“A mental illness is a condition that impacts a person’s thinking, feeling, or mood…,” (“Mental Health Conditions”). Adults and children alike are susceptible to mental illness, yet it is an issue that many people subconsciously sweep under the rug. The stigma around mental illness, that it is an affliction for which one is to be shamed, is a strong one. Many people often do not know that, in all likelihood, they know at least one person who is mentally ill. As of 2014, one in twenty-five Americans, both adults and children, experienced a serious mental illness (“Mental Health Myths and Facts”). Illnesses such as depression and Alzheimer’s disease are disorders that, with enough care and information, can be managed on a day-to-day basis.
Depression …show more content…
Seasonal affective disorder is a severe change in mood during the winter months due to the decrease in natural sunlight (“Seasonal Affective Disorder”). Although varying forms of depression may have similar symptoms, their roots may be completely different.
Depression can be characterized by a multitude of symptoms. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can be an indicator of someone who is depressed. A loss of energy or concentration may present itself, making it more difficult to complete even small, meaningless tasks (“Signs and Symptoms of Depression”). Changes in sleeping patterns, appetite, or weight are also telling signs. Depression can cause physical affectations; unexplained headaches, back pains, stomach pains, and sore muscles. A more dangerous symptom of depression is an excess of “escapist behavior such as substance abuse, compulsive gambling, reckless driving, or dangerous sports,” (Smith et …show more content…
It is the most common variant of the disease dementia, accounting for sixty to
Burns 4 eighty percent of its occurrences (“What is Alzheimer’s?”). Alzheimer’s, initially, causes difficulty remembering events, names, places, and faces. This disease is not a normal part of aging. Occurring typically in people over sixty-five years of age, it is caused by either neurofibrillary tangles, tangles of the nerve cells, or the buildup of the protein deposits, beta-amyloid plaques, in the brain. Both the cause and process of this nerve damage are still unknown (Senelick).
Damage to the brain begins about a decade before any symptoms appear. The damage initially takes place in the hippocampus, the section of the brain that forms memories (“Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet”). Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, meaning that it worsens over time. After a while, it causes hallucinations, false memories, and the loss of the ability to form coherent sentences (Check 14). It can also induce difficulties focusing, frustration, confusion dramatic mood swings, and disorientation (Senelick). In the final stage of Alzheimer’s, the brain’s tissue has withered and shrunken in the surface layer of the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain
Depression …show more content…
Seasonal affective disorder is a severe change in mood during the winter months due to the decrease in natural sunlight (“Seasonal Affective Disorder”). Although varying forms of depression may have similar symptoms, their roots may be completely different.
Depression can be characterized by a multitude of symptoms. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can be an indicator of someone who is depressed. A loss of energy or concentration may present itself, making it more difficult to complete even small, meaningless tasks (“Signs and Symptoms of Depression”). Changes in sleeping patterns, appetite, or weight are also telling signs. Depression can cause physical affectations; unexplained headaches, back pains, stomach pains, and sore muscles. A more dangerous symptom of depression is an excess of “escapist behavior such as substance abuse, compulsive gambling, reckless driving, or dangerous sports,” (Smith et …show more content…
It is the most common variant of the disease dementia, accounting for sixty to
Burns 4 eighty percent of its occurrences (“What is Alzheimer’s?”). Alzheimer’s, initially, causes difficulty remembering events, names, places, and faces. This disease is not a normal part of aging. Occurring typically in people over sixty-five years of age, it is caused by either neurofibrillary tangles, tangles of the nerve cells, or the buildup of the protein deposits, beta-amyloid plaques, in the brain. Both the cause and process of this nerve damage are still unknown (Senelick).
Damage to the brain begins about a decade before any symptoms appear. The damage initially takes place in the hippocampus, the section of the brain that forms memories (“Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet”). Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, meaning that it worsens over time. After a while, it causes hallucinations, false memories, and the loss of the ability to form coherent sentences (Check 14). It can also induce difficulties focusing, frustration, confusion dramatic mood swings, and disorientation (Senelick). In the final stage of Alzheimer’s, the brain’s tissue has withered and shrunken in the surface layer of the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain