According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 350 million people suffer from depression in the U.S, 18% of the U.S. population suffers from anxiety and 3% of the U.S. population suffers from an eating disorder. All of these mental illnesses pose an enormous issue in people’s lives because they can prohibit them from living their everyday lives like regular individuals do. Throughout our Mental Health Unit, I learned how mental illnesses affect a person’s brain and we went into depth about several specific disorders such as: anorexia, depression and anxiety.
The causes of depression, anxiety and/or an eating disorder can affect a certain person very differently compared to another person who suffers from the same issues. The main cause of developing a mental illness comes from genetics. From the past eight weeks to now, we’ve been studying DNA and the brain. DNA is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms. This can tie into why the genes passed down from prior generations can lead to an individual being more prone to develop a certain mental disorder.
In this model of DNA, you can see the sequencing between the four nitrogenous bases, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, and Thymine. DNA is used to store a significant amount of information for each individual. A fun fact about DNA that I learned is that 99% of a person’s DNA is identical to everyone else’s; it’s the last percent that makes someone so distinct from others. The other cause of a mental illness is a previous trauma or personal issues in a person’s life. The brain plays a huge factor in this because it is affected tremendously from stress, sadness and/or too little or too much of certain neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are signals that are pushed from nerves onto other nerves for the brain to take in and process.
This diagram of the brain explains how it is associated with everyday emotions and how it deals with previous experiences; whether or not they’re unfortunate and/or beneficial. If certain neurotransmitters are too high such as Norepinephrine, a person is much more susceptible to developing depression. A neurotransmitter linked to anxiety is Serotonin. Serotonin affects a person’s mood and low levels are linked to anxiety.
The main three mental illness that people suffer from are depression, anxiety and an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia. Depression is the main cause of disability throughout the world because it not only prohibits a person who suffers from it to live their daily lives, but also can affect their mental and emotional state. It can cause the affected person to suffer greatly and function poorly at work, at school and in the family. Especially when long-lasting and with moderate or severe intensity, depression may become a serious health condition. It affects a total 350 million people in the U.S. and even though women are more likely to develop this disorder, men can become depressed too based upon genes or traumas that may have stuck with them. Anxiety is the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults. Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events. Many people chose anxiety for their unit project last semester and they grasped onto the importance of raising awareness. I chose anorexia and bulimia for my unit project because I feel that this mental illness, as popular as it is, tends to go unnoticed.
That is my video that I made to show the effects of anorexia on a person’s body and mental health. I interviewed several people, including myself, and asked certain questions that could help anyone who listens develop a fuller understanding of an eating disorder. Both mental illnesses, anxiety and eating disorders, prohibit any individual from being their normal selves because they’re always on edge and/or insecure about other people judging them.
Throughout this unit, we learned about several ways to cope with mental illnesses. An easy yet effective way someone can release their stress and/or emotional turmoil is to do yoga. Yoga helps relieve the mind and relax the body. We did yoga in core to give us a chance to relax and give ourselves some space from the responsibilities we have.
We also had guest speakers come in with different resources that may help people who need it. Two people came on to discuss alcohol abuse and handed out an "Alcohol's Anonymous" pamphlet with dates and locations of their meetings. They said that everyone who takes this to their advantage and doesn't give up on being sober has succeeded and stopped drinking. We had another woman come in, name, and she talked about homeless people, children who need guidance and troubled people in general.
She handed out her card so we could contact her if we were interested in helping. Like I've previously mentioned, many people suffer from mental illnesses and because they have a hard time living their lives in a normal way, this type of help can push them in the right direction.
Overall, the Mental Health Unit was very interesting and I learned a lot of significant information that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I, now, know how to approach someone if I feel they are endangering themselves or are capable of hurting others. Depression, anxiety and eating disorders are very important and can, in an instant, change a person's life forever. Even though these mental illnesses are unfortunately common and if they are going on long enough, can pose serious health concerns. Coping methods such as yoga, getting help from others and asking for advice/mentor-ship are all ways that may help a person who is suffering from any known mental illness.
