had.

 

[YmirGF]

An OK definition but it lacks what @Quintessence added: the person or people in their vicinity have to suffer. That's the difference between a disorder or a simple deviance and an illness.

As I said in post #17. But thanks for refreshing the point. It really cannot be flogged too hard, imho.

 

[YmirGF]

Everyone is someone's child. That's just a fact if life. I'm not a child, but I am one if the three kids my mom had.

I wonder if @syo is ham-fistedly referring to what I've run into with men who are grown children (e.g. they have juvenile behaviours and attitudes).

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I've heard (TV docu, so not really a reliable source) that the problems associated with menopause are a western phenomenon. Japanese women for example don't suffer from the same symptoms.

The thing that makes me have some doubts is that trans women are known for occasionally having pseudo-periods. Medical literature has long said no, it doesn't happen, and then at least several of us have unexpectedly found ourselves in a very unusual and unfamiliar situation amd mood.

 

[Rival]

The thing that makes me have some doubts is that trans women are known for occasionally having pseudo-periods. Medical literature has long said no, it doesn't happen, and then at least several of us have unexpectedly found ourselves in a very unusual and unfamiliar situation amd mood.

I think some of it may be down to diet, environment, etc. but most is probably a misplaced pride: 'Our women don't have this. Our women aren't crazy.'

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I wonder if @syo is ham-fistedly referring to what I've run into with men who are grown children (e.g. they have juvenile behaviours and attitudes).

That sort of upfront confrontational approach I have my doubts. Viker clearly stated it happened as a child and Syo jumped straight to an accusation.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I think some of it may be down to diet, environment, etc. but most is probably a misplaced pride: 'Our women don't have this. Our women aren't crazy.'

Perhaps, but they have "kitsune tsuki," a condition of being possessed by the spirit of a fox. It's said to happen more often to women than men.
But also a thing with menstraul symptoms, traditionally Japanese women, especially young women, have had far more sexual freedom and liberty than women of the Christianized Western world. I don't know if that helps explain it, but it's bound to to at least change something when the same and hiding everything vaginal isn't as intense.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

An OK definition but it lacks what @Quintessence added: the person or people in their vicinity have to suffer. That's the difference between a disorder or a simple deviance and an illness.

The APA doesn't exclude that and you'll find that prerequisite in the DSM.

 

[syo]

Everyone is someone's child.

No.

 

[dybmh]

I'm not a medical professional, so my definition won't be real 'qualified', but...

It seems to me its when your brain functions in a way that is detrimental to yourself or those around you.

may I add, persistent? I'm 90% sure all diagnosis of mental illness require that symptoms are causing problems over a period of time.

I tend to go with the APA description in the link

Here it is! From the link:

"It is not always clear when a problem with mood or thinking has become serious enough to be a mental health concern. Sometimes, for example, a low or depressed mood is normal, such as when a person experiences the loss of a loved one. But if that depressed mood continues to cause distress or gets in the way of normal functioning, the person may benefit from professional care. Family or friends may recognize changes or problems that a person doesn’t see in themselves."

"Persistent" is an important part of the defintion, imo.

 

[JustGeorge]

may I add, persistent? I'm 90% sure all diagnosis of mental illness require that symptoms are causing problems over a period of time.



Here it is! From the link:

"It is not always clear when a problem with mood or thinking has become serious enough to be a mental health concern. Sometimes, for example, a low or depressed mood is normal, such as when a person experiences the loss of a loved one. But if that depressed mood continues to cause distress or gets in the way of normal functioning, the person may benefit from professional care. Family or friends may recognize changes or problems that a person doesn’t see in themselves."

"Persistent" is an important part of the defintion, imo.

Yes, persistent is a good point. We all experience highs and lows that are normal to the cycles and events of life. I think it would decline into illness if its not alleviated over time or at the resolution of an issue.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I have PMDD and have read certain journals wherein some relevant clinicians don't believe it exists and is a culturally-bound disorder. I found this very distressing because I never even knew it existed before I went on the progesterone-only contraceptive pill and all my symptoms pretty much went away. Every time before my period I would become severely moody, sleepless (total non-sleep), depressed, distressed, hopeless and dangerously suicidal. My environment didn't help but nor did I want to acknowledge that it all happened pre-menstruation. When I started the pill I finally understood it as a hormonal issue, looked it up and found PMDD. To be told it's not real was quite jarring and now I'm second guessing if it were all in my head and things weren't that bad. But I nearly killed myself several times. If it's not real why did the pill make it go away when I didn't even know it existed then and couldn't possibly have been a placebo?

This gaslighting is unhelpful from these people.

Anything that has to do with hormone disregulation, especially as it pertains to metabolic systems and mental health, is so poorly understood that you get even doctors with cold, dismissive and out of touch responses like 'just control your emotions.' It's super unhelpful and in some cases negligence from ignorance or malice.

Much sympathy.

 

[Link]

There is a hadith a person was brought to the Nabi (s) and he lost sanity. They said he was possessed. The Prophet (s) responded, and said, possessed is a person who..... (bad traits forget exactly what he said but they were description of evil people in general), and then said "This person is not possessed (same word for crazy in Arabic) but rather is just sick".

I will scan it and show it from the book I read it from and put references later.

I too was ignorant about this, and use to beat myself up for my illness.

 

[Secret Chief]

One of the symptoms of mental illness can be the urge to post on this forum.

 

[Link]

One of the symptoms of mental illness can be the urge to post on this forum.

So can procrastination to do readings lol.

 

[ChristineM]

One of the symptoms of mental illness can be the urge to post on this forum.

Are you sure?