Recognize Different Types of Mental Illness
People have an increasing awareness of mental illness today. With the new awareness has come difficult questions. You could've noticed odd behavior in a friend or loved one and wondered if they have a mental illness. You wonder how you can determine what illness they have and get your loved one the help they need.
Instructions
Recognize Depression
1. Ask the person how he's feeling. Often a person reports feeling incredibly sad, hopeless or worthless for more than 3 weeks. Realize though, that if someone experienced a life-altering event, they may have a lingering sadness that isn't clinical depression.
2. Question a large change of appetite that can't be explained by diet or exercise. Often people experiencing depression also have unusual changes in appetite.
3. Listen carefully when the person discusses her life. If she talks about not sleeping well or not going to places she used to, ask her if she's been ill lately. If she hasn't, she may be depressed.
4. Notice when the person complains of stomachaches or headaches that seem to come on for no reason. Ask him to see the doctor to rule out any physical causes, such as allergies or intestinal problems. If these problems are already ruled out, these physical problems may be caused by depression.
5. Call 911 immediately if the person attempts suicide. If she talks excessively about death or wanting to die, call a suicide hotline or a hospital immediately. Suicidal people often talk about wanting to die before they actually make an attempt.
Recognize Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
6. Be supportive if you know a loved one has suffered thorough a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, war, or attack. Sometimes, you may notice symptoms immediately or 3 months to 1 year after the event.
7. Listen to the person talk. He may constantly retell the event over and over to anyone who will listen. He may tell someone he can still hear certain sounds, or see certain things, which is known as a flashback.
8. Ask a person how she's sleeping. She'll often report nightmares about the event.
9. See if the person attempts to avoid certain places, activities or people that are associated with the trauma. Many times, he won't want any kind of reminders of the event if he's suffering from PTSD.
10. Check how the person is feeling. She may be experiencing depression after the event, especially if it was life-changing. She may also experience unusual irritability or angry outbursts that seem to come out of nowhere.
11. Worry about a change of habits. Just like in depression, he may have lost interest in activities or loved ones.
12. Watch for an exaggerated startle response or hyperviligance. People who suffer from PTSD often startle easily, especially if they're re-experiencing the event through a flashback.
Recognize Bi-Polar Manic Episodes
13. Notice any excessive happiness, hopefulness and excitement that suddenly appear. If a person has bipolar disorder, her mood may change to angry and hostile quickly and then back again. Usually, the extreme happiness isn't triggered by any event or activity.
14. Observe the person's behavior and speech patterns. Restlessness is especially common. Conversing with the person can be difficult because of his rapid, sometimes incoherent speech and inability to concentrate.
15. Question whether or not she's slept at all. A person suffering from mania usually has more energy and doesn't want to sleep much. She often comes up with ambitious and sometimes impractical goals or projects when she skips sleep.
16. Ask why he suddenly quit his job, got drunk on a school night or did another impulsive thing. A person's judgment is usually impaired during manic episodes.
17.Look for sharp increases in credit card bills or missing money. She may go on expensive shopping sprees or start gambling without thinking of consequences.
18. Listen carefully to what the person says. Sometimes he may experience a hallucination or delusion. He might tell you something is in the room which is clearly not, or he may claim to have some superpower.
Recognize Bi-Polar Depressive Episodes
19. Be aware of a sudden shift of mood. The person may go from being exceedingly happy to feeling incredibly sad and hopeless.
20. Discover the person sleeping all day, whereas during a manic stage the person didn't want to sleep. He may also complain about being tired but unable to sleep.
21. Inquire about the projects she discussed doing before. If she shows little to no interest, she may be suffering from a depressive bout.
22. Listen to what he says. He may say he wishes to die or may talk about committing suicide. Take his words seriously and call for help immediately.
Recognize Schizophrenia
23. Note bizarre ideas that he shares with you. He may believe that he is God, that people can overhear his thoughts or that he has superhuman powers.
24. Realize that she may hear voices or see things that aren't there. One symptom of schizophrenia is auditory and visual hallucinations. Likewise, she may not be able to comprehend everyday sights and sounds.
25. Discuss ideas and activities with the person to see if his reasoning is logical. When you discuss things with someone suffering from schizophrenia, his responses may make no sense. His writing may show a similar lack of logic.
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Notice repetition in movement or gestures, such as walking in circles, which can be a sign of this mental illness.
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See whether she shows a lack of emotion or shows inappropriate emotion during a situation, such as laughing instead of crying. She may be angry instead of happy about a good promotion.
Tags: suffering from, mental illness, they have, after event, Different Types, Different Types Mental
