5: Coping and Mental Illness

Self-Help Strategies

“If you feel you have control over your own life, you have gotten over the first hurdle to creating change in your circumstances. If you don’t feel you have control over your life, it is important that you take back control. It is very difficult to feel well when you are not in charge of your own life.”

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (Nov. 2002). Recovery and wellness lifestyle: A self-help guide. SMA-3718.

Reading 1: Recovery and Wellness Lifestyle – A Self-help Guide

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), resilience (or being able to adapt and thrive when faced with adversity) is something that we all commonly possess. The problem is that people often fail to apply tools of resiliency when they need it most or consistently over time. As Virginia Satir suggested, the root of problems is failing to employ coping mechanisms that would help us to successfully recover and better manage stress. Especially when it comes to tragedy, natural disaster, or personal trauma learning to use effective strategies can help us to evade a downward spiral into despair, and potentially for some, mental illness. SAMSHA’s self-help guide encourages consumers to assume responsibility and control for personal mental wellness by actively questioning our current dilemmas and habits, determining how we could improve our condition, and seeking the resources and experiences that will effectively move us toward recovery and well-being.

Reading 2: Learned Optimism – The Cup Half Full

New York Time’s bestselling author, Christina Dodd, once stated, “If you cannot see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.” You may have heard sayings with a similar message like, “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. It’s green where you water it.” Optimism may not always seem the most natural choice in the face of difficulty, yet, Seligman suggests that we can learn how to cultivate this spirit and begin to see the hidden rainbow amidst the clouds. The Learned Optimism Test can help you better understand where you stand on the spectrum of pessimism to optimism. A brief score interpretation will assist you in determining what aspects of optimism need boosting.

“Mindfulness is attention; it’s the capacity to recognize what’s happening in each moment. What’s happening here is, you are turning on the tap and the water is flowing out for you. In Plum Village, in France, our water supply occasionally gets cut off. Every time that happens, we’re reminded that it’s a hardship when we don’t have water, and a happiness when we do. We can recognize happiness only when we remember the times of suffering!”(p13)

Hanh, Thich Nhat (2011). Peace is every breath: A practice for our busy lives. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Reading 3: Mindfulness Ways to Find Peace and Happiness

Eckhart Tolle, Best-selling author of The Power of Now and A New Earth, expressed ideas about coping with life’s challenges that have been widely regarded as ingenious in their simplicity and timeless in their relevancy. Could the struggle to tackle our worldly problems be overcome through internal growth and enhanced self-awareness? Are we going about the business of problem solving all wrong by focusing on external solutions? What is the role of spiritual connection with a higher power or the greater universe and humanity? In this reading, writer Sourav Adhikari describes 15 of Mr. Tolle’s most powerful practices to build happiness and freedom from the inside-out.

The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the letters of matter. –Sigmund Freud

Reading 4: Dream Analysis for Deeper Understanding

Why do we dream? Does it serve a purpose beyond simple escape from life’s pressures? Could dreams hold an uninhibited glimpse into our deepest desires or most gripping challenges? According to Freud, dreams can be deconstructed into manifest content (or what we actually remember from the dream) and latent content (the hidden meaning behind what we are seeing and experiencing in the dream). From this perspective, our wildly imaginative and seemingly bizarre dreams could be a window into our unconscious – which is thought to have a significant impact on our thoughts and behavior. In dealing with life’s trials, dreams may be a valuable tool for self-reflection and discovery.

Mental Illness and Therapy

“From the prenatal period into early adulthood, there are many opportunities to support the mental health of our young people. From providing support for families, to promoting programs in schools, to providing access to a full spectrum of mental health support in the community, we can address risk factors and intervene early. Unfortunately, signs are often ignored and not met with supports for the child. When we do not act early to support our children and young adults, we face consequences like suicide, incarceration, homelessness, and school drop-out. This is not the result of a particular individual’s actions but of a system that does not yet promote and support mental health as needed.”

Mental Health America (MHA) (2016). The State of Mental Health in America 2016 MH in America Final Report

Reading 5: Mental Disorders

In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition (DSM-5) was published to establish new guidelines for assessing and identifying mental disorders along a continuum of symptoms. While the same categorical approach for distinguishing different disorders remain, this new text ushered in a fundamentally progressive approach to understanding the impact of mental illness from a dimensional perspective. Clinicians are now better equipped to understand and describe mental status that is more closely aligned with the unique experience of patients. Currently, mental illness has reached epidemic proportions with a reported 1 in 5 adults meeting diagnostic criteria in any given year (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2017).

At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there should be no distinction. –Michelle Obama

Reading 6: Psychotherapy

If you were to stumble, and injure your leg, a helping hand would be welcome. A visit to the orthopedist may reveal a need for rest and elevation or surgery if the injury is bad enough. When you hobble around with a cast for several weeks, you may find that others pity your struggle and want to assist you in doing tasks that are now measurably more difficult. This is normal and to be expected for physical injury or illness. Somehow, these cases are not attributed to a moral failing, your own distraction, or poor decision-making. They are attributable, rather, to accidents, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or just bad luck. Mental illness, which could also be brought on by accidents (e.g. brain injury), being in the wrong place at the wrong time (e.g. trauma or assault), or just bad luck (e.g. genetics) do not get the same write off or benefit of the doubt. Yet, a helping hand, compassion, understanding, therapy, and intervention could do every bit as good to the sufferer of mental affliction. In the reading above, explore the proven benefits of psychotherapy as well as the most common types.

Black and white photo of a woman siting against a concrete wall

“Refugee” by Contra Curva, 12/2012, CC BY 2.0

“Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives. Psychologists can help these individuals find constructive ways of managing their emotions.” American Psychological Association, (Aug, 2013). “Recovering emotionally from a disaster”

Reading 7: Posttraumatic Growth

Human beings are equipped with a magical power known as resilience. We can wield this power if we choose by becoming informed and seeking resources. However, it can be difficult to exercise resilience when one is plagued by overwhelming grief, regret, and worry. In the darkest of times, it often takes support to realize this resilient spirit. Psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun, who spent many years working with bereaved parents, proffered that through unimaginable loss and pain, people can find the strength to help themselves and others. Posttraumatic Growth is a theory that casts a light on possible benefits of overcoming severe stressors – a divergence from the largely negative view of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Reading 8: How to Think About Medication

“The pharmaceutical industry has been very successful in marketing psychotropic drugs to physicians and the public. From 1996 to 2005, the drug industry tripled its spending on marketing, including a fivefold increase in direct-to-consumer advertising. Several studies have found that prescription drug ads don't adequately explain side effects and can adversely affect decisions by patients and doctors. In one study, American patients were more than twice as likely to request advertised drugs than patients in Canada, where most direct-to-consumer advertising is prohibited (Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2003).”

Smith, B. (June, 2012). Inappropriate prescribing. Monitor on Psychology, Vol. 43(6)

Proper psychotropic intervention can be integral to a successful mental health treatment program. There are effective medication options for just about all of the major mental disorders. Under close supervision of an appropriately licensed mental health professional (usually a psychiatrist), the right medication can help the sufferer become more receptive to other forms of treatment, including talk therapy. There is a possible downside as well – including a tendency toward overmedication or over-reliance on medication alone to address mental health problems. The article above details important considerations from a consumer perspective specific to the use of anti-depressants.

Reflections

1. What are some of the biggest barriers to taking personal responsibility for mental wellness?
2. What are some of the best, and most empirically supported, strategies for cultivating a wellness lifestyle when under stress?
3. What could use say to someone who dismisses learned optimism as simple wishful thinking or a Pollyanna complex?
4. What is the role of spirituality in learning to be happy and coping with troubles?
5. Describe the concept of mindfulness and how it works in promoting subjective well-being.
6. What are your thoughts on religion as a means to cope with life’s biggest problems?
7. What do you think Sigmund Freud meant by the statement, “Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.”?
8. How would you describe the state of mental illness in our country? In what ways does mental health prevention and intervention need to progress in order to meet the needs of the people?
9. What are some of the most common forms of psychotherapy? What is the rate of success in using these types of therapy?
10. Describe the pros and cons of using psychotropic medication to cope with mental disorders.