Nightly nightmares occur in their sleep while their hands are shaking and sweaty. A daily feeling of being hunted by something unseen and unexplained. A black figure of his own self chasing him throughout his life. Silent screams filled the room at every corner of the year. A self-hair pulling, excessive scratching, and wounding self. A daily mood swings and constant irritability. Refusing to leave the room of mess. Multiple eyes looked at every corner of the room. Avoidance looking back on yesterday. This miserableness filled the years of a person suffering from their own fear.
Different circumstances have different impacts on someone’s life. In the Department of Health’s (DOH) press release on October 10, 2020, they addressed that around 3.6 Filipinos are suffering from mental illnesses. “There is less than one mental health worker for every 100,000 Filipinos, and many are currently unable to gain access to services,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III shared. They said that the pandemic contributed to the rising number of mental illness cases, especially in adults, healthcare providers, and people with underlying health issues.
Mental disorder is described as clinically significant to an individual's cognition, emotional control, or behavior. It is usually associated with distress and mental malfunction of someone. Mental disorder is acknowledged as health disorder. There are different forms of mental disorders that can be seen in someone’s behavior and be acknowledged based on experiences. Mental illness is a real illness that should be acknowledged and can also end someone’s life. Some of the most known mental disorders are depression, anxiety, bipolar, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These have different causes and almost the same effects.
Anxiety is a form of excessive and continuous fear of someone on a certain matter. These fears make someone avoid certain events or possible occurrences. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that 301 million people are experiencing anxiety whereas 58 million are kids and adolescents. There are different forms of anxiety that someone could experience. Generalized anxiety disorder is about having excessive and unrealistic fear that causes tension inside. Social anxiety or known as social phobia is about worrying and being overwhelmed by an enormous count of people around, thinking that someone is judging you. Panic disorder occurs when excessive fear has an impact on your other body organs such as the heart due to palpitations and chest pains and sometimes feeling choked or having a heart attack. There are also specific phobias where someone is experiencing fear or avoidance of specific things or events. There are more forms of anxiety that could happen to someone. Separation anxiety, on the other hand, is described as the fear of being left by someone close to them. Anxiety can be seen when someone has constant irritability, clammy hands, upset stomach, avoidance of something, or feeling restless.
Depression is also a form of mental disorder that is described as a constant sadness or any relation that negatively affects the physical and cognitive health of someone experiencing depression. Experiencing depression causes someone to decrease their function to do work or certain matters. In 2019, the WHO said that 280 million are living with depression, 23 million of these are children and adolescents. This illness can be seen in someone who constantly felt sad or depressive mood, sudden losing of interest in activities that were once enjoyed, sudden change in appetite, lack or too much in sleeping, loss of energy, difficulty in concentration, feeling of worthlessness or guilt, and worse of all, suicidal. Depression also plays a role in risk in different factors of other health and wellness of an individual. In biochemistry, it is said that different chemicals in the brain contribute to symptoms of depression. It is also said that depression can run in genetics, wherein in an identical twin, one will have depression, and the other has a 70% chance of having the illness.
Bipolar disorder or formerly called manic depression refers to a condition that causes extreme mood swings that include emotional highs or mania and hypomania, and emotional lows or depression. Hypomania is less extreme than mania, but in both, individuals may feel euphoric, energetic, or unusually irritable. These mood swings may affect sleep, energy, activity, behavior, and the clearness to think. Bipolar disorder is lifelong but can be managed by proper treatment and psychological counseling. WHO declared 40 million cases of bipolar disorder in 2019. Bipolar disorder comes in different types which include the following. Bipolar I disorder is about having at least one manic episode that may be followed by hypomanic or major depressive episodes. Bipolar II disorder is when someone had at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic episode and never had a manic episode. Cyclothymic disorder for someone who had at least two years of many periods of hypomania symptoms and depressive symptoms. There are other types of bipolar that can be caused by certain drugs, alcohol, or medical conditions such as Cushing’s disease. Mania and hypomania are two types of episodes that may occur to someone with bipolar disorder but occurred in the same symptoms. Mania is more severe than hypomania and it is more noticeable.
Manic and hypomanic episodes may include abnormally upbeat, increased energy, exaggerated self-confidence or euphoria, decreased need for sleep, unusual talkativeness, poor decision-making, and distractibility. If at least three or more of these are being experienced by someone, it is considered manic or hypomanic. Major depressive episodes, on the other hand, cause noticeable difficulty in day-to-day activities. If five or more of the symptoms are experienced, someone may have a major depressive episode contributing to bipolar disorder. This includes depressive mood, loss of interest in all or almost all activities, significant weight changes which are either loss or gain, change in appetites that can be increased or decreased, insomnia or hypersomnia, slowed behavior, fatigue, feeling of worthlessness or guilt, poor ability to concentrate, indecisive, and suicidal.
Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD may develop after experiencing or exposure to an extremely horrific event or series of events. This can be seen when someone has repetitive nightmares or flashbacks to the event, avoidance to reminisce the memories, doing related activities, or the people who are recalling the events, feeling of hopelessness, has difficulty maintaining a close relationship, lacks interest in hobbies, emotionally numb, or has difficulty experiencing positive emotions. Some symptoms can also occur in physical and emotional responsiveness such as being easily frightened, always on guard for danger, self-destructive, difficulty in sleeping, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and overwhelming guilt. Children who are 6 years old and below can also experience PTSD. They tend to re-enact the traumatic event through a play and have terrifying dreams that may or may not include aspects of the traumatic event. PTSD symptoms' intensity can vary over time. PTSD symptoms can usually occur when something related to the traumatic incident was reminded to the patient.
Mental disorder is a real diseases. Just like other diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hepatitis, and others, it can also contribute negativity to the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of individuals. Just like diseases being widely acknowledged, mental disorders can also cause death. If someone or you, yourself, experiencing any of the related symptoms, don’t be afraid to reach out for help. The Philippines is now offering a toll-free hotline for mental health patients to talk to. Hopeline Philippines 2919 was implemented to be a call hotline for Filipinos or anyone in the country to have someone to talk to when a mental breakdown occurred. Mental disorders and consulting with a psychiatrist do not make someone less of a person. It should be acknowledged and not stigmatized. These have also appropriate medical attention and psychological counseling. It is a serious matter and did not occur to be made fun of.
You are not insane, you are ill and need medical attention.
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