Mental Health Free Essays

CITIZENS FOR MENTAL HEALTH BACKGROUNDER Mental Health SCOPE OF THE ISSUE Our mental health is affected by many factors including where we live, the state of our environment, genetics, our income and education level, and our relationships with friends and family. Positive mental health is a cornerstone of our overall well-being. Mentally healthy people are able to cope with the inevitable stress and strain of daily life and have the resilience to rebound from life-changing events such as loss of a loved one, loss of a job, or marriage breakdown. We will write a custom essay sample on Mental Health or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, some leading health indicators show Canadians as a whole, and some groups in particular, are experiencing mental health problems in their lives. These problems exact a significant toll on individuals, their families, and society at large. †¢ Suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds, and 16% among those from 25 to 44. †¢ More than half a million persons aged 15 and over (2. 2%) reported having activity limitations due to emotional, psychological or psychiatric conditions. An additional 1. % had activity limitations due to frequent memory problems or periods of confusion. †¢ Stress and mental health-related problems currently represent 40-50% of the short-term disability claims among employees of some of Canada’s largest corporations. †¢ The Canadian economy loses an estimated $30 billion a year in productivity due to mental illness and addiction problems. †¢ Social conditions such as poverty, income disparities, homelessness and housing instability, income insecurity, racism, sexism, homophobia negatively impact mental health. FEDERAL ACTION Health promotion seeks to develop strategies that increase individual and community control over the determinants of health to improve overall health and promote social justice and equity. Mental health promotion builds on the above principles. It entails enhancing people’s resiliency and coping skills, and above all, their capacity to take control over their lives, thereby improving their mental health. Mental health promotion is targeted at the population as a whole, including people with mental illness. Policies and programs to promote mental health are pursued at every level of society, including the federal government. The Mental Health Promotion Unit (MHPU) was created in 1995 as the focal point of Health Canada’s efforts to maintain and improve positive mental health and well being for the Canadian population. The new MHPU addresses mental health promotion from a population health perspective that takes into account the broad range of determinants of mental health. Its mandate is to promote and support mental health and reduce the burden of mental health problems and disorders by contributing to: the development, synthesis, dissemination and application of knowledge and the development, implementation and evaluation of policies, programs and activities designed to promote mental health and address the needs of people with mental health problems or disorders. In addition, Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch supports the delivery of public health and health promotion services on-reserve and in Inuit communities. It provides drug, dental and ancillary health services to First Nations and Inuit people regardless of residence. The Branch also provides primary care services on-reserve in remote and isolated areas, where there are no provincial services readily available. Health Canada publications deal with issues such as helping children live with separation and divorce, coping with the stress of terrorism, and promoting mental health in First Nations and Inuit communities. Other federal departments also offer programs which promote mental health. Federal programs related to, for example, income, employment, education, housing, or human rights all play a part in helping to promote the mental health of Canadians (see other â€Å"Citizens for Mental Health† Backgrounders). COMMUNITY RESPONSE Healthy public policy and, in particular, mentally healthy public policy is a responsibility of all levels of government across a wide range of departments. Policies in a range of areas from income security to reducing stress in the workplace or programs such as suicide prevention or youth counselling all constitute health promoting initiatives. The following example related to health in the workplace could serve as a template for the development of mentally healthy policy in many areas of activity. Acting on the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion’s call for â€Å"putting health on the agenda of policymakers in all sectors and at all levels† the authors of a recent report prepared for the Institute for Work and Health looked at the impact of information about the health consequences of unemployment and job insecurity. They evaluated the influence and potential of such information, and analysed barriers to utilizing it in employment policy-making. The authors conclude with three recommendations aimed at combining greater awareness of employment-related health consequences with traditional employment policy-making: †¢ health policy-makers must act as the intellectual leaders in rephrasing health information in terms meaningful to employment policy-makers; †¢ both health and employment policy-makers must work toward an increase in cross-departmental and cross-governmental initiatives as well as toward greater awareness of and accountability for the health consequences of employment policy; and †¢ these policy-makers should monitor support for initiatives that are proposed on the basis of health information and be prepared to offer this information when they encounter resistance from stakeholders, bureaucrats, the media, and the general public. Sources †¢ CMHA Ontario Division (www. ontario. cmha. ca/content/information_and_links/statistics. asp? cID=3296) †¢ First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada (www. hc-sc. gc. ca/fnihb/index. htm) †¢ Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health – see CMHA Ontario (www. ontario. cmha. ca/content/information_and_links/statistics. asp? cID=3296) †¢ Mental Health Promotion Unit, Health Canada (www. hc-sc. gc. ca/hppb/mentalhealth/mhp) †¢ Statistics Canada – Cat 89-577-XIE, A Profile of Disability in Canada, 2001. Citizens For Mental Health is a national project of the Canadian Mental Health Association April 2003 How to cite Mental Health, Papers Mental Health Free Essays Mental health refers to the stability of persons’ emotional and psychological faculties as well as their capacity to function normally within a social setting[1] In essence it is basically how an individual evaluates themselves, their lives and the people in their lives. In order to help understand the issue of mental health, I would use Petria Thomas as my study case. The first part of this essay will seek to relate Thomas behavior as concerns mental distress. We will write a custom essay sample on Mental Health or any similar topic only for you Order Now The other part I will take into consideration factors that contribute to her mental health problems. There are various causes of mental health problems and this usually varies with individuals. This may include upsetting events in one’s past or present life, specific stresses, anxiety, genetic predisposition and other life events. In Thomas case, she was stressed. Stress as scientists have learned can affect us over long term periods. What triggers stress for Thomas in this case seems to be the fact that she is separated from her family? The pace of life and the nature of competitiveness associated with the sport she is involved is quite demanding. Psychologists believe that people who are very competitive and perfectionists are more prone to stress. Thomas was faced with the Olympic Games something she had to give her best in. The stress in her life seemed to have eventually been too much for her to cope. This may have led to other problems as depression and anxiety. According to her story, â€Å"she had lost hope, passion and focus in life†. She is also reported to have been â€Å"so depressed that she considered hurting herself†. The pain killers she took and in the event ended up overdosing herself were just a demonstration of depression. Too much pain killer just like alcohol is just depressants. Thomas other cause of mental problem seemed to be anxiety. Anxiety can be defined with relevance to her case as usually â€Å"the onset of persistent anxiety with a distressing even such as a physical illness or a period of stress† Thomas had undergone three shoulder reconstructions to help with her injuries. This seemed to be so much for her to bear. She was also dealing with a new situation having moved away from her â€Å"happy and close-knit family†. This coupled with the fact that she was still very young (19 years) raised the level of stress in her life and leading to her mental disorder. Anxiety generally is a wide range of feelings from mild to crippling distress. Her anxiety level had reached a point that had mentally affected her. One of the risks that threatened to push her to the edge was the fact that her coach wanted to drop her from the swimming team. This to her view was also unbearable having given everything and even separating from her family. Thomas problem of overdosing on non-prescribed pills in the run-up to the Olympic could have been another contributor to her state of mental health. References Connie R. Matthews, Elizabeth A. Skowron; Incorporating Prevention into Mental Health Counselor Training. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, Vol. 26, 2004 Elaine Sheehan (2002), Anxiety, Phobias and Panic Attacks: Vega books Elizabeth R.E, Martha Davis, Matthew McKay (2000), the relaxation and stress reduction workbook new harbinger. Randall L. H., Robert C. S., John J. Z.; Mental Health Counselors’ Decision-Making Priorities Related to Inpatient Admissions for Anxiety Disordered Clients: A Pilot Study.   Journal of Mental Health Counseling, Vol. 26, 2004. Richard Carlson, Joseph Bailey, (1998), slowing down to the speed of life: how to create a more peaceful, simpler life from the inside out Hodder Mobius. Potter Perry’s Fundamentals of Nursing (Crisp Taylor, 2005) Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing (Elder, Evans, Nizettes 2005) Victoria E. Kress;   Theory and Practice Submissions to the JMHC: Keeping the â€Å"Mental    Health† in Mental Health Counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, Vol.    28, 2006    [1] Randall L. H. (2004) How to cite Mental Health, Essay examples