Hello!
I’m Sami and I’m going to be here to talk about the more
geeky side of mental health. I’m a medical neuroscience undergraduate and was
inspired to take on this degree from my own experiences with mental illness.
I’m very late to the university-game at the grand old age of 26, but I’m of the
opinion it’s better late than never!
I will graduate in 2016 with my bachelor’s degree and then it will be either a masters or straight into a PhD. Either way, I’m going to be in school for a very long time! The brain is such a fascinating organ – and structure – I just absolutely have to know how and why this lump of porridge in our skulls is able to cause such devastating problems. I did want to study medicine originally, but after some serious talks with myself I came to the conclusion I will never be able to control my own “quirks” enough to be a safely practicing doctor. I’m happy to be ‘behind the scenes’ getting my geek on to help the front-line medics. I firmly believe that if we’re all educated more about mental illness and why certain conditions arise; there will be far less stigma attached to us. It’s hard to recover when you’re constantly under scrutiny from your friends, family and the wider community.
I will graduate in 2016 with my bachelor’s degree and then it will be either a masters or straight into a PhD. Either way, I’m going to be in school for a very long time! The brain is such a fascinating organ – and structure – I just absolutely have to know how and why this lump of porridge in our skulls is able to cause such devastating problems. I did want to study medicine originally, but after some serious talks with myself I came to the conclusion I will never be able to control my own “quirks” enough to be a safely practicing doctor. I’m happy to be ‘behind the scenes’ getting my geek on to help the front-line medics. I firmly believe that if we’re all educated more about mental illness and why certain conditions arise; there will be far less stigma attached to us. It’s hard to recover when you’re constantly under scrutiny from your friends, family and the wider community.
Learning about symptoms and specific conditions such as
depression and anxiety helped my initial recovery immensely. I used to feel
like my body was completely out-of-control and there was no explanation as to
why or how I could stop it; sometimes it’s medication, other times you can
learn skills to manage and control your symptoms. This brings me to a burning
question. What is mental health and how to we define mental illness? The WHO
(World Health Organization) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in
which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal
stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a
contribution to her or his community. “The Mayo Clinic defines mental illness
as “a wide range of mental health conditions - disorders that affect your mood,
thinking and behavior.”
How do you feel when you look at those definitions? My
initial reaction is one of exasperation. It seems far easier to fall into the
realm of mental illness than it is to attain the life of someone in mental
health. My opinion is biased, of course. To live in a state of ‘mental health’
is akin to climbing Mount. Everest! There are so many factors that feed into
this. A more cynical side of me wonders if life itself is becoming
‘medicalized’ to lure in more money from various sources but that’s a whole other
area of discussion.
How would you re-define mental health? Where is the tipping
point between a normal stress response and a full-on anxiety disorder? It is
psychological or psychiatric? Is it a social issue? Next time I will talk more
about mental health versus mental illness and will incorporate your comments
into this. Thank you so much for reading; it is an absolute pleasure to be here
on www.mentalparent.com and I look forward to reading your thoughts!
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