Mental Health Specialty

Our mental health impacts all aspects of our well-being. It effects how we think, feel and understand our world, self and relationships. It also impacts how we feel physically. Having good mental health is not just about NOT having a mental health illness. It’s about having a balance in our lives so we can enjoy life, cope with it, draw on our resilience and bounce back from life’s setbacks.

Mental health challenges are common and at some point, in our lifetime, most of us will experience a mental health issues or will know someone who is affected by one. Canadian statistics indicate that one in five people will personally experience a mental health problem or illness. Approximately, 8% of adults will experience a major depression, 1-2% bipolar disorder and 5% an anxiety disorder. By age 40, approximately 50% of the population will of or will have a mental health issue. As for our youth, 10-20% are affected by mental health illness. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in males and females from adolescence to middle age. Per year, 4000 people die due to suicide (Canadian Mental Health Association).

Like the many physical illness there are many types of mental health illnesses. Unfortunately, though, mental health illnesses are often still not well understood or accepted by many people. It’s important to remember that mental health issues are caused by a complicated interaction of genetics, biology, personality and environmental factors and we are all susceptible. They are NOT about weakness, laziness or choice.

Please read on to find out more about specific mental health issues.

 

Depression:

• Impacts your mood, how you think about yourself and how you relate to others
• True depression is not the blues, feeling sad, having a bad day or even grief, it’s a crushing despair

Does this sound like what you are going through or what others say they are noticing?

• Feeling sad and crying for no apparent reason
• Feeling flat or numb
• Easily irritated or angry
• Feeling guilty, anxious, blaming yourself; loss of confidence
• Finding it difficult to focus on tasks, remembering things or make decisions
• Changes to your appetite and sleep patterns
• Feeling exhausted and unable to cope with your life
• You have lost your interests in things or can’t feel pleasure
• You have lost your sex drive
• You feel detached from life, family, your partner
• Feeling hopelessness and despair
• Thinking things will never get better; there are no solutions; having suicidal thoughts

 

Bipolar Disorder:

1. Impacts your mood but you experience episodes of both depression and mania
2. The depression is the same as the depression described above
3. Episodes of depression and mania usually last for a period of time but some people experience episodes that change more quickly
4. The frequency and type of episodes vary greatly

Does this sound like what you are going through or what others say they are noticing?

• Extreme changes or swings in mood from depression to mania
• Unusual high mood, overly excited, unrealistic confidence, feeling very powerful
• Mood quickly changing to feeling confused, irritable, angry or even full rage
• Racing thoughts or feeling hyperactive
• Not sleeping much
• Engaging in impulsive or risky behaviors (binge eating, spending, substance, gambling, sex)

 

Anxiety Disorder:

1. We all feel worried or nervous at times. This is normal and anxiety can help to motivate us or warn us of danger.
2. Anxiety disorders create debilitating anxiety that interferes in your life and negatively impacts how you think, feel and act. There are many types of anxiety disorders. Listed below are examples that can be observed with general anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety and specific phobias.

Does this sound like what you are going through or what others say they are noticing?

• You have excessive and unrealistic worry about a number of every day issues
• You are unable to make decisions, you feel edgy, irritable and have sleep problems
• You experience panic attacks; uncomfortable physical symptoms such as a racing heart, shortness of breath or nausea.
• You avoid public places or even avoid leaving your home
• You have an intense fear of being embarrassed or negatively evaluated, this is more than shyness
• You have an intense fear of something specific that causes you to alter your life in order to avoid it

 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

1. Experiencing unwanted and intrusive thoughts, images or urges that cause anxiety
2. Engage in repeated actions to try and reduce the anxiety

Does this sound like what you are going through or what others say they are noticing?

• You have unwanted thoughts, ideas or urges that are distressing (obsessions)
•  You keep engaging in compulsions to try and lessen feelings of anxiety
• E.g.....  counting, checking, washing, etc.

 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

1. Occurs after you have experienced or witnessed a terrifying or traumatic event
2. This could include abuse, an accident, witnessing or experiencing multiple medical procedures, war or a natural disaster
3. It could be one event, a series of events or a set of enduring conditions
4. The person has not been able to integrate his or her emotional experience and is overwhelmed

Does this sound like what your experiencing or what others say they are noticing?

• You are having nightmares or flashbacks
• You avoid things that remind you of the traumatic event
• You feel irritable, edgy and even unsafe when there is no apparent danger
• You have difficulty dealing with anything that reminds you of the trauma
• You feel hopeless and despair
• You feel detached from yourself, others or life
• You are using alcohol or other substances to try and cope/numb

 

Personality Disorders (PD):

1. Having rigid and unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning and behaving
2. Having trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people
3. You may not realize you have a PD and you may blame others for your challenges
4. There are many types of PD & numerous signs and symptoms, only some are listed below

Does this sound like what your experiencing or what others say they are noticing?

• You have an unstable self-image
• Your relationships are unstable or intense
• You experience mood fluctuations
• You experience ongoing feelings of emptiness
• You engage in risky or impulsive behaviour
• You are constantly seeking attention
• You change the facts about situations to fit your needs or the reality you want to believe or portray to others
• You engage in gaslighting
• You engage in manipulative behaviour
• You have a pattern of blaming others instead of taking responsibility
• You feel you are more special or enlightened than others and that others don’t really understand you
• You disregard the feelings or needs of others
• Your sensitive to criticism or rejection
• You excessively depend on others
• Your driven by extreme perfectionism
• You have odd or eccentric thinking or behaviour

 

Substance Use Problem:

1. Using a substance or behaviour to try and regulate emotions, cope with life or manage mental health issues
2. There is often a biological predisposition or family history

Does this sound like what your experiencing or what others are saying they notice?

• Using substances to manage your emotions or deal with stress
• Using substances to get you going or to wind down from your day
• Substances have caused problems in your relationships, work, school, finances or health
• You can’t responsibly gamble; your spending many hours a day video gaming
• Your using pornography to manage emotions and avoid issues in life; unable to be intimate with a real sexual partner

Remember mental health issues are caused by a complicated interaction of genetics, biology, personality and environmental factors. They are NOT about weakness, laziness or choice.