Mental Health Issues

Mental health issues are finally coming out of the Dark Ages!

Just a hundred years ago, mental health issues were considered a disgraceful topic that was never discussed in polite company. If old Aunt Betty was afflicted with dementia, family members only spoke of her, in hushed tones, as crazy old Betty.

People with schizophrenia were simply institutionalized and administered painful shock treatments, or worse, frontal lobotomies. Fortunately, much progress has been made in the last century to put this dismissive and painful myth to rest. Acceptance of mental health issues as legitimate disease conditions which should evoke compassion and promote research has been a long, slow road.

However, most people today understand that many mental conditions are caused by genetic, environmental and cultural factors which are beyond the control of the victim.

One such mental health issue which has helped to focus society's compassion is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). War is well known to induce this condition. PTSD is often characterized with symptoms such as extreme anxiety, fear, paranoia, violent outbursts, nightmares and what are termed 'flashbacks' where the victim relives a past traumatic experience in real time in the present. Sometimes the mental torment leads to suicide, or violent acts upon others.

This syndrome was first given a name when psychiatric evaluations made observations on Vietnam vets. The findings are found to be consistent with vets of both Iraq wars. World War II and Korean war veterans also suffered from this mental disorder, but at the time, it was not recognized as a result of the patient's war experience.

Children who have been mentally, physically or sexually abused suffer from PTSD as well. This particular mental health issue has wrought serious consequences in the lives of the victims and their families.

PTSD is essentially a result of traumatic events which overwhelms the person. Nothing in normal society prepared them to deal with these unimaginable horrors. Before becoming recognized as an 'official' mental health issue, these victims suffered greatly and in most cases, ironically engendered their suffering onto those who were closest to them.

Schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit disorder (ADD), autism and bipolar disorder are just a few of the other mental health issues which are finally being examined from a medical perspective.

Modern technology has now made it possible to map various areas of the brain and make correlations which help explain what makes a person susceptible to these various diseases. There's still a lot of work to be done in order to find effective treatments to help these patients.

Public awareness may well be the catalyst to finding cures to what were once known only as a 'crazy' condition.