This month is such a great month to talk about Mental Illness again – one of my favorite topics simply because I feel it is not touched upon nearly as much as it should be. I was thinking about how many people are affected by such illnesses and I realized that you never hear much about psychotic disorders – which are some of the more serious illnesses that normally effect the brain and even your motor skills. Schizophrenia , delusions, and paraphrenia are various types of psychotic disorder, usually found in the elderly, from substance abuse, or from different medical conditions.
Schizophrenia:
Webmd.com explains that schizophrenia has symptoms that include “distorted thoughts, hallucinations, and feelings of fright and paranoia.” Usually these symptoms last longer than 6 months and can have huge effects on your home life, work life, and social relationships. There are even sub genres to this illness that have their own separate effects that may last less than 6 months, but still play a huge role in effecting your daily activities, or even do as much as change your mood seemingly as if you were to have bipolar disorder.
Having schizophrenia can be scary for individuals as they generally feel out of touch with reality. They may float in and out of delusions and loss of memory is extremely common, especially in the elderly. – hallucinations and disorganized speech are also common. Nih.gov claims “Schizophrenia sometimes runs in families. However, it is important to know that just because someone in a family has schizophrenia, it does not mean that other members of the family will have it as well.” Treatment for this illness is 100% possible and can be managed through different medications such as antipsychotics. Although medicine isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, for more serious illnesses such as this, it can be vital in providing the correct elements needed to balance someones brain patterns and structures out. Outside of medications there are also treatment centers that serve to support individuals who suffer from various psychotic disorders. It can help provide a sense of belonging and also give management methods that may decrease episodes or panics.
Delusional Disorder:
With delusional disorder individuals have a very difficult time figuring out what is real versus what is imagined. This is commonly found among people who suffer from substance abuse and the delusions are not normally circumstances that are ridiculous, but instead delusions that are very seemingly real. My.clevelandclinic.org states “People with delusional disorder experience non-bizarre delusions, which involve situations that could occur in real life, such as being followed, poisoned, deceived, conspired against, or loved from a distance. ” This can cause the disorder to be extremely dangerous and even make a person dangerous themselves if they believe their lives are being threatened or constantly challenged. Though some of the delusions can display themselves in ways that disrupts a persons everyday life, there is also the case the delusions are more normal, and therefore the individual more often than not may function more normal and may not appear bizarre or confused in any way.
Again, this can be treated with medications such as mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and also various therapies like individual, cognitive, or family therapy. These are great options that help make people feel they are not alone, have someone to listen to, and also someone to vent to about their delusions that they cannot seem to get away from.
It is important to remember that no matter the mental illness, everyone is still a human being and should be treated with love, care, and respect. You never know what someone may be suffering from, and when it is out of their control, maybe passed down from a family member, showing that you care about them and are there for them, can go the extra mile in making them feel extra protected and looked after, which can ultimately aid in helping them manage their illnesses.
A Happy You Is A Healthy You!
