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GEMS encourages dialogue this Mental Illness Awareness Month

While health professionals' understanding of mental illness has progressed in leaps and bounds in the last hundred years, many people are unaware of mental health issues and how these types of illnesses can affect an individual's daily life and the lives of their families.

"Illnesses of the mind are every bit as real as illnesses affecting other parts of the body, and all too often problems with mental health impact the sufferer's physical wellbeing in a variety of ways, particularly if they do not get the help they require," says Dr Gunvant Goolab, Principal Officer of the Government Employees Medical Scheme (GEMS).

"There are various ways that mental health can affect the individual's life, including their social interactions, ability to work and their physical wellbeing, either through unhealthy behavioural or physiological changes affecting the immune system,"

"Mental health is a complex health topic, and this is perhaps one of the reasons why society in general does not have the same level of awareness of psychological and psychiatric conditions as we do about physiological health conditions such as influenza or HIV, for example.

"GEMS is encouraging the public to learn more about mental health this Mental Illness Awareness Month, as recognising this health condition and talking about it is often the first step towards getting well again."

Common mental health problems

Depression
Depression is the most common type mental health problem, although the extent to which it impacts a person's ability to function in their families, jobs and society varies from person to person. There are various types of depression, ranging from seasonal affective disorder or "winter blues", minor depressive disorder, postpartum or post-natal depression that sometimes affects women who have recently given birth, to major depressive disorder.

Symptoms vary, but usually include feelings of helplessness, despair and lethargy. Feelings of sadness often, but not always, accompany depression. People with depression may find it difficult to find motivation for everyday tasks, which can affect their ability to interact with their friends and families or perform in their jobs. In the worst cases, depression can lead sufferers to take their own lives.

Most of us may feel a little "down", "blue" or "stressed out" from time to time. However, when such feelings last for weeks or months, particularly if the state of mind begins to negatively impact a person's ability to function in society, impacts negatively on those around them or their ability to work, it is time to seek help.

"It is often mistakenly believed that a person is necessarily depressed ‘about' something in particular. We now know that depression can be caused by an imbalance in the person's brain chemistry. In some cases, talk therapy with a psychologist may be enough to help a person manage or overcome their depression, in other cases medicine may be required to help the person feel better," Dr Goolab notes.

Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, or manic depression as it used to be known, is a mood disorder where people have significant mood swings, or highs and lows. Individuals who have this condition go through symptoms of depression alternating with periods where they feel full of energy. The person will often appear to jump from one train of thought to another in a rapid, disjointed manner and may display poor judgment, sometimes including delusions about their own abilities. Bipolar disorder is usually treated with a combination of talk therapy and medicine.

Post-traumatic stress disorder
Another relatively common mental health condition is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This form of mental illness develops in response to trauma or a severely stressful incident. The National Department of Health identifies exposure to crime, accidents, threats or the sudden destruction of one's home or community as some of the leading causes of PTSD.

"There are varying degrees of PTSD, but symptoms usually include flashbacks to distressing memories, panic attacks and trouble sleeping. The effects of this illness can be debilitating, and some sufferers withdraw from society as they live in constant fear or anxiety of encountering ‘triggers' or reminders of the trauma at the root of their condition," Dr Goolab explains.

Psychotherapy, including cognitive behavioural therapy that aims to change the thought patterns associated with the trauma, support groups and medicine can help the person to manage or even overcome PTSD over time.

The importance of seeking help
"It is not uncommon for people experiencing mental health issues to try to ignore their feelings of emotional or mental imbalance for a variety of reasons. It is important to understand that there is often a biological basis for many mental health problems and, as with physical illness, early diagnosis of mental illness can prevent the condition from getting worse, and treatment outcomes are often better," Dr Goolab says.

"If you or someone close to you are experiencing mental health challenges, reach out and talk about it. If you feel that you are unable to talk to your friends and family about your mental health concerns, make an appointment with your family practitioner and have an open, honest discussion with them about how you have been feeling, when you first began to feel the effects and how it is impacting your life.

"Your family practitioner may refer you to a psychologist or a specialist for further care to help you on the path to feeling yourself again," he concludes.