Mental Health Research Paper
Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Choices made, relating to others, and how stress is handled are all determined by mental health.
Mental health problems can affect thinking, mood, and behavior. They can affect people in all stages of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
Mental health problems are common and help is available. People with mental health problems can get better and some recover completely.
Recognizing the signs and knowing when to seek help is important. Below are three signs that it’s time to involve a mental health professional.
Experiencing Distress
Everyone has ups and downs in their mood. Feelings of distress …show more content…
are ordinary as a brief reaction to a negative or stressful event.
Feelings of distress include sadness, anger, irritability, fear, anxiety, helplessness, confusion, and embarrassment.
These feelings, although unpleasant, do not usually lead to any serious problems. However, for people with mental health disorders, these experiences of distress tend to be more frequent and severe.
There Is No Clear Identifiable Cause.
Distress is a natural response to negative or stressful event.
However, when distress is experienced without any identifiable cause, this may be a sign to consult a mental health care professional.
Examples of this are:
Crying frequently without knowing why
Experiencing outbursts of anger towards others for no apparent reason
Feeling anxious in situations that are normally considered to be non-threatening
The Reaction is Often Out of Proportion to the Circumstances.
Reacting to a negative event is normal. The intensity of the reaction is usually dependent on the severity of the event. When the reactions is often out of proportion to the current circumstance, it may be time to seek help.
These reactions may include:
Feeling worthless or helpless after performing poorly on an exam
Anger outbursts over small problems
Avoiding classes or social situations because they cause anxiety
The Distress Continues for Weeks, Months, or Years
Typical distress will usually begin to subside within a few hours or days of the negative event. If distress continues for prolonged periods of time and/or does not improve when something good happens, it may be a sign that professional mental health care may be required.
2. Inability to Complete Activities of Daily …show more content…
Living
Activities of daily living (ADL) are tasks that are completed every day. Often these are tasks that people don’t think much about and take for granted such as grooming, dressing, and eating.
Activities of daily living will change depending on the stage of life and development that a person is in. For adults, housework may be included as an ADL. For children, school work and playing are part of their ADLs.
Inability to complete ADLs may look like:
A four-year-old not able to dress him/herself
A ten-year-old not making friends and playing with others
A young adult unable to prepare a meal
An adult not able to independently keep personal hygiene
If there are no physical disabilities that are preventing the ability to complete these tasks, this may signs of developmental delay or mental health problems.
3. Demonstrating Severe, Out-of-Control Behavior That Can Hurt Self or Others.
Most people take the ability to think before acting, to control their impulses or urges, for granted. This is not as easy for people who have problems controlling their impulses.
Impulses that are uncontrolled can often bring harm to the individual or others.
Just before the impulsive behavior a person feels increasing tension or arousal. Often the action will help the person feel immediate relief or pleasure. Regret or shame may be experienced after the incident, but this is not always the case.
These out-of-control behaviors are usually not planned, but are rather an act to fill an immediate, conscious wish.
Seek look out for include:
A pattern of explosive temper tantrums resulting in dangerous behavior
Physical attacks that can harm others
Threats or attempts to hurt
self
Use of weapons to threaten or hurt others
Cruelty to animals
Destruction of property
There is help available to help treat mental health problems. Recognizing the signs and knowing when to involve a mental health care professional is the first step to improvement.
Mental health problems can affect thinking, mood, and behavior. They can affect people in all stages of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
Mental health problems are common and help is available. People with mental health problems can get better and some recover completely.
Recognizing the signs and knowing when to seek help is important. Below are three signs that it’s time to involve a mental health professional.
Experiencing Distress
Everyone has ups and downs in their mood. Feelings of distress …show more content…
are ordinary as a brief reaction to a negative or stressful event.
Feelings of distress include sadness, anger, irritability, fear, anxiety, helplessness, confusion, and embarrassment.
These feelings, although unpleasant, do not usually lead to any serious problems. However, for people with mental health disorders, these experiences of distress tend to be more frequent and severe.
There Is No Clear Identifiable Cause.
Distress is a natural response to negative or stressful event.
However, when distress is experienced without any identifiable cause, this may be a sign to consult a mental health care professional.
Examples of this are:
Crying frequently without knowing why
Experiencing outbursts of anger towards others for no apparent reason
Feeling anxious in situations that are normally considered to be non-threatening
The Reaction is Often Out of Proportion to the Circumstances.
Reacting to a negative event is normal. The intensity of the reaction is usually dependent on the severity of the event. When the reactions is often out of proportion to the current circumstance, it may be time to seek help.
These reactions may include:
Feeling worthless or helpless after performing poorly on an exam
Anger outbursts over small problems
Avoiding classes or social situations because they cause anxiety
The Distress Continues for Weeks, Months, or Years
Typical distress will usually begin to subside within a few hours or days of the negative event. If distress continues for prolonged periods of time and/or does not improve when something good happens, it may be a sign that professional mental health care may be required.
2. Inability to Complete Activities of Daily …show more content…
Living
Activities of daily living (ADL) are tasks that are completed every day. Often these are tasks that people don’t think much about and take for granted such as grooming, dressing, and eating.
Activities of daily living will change depending on the stage of life and development that a person is in. For adults, housework may be included as an ADL. For children, school work and playing are part of their ADLs.
Inability to complete ADLs may look like:
A four-year-old not able to dress him/herself
A ten-year-old not making friends and playing with others
A young adult unable to prepare a meal
An adult not able to independently keep personal hygiene
If there are no physical disabilities that are preventing the ability to complete these tasks, this may signs of developmental delay or mental health problems.
3. Demonstrating Severe, Out-of-Control Behavior That Can Hurt Self or Others.
Most people take the ability to think before acting, to control their impulses or urges, for granted. This is not as easy for people who have problems controlling their impulses.
Impulses that are uncontrolled can often bring harm to the individual or others.
Just before the impulsive behavior a person feels increasing tension or arousal. Often the action will help the person feel immediate relief or pleasure. Regret or shame may be experienced after the incident, but this is not always the case.
These out-of-control behaviors are usually not planned, but are rather an act to fill an immediate, conscious wish.
Seek look out for include:
A pattern of explosive temper tantrums resulting in dangerous behavior
Physical attacks that can harm others
Threats or attempts to hurt
self
Use of weapons to threaten or hurt others
Cruelty to animals
Destruction of property
There is help available to help treat mental health problems. Recognizing the signs and knowing when to involve a mental health care professional is the first step to improvement.