Question

According to the National Institutes of Health (2015) in 2012, it was reported that about 45 million American adults (nearly 20% of adult population) were diagnosed with a mental illness with the overall rate possibly being higher due to individuals not being diagnosed. Choose a specific mental illness and briefly describe the condition, prevalence, cause, common treatments and possible consequences. The bigger picture- how is the healthcare system and society doing regarding diagnosis, treatment, and acceptance of mental illness of our citizens? What are the obstacles we face? What examples can you find in health care and within society what we are doing well and where we need to improve?

Answer 1

Obsessive-compulsive disorder suffer intensely from recurrent unwanted thoughts or rituals which they feel they cannot control.Rituals such as handwashing,cleaning,counting,checking are often performed in hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away.

causes:There is growing evidence that OCD has a biological basis.It is no longer attributed to family problems or to attributes learned in childhood.Instead the search for causes now focuses on the interaction between biological factors and environmental influences.Ocd involves problems in communication with parts of the brain.These problems may be caused by insufficient levels of chemicals called neurotransmitters (serotonin).

Treatment:The most common treatment for Ocd is a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy(cbt) and medication.A type of behavioral therapy known as 'exposure and response prevention'(E/Rp) is very useful for treating OCD.The cognitive portion of CBT is often added to e/rp to help challenge the irrational beliefs associated with OCD.

Possible consequences:OCD is sometimes accompanied by depression,eating disorders,substance abuse,attention,hyperactivity or other anxiety disorders.Ocd will be difficult to treat if a person has other mental illness.

Attitudes towards mental illness vary among individuals ,families,ethnicities,cultures and countries.Understanding the individual and cultural beliefs about mental illness is essential for the implementation of effective approaches to mental healthcare.There are still attitudes within most societies that view symptoms of mental illness as threatening and uncomfortable and these attituides frequently foster stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems,these issues will not be observed in any healthcare systems as they understand their situation and help them in treatment.Many mental health care plans are also getting implemented and continous improvement is observed in such care plans in all the countries.Improvement in mental health care involves

• Increase the number of mental health hospitals
• Build community mental health services
• Integrate mental health services into primary health care.
• Promote self care
• assisting countries in designing policies and developing comrehensive and effective mental health services.
• Building local capacity for public mental health research in poor countries.
• Raising awareness about mental disorders through education and advocacy for more respect of human rights and less stigma.