At any given day, millions of people suffer from mental illnesses and disorders. These illnesses affect his/her daily life, the way one interactions with others, and how one views him/herself. This is no different for Jessie, a 19-year-old male who is unable to cope with the stressors of college, body image issues, family struggles, and several other negative relations. Given his behaviors and actions, I was able to diagnose Jesse with major depressive disorder and bulimia nervosa. The comorbidity between these two disorders only magnify the symptoms and issues that Jesse undergoes. The first disorder that I diagnosed Jesse with is major depressive disorder mainly due to the duration of his depression, low self-esteem, and overeating. On
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After coming out as gay, his family was unsupportive and he eventually cut off all contact from them. He is having trouble making friends that will accept his religion and sexual orientation, even in the LGBT community. He tried to handle depression on his own before coming to therapy, which he refused to do for six months because he thought that it was pathetic to ask for help. Being alone, he says that he feels isolated and often sits in his dorm room by himself. I was also able to diagnose Jesse with bulimia nervosa because he follows the binge-purge cycle almost exactly. When alone, Jesse will resort to eating extremely large portions of food and having no self control while do so. He uses this as a response to the stressors that are in his life, especially depression. At one point, he consumed two half gallons …show more content…
For some reason, people view mental illness as being nonexistent or something to not worry about. If someone was to break an arm, others would tell them to immediately get to the doctor, he/she needs a cast! However, if one says that he/she is suffering from depression, some people think that it will go away on its own, or my personal favorite, “just cheer up.” People do not realize that different mental illnesses can actually cause physical symptoms that can then lead to physical illnesses. This class has only furthered my knowledge of the mental stigma. By learning about illnesses and disorders that I had heard of before, but did not know anything about, I can understand why people can think “people with schizophrenia are crazy” or “suicidal people need to be thankful for what they do have.” However, I believe that it is up to psychologists, future psychological workers, or just the average person to inform people of the symptoms and unfortunate experiences that people who are suffering from mental illnesses are going through. More simply put, one should not talk about things that he/she does not know anything
After coming out as gay, his family was unsupportive and he eventually cut off all contact from them. He is having trouble making friends that will accept his religion and sexual orientation, even in the LGBT community. He tried to handle depression on his own before coming to therapy, which he refused to do for six months because he thought that it was pathetic to ask for help. Being alone, he says that he feels isolated and often sits in his dorm room by himself. I was also able to diagnose Jesse with bulimia nervosa because he follows the binge-purge cycle almost exactly. When alone, Jesse will resort to eating extremely large portions of food and having no self control while do so. He uses this as a response to the stressors that are in his life, especially depression. At one point, he consumed two half gallons …show more content…
For some reason, people view mental illness as being nonexistent or something to not worry about. If someone was to break an arm, others would tell them to immediately get to the doctor, he/she needs a cast! However, if one says that he/she is suffering from depression, some people think that it will go away on its own, or my personal favorite, “just cheer up.” People do not realize that different mental illnesses can actually cause physical symptoms that can then lead to physical illnesses. This class has only furthered my knowledge of the mental stigma. By learning about illnesses and disorders that I had heard of before, but did not know anything about, I can understand why people can think “people with schizophrenia are crazy” or “suicidal people need to be thankful for what they do have.” However, I believe that it is up to psychologists, future psychological workers, or just the average person to inform people of the symptoms and unfortunate experiences that people who are suffering from mental illnesses are going through. More simply put, one should not talk about things that he/she does not know anything