The Experience of Mental Illness

Mental Illness is unlike other diseases because it is somewhat unpredictable and persons with the same diagnosis can exhibit very different symptoms. The course of illness varies as well…some will have one episode, others will relapse several times over their lives.

Our own perceptions of how and why mental illness exists plays a major role in how we will interact with a person with mental illness.

Etiology
Etiology refers to the “cause” of mental illness.  What causes mental illness?  Important question because the etiology leads the practitioner to treatment choices.

  • History
  • Family life
  • Biology

Major Mental Illness

  • 2.1-2.6% of the US population
  • Chronic Mentally Ill persons number at least 2 million in the US
  • Defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)
  • Complicated by the dual presence of substance disorders, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, and physical problems.

Symptoms of Mental Illness

  • Positive Symptoms: Something is “added” to the experience of the person
    • Psychosis…Faulty interpretations of reality (hallucinations and delusions)
  • Negative Symptoms: Something is “taken away” from the experience of the person
    • Social withdrawal and “anhedonia”, the loss of a person’s ability to feel pleasure are examples.

Etiology of Mental Illness

  • Strong feeling that there is a significant biological cause

Interesting Fact: The concept of “Split Personality” which is in the root of the word Schizophrenia, a term coined by Eugene Bleuler, actually refers to a “split” between the cognitive and affective aspects of the mind.

Language and Labeling
Language conveys more than simply a definition…the language we use to define something carries with it the assumptions and values that we have concerning these words. Over the transition to community based treatment individuals with MI have adopted a number of titles to describe who they are:

  • Patients (of hospitals, doctors, psychiatrists)
  • Consumers (of mental health services)
  • Recipient (of mental health services)
  • Client (of counselors, rehabilitation centers, and residential programs)
  • Residents (of some residential programs)
  • Members (of social clubs)

How do these terms imply different values and assumptions about the people who have them as labels?

Prognosis
This refers to the course of the illness (changes over time) and the ability/likelihood of recovery.  Do we recover from mental illness or does it go into remission?

Treatment/Rehabilitation
This refers to what we do when a person is suffering from a mental illness. 

  • “Treatment” usually refers to delivering a “cure”
  • Do we know any “treatments” for mental illness?
  • “Rehabilitation” describes actions specific to reducing the negative effects of an illness…learning to “life with” a mental illness. 
  • Rehabilitation can focus on both personal and environmental factors which impact functioning.