Tag: mental illness

Men & Women are Different!

There is a difference in the way men experience depression and the women do.  It is quite remarkable to look at both.

How do women experience depression?

Depression is more common among women than among men. Biological, life cycle, hormonal and psychosocial factors unique to women may be linked to women’s higher depression rate. Researchers have shown that hormones directly affect brain chemistry that controls emotions and mood. For example, women are particularly vulnerable to depression after giving birth, when hormonal and physical changes, along with the new responsibility of caring for a newborn, can be overwhelming. Many new mothers experience a brief episode of the “baby blues,” but some will develop postpartum depression, a much more serious condition that requires active treatment and emotional support for the new mother. Some studies suggest that women who experience postpartum depression often have had prior depressive episodes.

Some women may also be susceptible to a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), sometimes called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a condition resulting from the hormonal changes that typically occur around ovulation and before menstruation begins. During the transition into menopause, some women experience an increased risk for depression. Scientists are exploring how the cyclical rise and fall of estrogen and other hormones may affect the brain chemistry that is associated with depressive illness.

Finally, many women face the additional stresses of work and home responsibilities, caring for children and aging parents, abuse, poverty, and relationship strains. It remains unclear why some women faced with enormous challenges develop depression, while others with similar challenges do not.

How do men experience depression?

Men often experience depression differently than women and may have different ways of coping with the symptoms. Men are more likely to acknowledge having fatigue, irritability, loss of interest in once–pleasurable activities, and sleep disturbances, whereas women are more likely to admit to feelings of sadness, worthlessness and/or excessive guilt.

Men are more likely than women to turn to alcohol or drugs when they are depressed, or become frustrated, discouraged, irritable, angry and sometimes abusive. Some men throw themselves into their work to avoid talking about their depression with family or friends, or engage in reckless, risky behavior. And even though more women attempt suicide, many more men die by suicide in the United States.

Summary

It is imperative that we see the difference, especially if we are helping each other out in this particular area.  We need to “see” depression in order to effectively minister to the depressed.

For me, personally, I see a lot of men with anger, an anger that is constantly moving  just below the surface.  Very often, this anger is like an iceburg, most of it is submerged, but it is real, and is often a way that a man experiences his clinical depression.

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Source for much of this: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtml

Grade Your State

Our national mental health care system is in crisis. Long fragile, fragmented, and inadequate, it is now in serious peril. In 2003, the presidential New Freedom Commission presented a vision for a life-saving, recovery-oriented, cost-effective, evidence-based system of care. States have been working to improve the system, but progress is minimal.

Today, even those states that have worked the hardest stand to see their gains wiped out. As the country faces the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression, state budget shortfalls mean budget cuts to mental health services.

The country as a whole was graded D. No states received an A grade, and only six (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Oklahoma) received a B. Eighteen states got C’s, a whopping 21 got D’s – and 6 states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming) got a failing grade – F.  The state I live in,  Alaska, received a D.

To see your states report card, go to http://www.nami.org/gtsTemplate09.cfm?Section=Grading_the_States_2009

The budget cuts are coming at a time when mental health services are even more urgently needed. It is a vicious cycle that destroys lives and creates more significant financial troubles for states and the federal government in the long run.

One in four Americans experience mental illness at some point in their lives. The most serious conditions affect 10.6 million people. Mental illness is the greatest cause of disability in the nation, and twice as many Americans live with schizophrenia than with HIV/AIDS.

We know what works to save lives and help people recover. In the face of crisis, America needs to move forward, not retreat. We cannot leave our most vulnerable citizens behind.

NAMI was the source of this study, you can see it at: http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Grading_the_States_2009/Overview1/Overview.htm

The Challenge of ADHD

ADD/ADHD or Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder affects thirty to fifty percent of adults who had ADHD in childhood. Accurate diagnosis of ADHD in adults is challenging and requires attention to early development, and symptoms of inattention, distractibility, impulsivity and emotional changes.

ADHD Symptoms

 The most prevalent symptoms of ADD / ADHD are inattention and distractibility and/or hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. Difficulties with concentration, mental focus, and inhibition of impulses and behaviors are chronic and pervasive and impair an individual’s daily functioning across various settings — home, school or work, in relationships, etc.

Inattention

Individuals who are inattentive have difficulty staying focused and attending to mundane tasks. They are easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds, shift from one activity to another, and seem to get bored easily. They may appear forgetful and even spacey or confused as if “in a fog.” Organizing and completing tasks is often extremely difficult, as is sorting out what information is relevant versus irrelevant. An individual with inattentive symptoms may have great difficulty keeping up with items, frequently losing things and living life in a disorganized way. Time management is also often an issue. Inattentive behaviors are sometimes overlooked because they are often harder to identify and less disruptive than hyperactive and impulsive symptoms. An individual with the predominately inattentive type of ADHD may even appear sluggish, lethargic and slow to respond and process information.

Hyperactivity

Individuals who are hyperactive have excessively high levels of activity, which may present as physical and/or verbal overactivity. They may appear to be in constant motion, perpetually “on the go” as if driven by a motor. They have difficulty keeping their body still — moving about excessively, squirming or fidgeting. Individuals who are hyperactive often feel restless, may talk excessively, interrupt others, and monopolize conversations not letting others get in a word. It is not unusual for an individual with hyperactive symptoms to engage in a running commentary on the activities going on around them. Their behaviors tend to be loud and disruptive. This difficulty regulating their own activity level often creates great problems in social, school and work situations.

Impulsivity

Individuals who are impulsive have trouble inhibiting their behaviors and responses. They often act and speak before thinking, reacting in a rapid way without considering consequences. They may interrupt others, blurt out responses, and rush through assignments without carefully reading or listening to instructions. Waiting turns and being patient is extremely difficult for someone who is impulsive. They prefer speed over accuracy and so often complete tasks quickly, but in a careless manner. They go full swing into situations and may even place themselves in potentially risky situations without thought. Their lack of impulse control can not only be dangerous, but can also create stress in school/work and in relationships with others. Delayed gratification or waiting for larger rewards is very hard for an impulsive person.

Three Types of ADHD are Identified:

  • ADHD, Combined Type – Individual displays both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms.
  • ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type – Symptoms are primarily related to inattention. Individual does not display significant hyperactive/impulsive behaviors.
  • ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type – Symptoms are primarily related to hyperactivity and impulsivity. Individual does not display significant attention problems.

Related Conditions

As many as one third of children with ADHD have one or more coexisting conditions. The most common of these are behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, learning and language disabilities. Adults with ADHD show an even higher incidence of additional or accompanying disorders. These adults may also suffer from depression, mood disorders, substance addictions, anxiety, phobias or behavioral problems.

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Treatment options from About.com Health’s Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board.

http://add.about.com/od/treatmentoptions/a/ADHDtreatment.htm

WebMD ADHD Information page.

http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-adults

ADHDNews page.

http://www.adhdnews.com/adult-adhd.htm

BB Thoughts for Saturday, 11-14-09

crossred“The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand times less than we deserve, and much less than many of our fellow-creatures are suffering around us. Let us therefore pray for grace to be humble, thankful, and patient.”    John Newton (1725-1807)

Rambling thoughts…. 

For the person who believes, this can be a real thorny issue. Can a God who will and can afflict us for our good, can he be trusted?  There are some who suggest that God is intentionally malicious; like a young boy pulling the  wings off of flies in bored amusement, to watch them scramble about.  I am certain this is not the case.

Those of us with mental illnesses who are believers will face this issue fairly often.  I get terribly depressed, to the point of despairing and even suicide.  One of the inner dialogues that happen, is “Why?”  “Does God know?”  “Does he care? ” “Why is this happening to me?”  You know what?  Only God knows, and he is not telling.  Sometimes we just have to live with questions.

The believer must accept this at face value.  It really doesn’t matter.  You face the fiery furnace, and that is a fearful thing.  But whatever transpires, our trials teach us about love, especially when we find a fellow-sufferer.  I have found that mentally ill people are almost always good, gentle people.  They have finally learned how to love, they generally have the scars to prove it.

To get stable, a prayer life should be established in our lives.  (If you have tried and tried, I would recommend getting prayer beads.)  Praying will clarify things and settle things.  Luther once said that just like “a cobbler’s task was to make shoes, so a Christian’s is to pray”.  Prayer is real-life for the believer.  It is a shot of adrenaline into the heart of a dying man.  I take my meds and I regard prayer as one of my other medications.  Prayer for me is both an anti-depressant and a mood-stablizer.  It is that significant.