Defining and Managing Mental Illness from a Positive Perspective

1.) Home 2.) Adult Individual and Family Services 3.) Children and Youth Services 4.) Senior Adult Services 5.) Helpful Information

Breaking the Stigma of Mental Illness

V.  Defining and Managing Mental Illness

  Mental illness may be defined as the occurrence of mental health problems such as prolonged sadness, mood swings, anxiety, or thought distortions that negatively effect a person's ability to think, function, experience joy, build and maintain relationships and/or reach one's full potential.

    If you have been diagnosed with a mental illness, or if you think you have a mental illness, embrace hope.  There are things you can do to prevent mental health problems from ruling your life and stealing your joy.  Just like obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes, mental illness is a health problem that with adequate lifestyle changes can be managed and overcome.

The following are some basic suggestions for resources to assist one with managing one's mental illness.

Suggested Resource and their Purposes

  • Professional Psychotherapy:  Assessment, Counseling, Support, Insight, and Coping Skills
  • Psychiatric Care:  Beneficial Psychotropic Medications
  • Community Care:  Support Groups, Advocacy, Education, Referrals
  • Social Support Network:  Emotional Support from Friends and Family
  • Church:  Pastoral Care & Counsel, Spiritual Guidance, Emotional & Benevolent Support

The following are some common coping skills that have been known to assist individuals and families with the healing process.  PLEASE NOTE! though these are very positive suggestions, they do not substitute for professional mental health care.  You have strengths, skills, and capabilities that will be good for assisting you in coping, but mental illness is not a problem you can solve on your own.

  • Talk to a trusted friend or family member.
  • Write your thoughts, feelings, and concerns in a journal.
  • Do regular physical exercise that is enjoyable to you.
  • Eat a healthy diet that is low in fat and sugar but high in protein, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.
  • Utilize spiritual resources such as prayer, meditation, and scripture reading.

Special note:  If you are an adult who struggles with anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, and problems with relationships and you have a history of having been physically, sexually, and/or verbally abused or neglected as a child you may be suffering from post traumatic stress.  Perhaps one of the most fictional statements in our modern fast passed society is, "Well, the past is the past, just let it go and go on."   Abuse is a trauma that causes serious long term psychological and even physiological problems for a person.  If these problems are ignored and not addressed, and if a person is not given the tools to assist in the process of healing, he/she may struggle unwittingly with mental health problems that are rooted in past trauma.

The following is a list of books that address this topic and offer some helpful insight.  However, remember, open communication with a trusted professional mental health provider can not be substituted.

  • Healing The Shame that Binds You,  by John Bradshaw
  • The Courage to Heal,   by Laura Davis
  • The Inner Child Workbook, by Cathryn L. Taylor

A helpful web site for survivors of sexual violence and/or childhood sexual abuse is:  www.pandys.org   This site contains a supportive forum, chat room, and nation wide information on helpful resources for survivors.  

 

For more detailed information on mental health issues, the following is a list of informational internet resources:

This web site also contains information on local mental health resources of the Joplin, Missouri area.  Just click on (Adult Individual and Family Services) at the top of this page.