Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness

2917 Words6 Pages
Introduction The following essay will begin by demonstrating what is understood by the concept of mental health. It will attempt to identify different explanations for the underlying issues causing mental illnesses and it will then centre around a case study focusing specifically on one mental health problem. A description of what the causes and effects of the chosen illness will be given and information on the available treatment will be presented. To round up the assignment a brief explanation of the chosen case study will be included with an attempt to distinguish the common issues identified and how they relate to the literature information provided throughout. In this assignment, the case study chosen will target depression. What is mental health? Primarily, mental health can be defined or described as a state being mentally fit, but being mentally healthy does not always mean a person does not suffer from a mental health problem (Mentalhealth.org.uk, 2014). Good mental health can help you fulfil your potential and in general can help you cope with life in every aspect. Although good mental health is admirable, a person’s state of mind is constantly changing meaning that different life occurrences can affect your mental health as we develop in life (Mentalhealth.org.uk, 2014). There are different mental health symptoms that are currently evident throughout everyday life. When challenging the topic of mental health issues, most of them have been divided into two different groups depending on the seriousness of the problem. The terms given to describe these two groups are “Neurotic” and “Psychotic” (Steiner, 1993). Psychotic disorders are less common in everyday life. The symptoms revolving around this term are associated ... ... middle of paper ... ...haviour-therapy/#.Ut8zfRDFLIU [Accessed: 11 Jan 2014]. Webmd.com. 2014. Interpersonal Therapy for Depression. [online] Available at: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/interpersonal-therapy-for-depression [Accessed: 11 Jan 2014]. Webmd.com. 2014. Side Effects of Untreated Depression. [online] Available at: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/untreated-depression-effects [Accessed: 11 Jan 2014]. Webmd.com. 2014. Treatments for Depression . [online] Available at: http://www.webmd.com/depression/symptoms-depressed-anxiety-12/treating-depression [Accessed: 12 Jan 2014]. Webmd.com. 2014. Types of Depression: Major, Chronic, Manic, and More Types. [online] Available at: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depression-types [Accessed: 15 Jan 2014]. Who.int. 2014. [online] Available at: http://www.who.int/about/definition/en/print.html [Accessed: 19 Jan 2014].
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