Mental illness, when the general public hears the words mental illness they tend to think of someone who is ‘crazy’ but is that really the case? Mental illness has had a negative stigma, most of the time when you hear of someone having a mental illness a negative tone is attached to it. Many people’s only association with the mentally ill is through the media and popular culture. Oftentimes the media portrays violent criminals as mentally ill without an actual diagnosis, thus perpetuating the stigma. In popular culture, such characters as the Joker from Batman (DC Comics) are portrayed as unstable and ‘crazy.’ The popularity of such characters only furthers the stereotype of the mentally ill being violent. This leads to fear both by those who
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This can help both the person and those close to them to understand when outside help is needed. Differentiating between warning signs of a neurodiversity and what is just normal behavior is complex. NAMI has a warning sign list, which includes: excessive sadness, mood swings, worrying, fear, suicidal thoughts, anorexic behaviors, risky behavior, drug and or alcohol abuse, drastic changes in sleep or behavior and not being able to concentrate. Although many of us have experienced some of these emotions learning to differentiate between normal emotions and the longer lasting emotions that can be the sign of neurodiversity. The symptoms listed by NAMI can be extreme in those with neurodiversity, they can be often extreme and hard to …show more content…
A diagnosis can be disheartening and frightening for everyone concerned. The patient might be upset depending on how the diagnosis was achieved and whether they sought out help or had family intervene. The family might feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to now proceed. NAMI takes into consideration the patients’ needs while also addressing the needs of the family members and care takers. “Anger, guilt, shame and other negative emotions- reinforced by society’s continual stigma about mental illness may hobble families’ abilities to support patients.” (Harvard Mental Health) Often the care giver will place the blame on themselves. This is through no fault of the patient or the parent, when looking at a brain of a person with neurodiversity it actually is different than that of a person without the disease. It is not because the parent was not loving enough or did anything to disrupt the working of the patient’s brain, it is an actually brain disease. NAMI`s answer is to help by offering education classes for the family members and care givers It is a twelve-week program where the family member learns not only how to care for the loved one with a neurodiversity but also how to care for themselves. NAMI also offers a program called, “Home Front,” for those in the military. NAMI has offered these programs going on twenty years now and has gone through the “gold
This can help both the person and those close to them to understand when outside help is needed. Differentiating between warning signs of a neurodiversity and what is just normal behavior is complex. NAMI has a warning sign list, which includes: excessive sadness, mood swings, worrying, fear, suicidal thoughts, anorexic behaviors, risky behavior, drug and or alcohol abuse, drastic changes in sleep or behavior and not being able to concentrate. Although many of us have experienced some of these emotions learning to differentiate between normal emotions and the longer lasting emotions that can be the sign of neurodiversity. The symptoms listed by NAMI can be extreme in those with neurodiversity, they can be often extreme and hard to …show more content…
A diagnosis can be disheartening and frightening for everyone concerned. The patient might be upset depending on how the diagnosis was achieved and whether they sought out help or had family intervene. The family might feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to now proceed. NAMI takes into consideration the patients’ needs while also addressing the needs of the family members and care takers. “Anger, guilt, shame and other negative emotions- reinforced by society’s continual stigma about mental illness may hobble families’ abilities to support patients.” (Harvard Mental Health) Often the care giver will place the blame on themselves. This is through no fault of the patient or the parent, when looking at a brain of a person with neurodiversity it actually is different than that of a person without the disease. It is not because the parent was not loving enough or did anything to disrupt the working of the patient’s brain, it is an actually brain disease. NAMI`s answer is to help by offering education classes for the family members and care givers It is a twelve-week program where the family member learns not only how to care for the loved one with a neurodiversity but also how to care for themselves. NAMI also offers a program called, “Home Front,” for those in the military. NAMI has offered these programs going on twenty years now and has gone through the “gold