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Mental Illnesses Research Paper

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As many as 450 million people in the world are plagued by mental illnesses such as depression, obsessivecompulsive disorder, Schizophrenia, and various other disorders. Though it may seem this is a large number of people, there is an even larger number of people who disbelieve in the existence of mental illnesses or have exaggerated ideas of what these illnesses should be. People all over the world live with mental disorders on a day to day basis, and many of these people are treated poorly due to the stigma mental disorders carry. though there are many disorder with proven biological and psychological causes, there are also many false disorder projected onto others by society and false treatments often used by family members of the mentally …show more content…

Another common mental disorder is depression, which is often confused with simply being upset or sad, and though depression is a very real disorder, it is also one of the least believed in disorders. the major cause of depression, however, is not simply sadness, as most might think. Sadnesses is a natural emotion felt by all mentally sound people, usually as a response to emotional loss; Depression on the other hand is an extreme feeling of hopelessness and lack of motivation. These mental disorders have major effects in daily life, preventing some people from being able to function on a day to day basis. The causes for mental disorders are divided into two categories, genetic and environmental. Most mental disorders are genetic and are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. For example, a lack of dopamine and serotonin may cause severe depression in a person. Social and environmental factors, such as interaction with friends or poor treatment from family members, also have an effect on the mental health of a person. One of the biggest environmental factors is abuse as the trauma often damages the psychological development of the brain, …show more content…

Another treatment for mental disorders is medication. Medication, however, has a much bigger stigma attached to it. While it is true that some medication can worsen disorders, it is equally true that medication has been proven to neutralize and even sometimes cure some disorders. Common medications include Zoloft(depression and anxiety), Prozac(depression and anxiety), ritalin(ADHD\ADD), and Clozaril(schizophrenia). Other forms of treatment such as yoga and other physical activity have also proven to decrease stress and depression. Mental illnesses, while proven easily treatable by most standards, still carries a bad stigma. This stigma causes a large amount of misunderstanding and mistreatment towards the mentally ill. In one prison in North Carolina it was reported that "one mentally ill inmate was kept in solitary confinement for 2491 consecutive days. An intellectually disabled and schizophrenic man was abused and neglected, then left to rot in his own feces and vomit, until he died of a heart attack. Force was used 81 times on another severely mentally ill inmate.

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