Mental Health
Day 2
• “I couldn’t do anything without rituals. They invaded every
aspect of my life. Counting really bogged me down. I would
wash my hair three times as opposed to once because
three was a good luck number and one wasn’t. It took me
longer to read because I’d count the lines in a paragraph.
When I set my alarm at night, I had to set it to a number
that wouldn’t add up to a ’bad’ number.”
• “I knew the rituals didn’t make sense, and I was deeply
ashamed of them, but I couldn’t seem to overcome them
until I had therapy.”
• “Getting dressed in the morning was tough, because I had
a routine, and if I didn’t follow the routine, I’d get anxious
and would have to get dressed again. I always worried that
if I didn’t do something, my parents were going to die. I’d
have these terrible thoughts of harming my parents. That
was completely irrational, but the thoughts triggered more
anxiety and more senseless behavior. Because of the time
I spent on rituals, I was unable to do a lot of things that
were important to me.”
OCD – Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder
• anxiety disorder and is characterized by
recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions)
and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions)
• Repetitive behaviors are often performed with
the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or
making them go away.
• Performing these "rituals" provides only
temporary relief, and not performing them
markedly increases anxiety
Signs/Symptoms of OCD
• persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by
the urgent need to engage in certain rituals
• Ritual ex’s: repeatedly check things, touch things
(especially in a particular sequence), or count
things.
• may also be preoccupied with order and
symmetry, have difficulty throwing things out (so
they accumulate), or hoard unneeded items.
• OCD
PTSD
• “I was raped when I was 25 years old. For a long time, I
spoke about the rape as though it was something that
happened to someone else. I was very aware that it had
happened to me, but there was just no feeling.”
• “Then I started having flashbacks. They kind of came over
me like a splash of water. I would be terrified. Suddenly I
was reliving the rape. Every instant was startling. I wasn’t
aware of anything around me, I was in a bubble, just kind
of floating. And it was scary. Having a flashback can wring
you out.”
• “The rape happened the week before Thanksgiving, and I
can’t believe the anxiety and fear I feel every year around
the anniversary date. It’s as though I’ve seen a werewolf.
I can’t relax, can’t sleep, don’t want to be with anyone. I
wonder whether I’ll ever be free of this terrible problem.”
PTSD
• anxiety disorder develops after exposure to a terrifying event
(rape, death of close loved one, 9/11, military combat, etc)
• People with PTSD may startle easily, become emotionally
numb, lose interest in things they used to enjoy, have trouble
feeling affectionate, be irritable, become more aggressive, or
even become violent, avoid situations that remind them of the
original incident, and anniversaries of the incident are often
very difficult.
• Flashbacks: reliving the trauma in thoughts and nightmares.
– images, sounds, smells, or feelings. Often triggered by ordinary
occurrences (door slamming, siren)
– A person having a flashback may lose touch with reality and believe
that the traumatic incident is happening all over again
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS
OF DEPRESSION?
• PERSISTENT SAD, • INSOMNIA
ANXIOUS OR • THOUGHTS OF
EMPTY MOOD DEATH/SUICIDE
• HOPELESSNESS, • RESTLESSNESS
PESSIMISM • DIFFICULTY
• LOSS OF CONCENTRATING,
INTEREST IN REMEMBERING
ACTIVITIES THAT
YOU ONCE
ENJOYED
WHAT IS DEPRESSION?
• WHOLE BODY ILLNESS
EFFECTS YOUR THOUGHTS AND
YOUR PHYSICAL BEING
• PEOPLE ARE UNABLE TO “PULL
THEMSELVES TOGETHER”
• MAY HAVE A BIOCHEMICAL
INFLUENCE
• overwhelming sense of sadness, despair,
or anger.
ADDITIONAL INFO
• SAD- Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Bi-Polar Disorder
– Depressed and manic phases
• Manic symptoms include:
• severe changes in mood-either unusually happy or
silly, or very irritable, angry, agitated or aggressive
• unrealistic highs in self-esteem - for example feels all
powerful
• great increase in energy, ability to go with little or no
sleep for days without feeling tired
• increase in talking (speed)
• distractibility
• repeated high risk-taking behavior; abusing alcohol &
drugs, reckless driving, sexual promiscuity
TREATMENT
• MEDICATION-
ANTIDEPRESSANTS
“PROZAC,” “Zoloft”
• THERAPY
• EXERCISE
Suicide
• Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for
15- to 24-year-olds (CDC)
• Often triggered by a stressful event
A teen who is thinking about
suicide might:
• talk about suicide or death in general
• talk about "going away"
• talk about feeling hopeless or feeling guilty
• pull away from friends or family
• give verbal hints with statements such as: I won't
be a problem for you much longer, Nothing
matters, It's no use, and I won't see you again
• put his or her affairs in order, for example, give
away favorite possessions, clean his or her
room, throw away important belongings, etc.
• become suddenly cheerful after a period of
depression
ALWAYS TAKE
TALKS OF SUICIDE
SERIOUSLY!!
GET THAT PERSON
HELP IMEDIATELY!!
Self-Injury/Self Mutilation
Self-injury, self-inflicted violence, self-
injurious behavior or self-mutilation is
defined as a deliberate, intentional injury
to one’s own body that causes tissue
damage or leaves marks for more than a
few minutes which is done to cope
with an overwhelming or
distressing situation.
• Cutting - The arms, legs and front of the torso
are most commonly cut because they are easily
reached and easily hidden under clothing
• Branding – burning self with a hot object,
Friction burn – rubbing a pencil eraser on your
skin
• Hair-pulling (trichotillomania) – is an impulse
control disorder which at times seems to
resemble a habit, an addiction, or an obsessive-
compulsive disorder.
• self-injury is usually not suicidal
behavior
WHY?
• A learned response to deal with feelings
• “It expresses emotional pain or feelings that I’m
unable to put into words. It puts a punctuation
mark on what I’m feeling on the inside!”
• “It’s a way to have control over my body
because I can’t control anything else in my life”
• “I usually feel like I have a black hole in the pit of
my stomach, at least if I feel pain it’s better than
feeling nothing”
• I feel relieved and less anxious after I cut. The
emotional pain slowly slips away into the
physical pain”
Some helpful tips in dealing with
someone who self-injures
• Understand that self-harming behavior is an attempt to
maintain a certain amount of control which in and of itself
is a way of self-soothing
• Let the person know that you care and are available to
listen
• Encourage expressions of emotions including anger
• Spend time doing enjoyable activities together
• Offer to help them find a therapist or support
group
• Don’t make judgmental comments or tell the person to
stop the self-harming behavior – people who feel
worthless and powerless are even more likely to self-
injure
• Anorexia
• Kelly – 1
• Emily – 1
• Jessie – 1
• Mike – 1
• Mike - 2