Mental disorder and other related issues

1. Mental Illness

2. What is mental illness?
• Mental illness (sometimes also referred to mental disorder or mental health issues)
can be defined as mental or behavioral pattern which can lead to significant
impairment of personal functioning.
• Mental illness can lead to a variety of severe health conditions, which can even lead
to death in the worst case.
• In this presentation, the causes, types, effects and solutions for mental disorders are
examined.

3. Causes of mental illness (1/2)
• Stress
• Abuse
• Neglect
• Parenting issues
• Stroke of fate
• Bad childhood experiences
• Bullying
• Relationship issues
• Self-esteem problems
• Social pressure
• Cultural values
• Poverty

4. Causes of mental illness (2/2)
• Drug abuse
• Genetic preconditions
• Substance abuse of parents during pregnancy
• Diseases
• Brain defects
• Unemployment
• Homelessness
• Social isolation
• Insomnia
• Obesity
• Child labor
• Discrimination

5. Stress
• Stress can be a significant cause for mental disorders.
• In our nowadays society, we often feel stressed an overwhelmed by all the tasks we have
on our schedule.
• Excessive levels of stress can come from a demanding job but also from private issues at
home.
• Moreover, we are flooded with information every minute of our life since we get the
latest news on our smartphones in real time.
• Also, the use of social media can contribute to significant stress levels.
• Studies have shown that people who frequently use social media platforms are more
unhappy on average compared to people who just rarely or never use social media
channels.
• All this negative feelings and stress may lead in turn to significant mental health issues,
since people are often overwhelmed by all this information and impressions and may not
be able to process them in a healthy manner.

6. Abuse
• People who have been abused as a child or also during the course of their adult life
may suffer from severe mental illness.
• These people often try to suppress the horrible events that happened to them.
• However, these suppressed feelings may turn into mental disorders in the long run
and may lead to all kinds of mental health issues.

7. Neglect
• A high level of neglect in childhood can also contribute to mental problems.
• Children who have been neglected in their childhood tend to develop anxieties and
other mental health issues once they turn into grownups.

8. Parenting issues
• Since our parents have a huge impact on our development, parenting issues can also
lead to severe mental health conditions for the affected children.
• For instance, if your parents treat you quite poorly in your childhood, chances are
that you will never be able to develop a healthy level of self-esteem since you never
got the feeling to be valuable.
• Moreover, if your parents suffered from drug addiction, chances are that you might
become addicted as well since children often adopt the behavior of their parents.
• Drug abuse may in turn lead to several mental disorders in the long run.

9. Stroke of fate
• Some events in our life can really hit us in a way that we are not able to process and
accept them in the first place.
• However, some people are more sensitive than others when it comes to strokes of
fate.
• Thus, quite sensitive people may not be able to deal with a serious of adverse events
in their life with the necessary strengths and may suffer from severe mental health
disorders due to those strokes of fate.

10. Bad childhood experiences
• Our childhood significantly determines how our life will turn out once we turn into
grownups.
• Thus, if you had a poor childhood with many problems, chances are that you may
suffer from severe mental illness once you grow up since your perspective on life
might be quite negative, which may result in a vicious circle of negativity, lack of
motivation and depression.

11. Bullying
• Bullying can also lead to mental health issues for the respective victims.
• Especially in childhood when the character of people is still quite fragile, bullying can
lead to quite a lot of damage.
• People who suffered from bullying in their childhood may experience significant
mental problems in their adulthood and may also suffer from low levels of self-
esteem.

12. Relationship issues
• Relationships issues can be a main source for mental problems.
• Many people worldwide build their whole life around their family.
• However, this kind of emotional dependence also implies a great risk for mental
issues since in case people get divorced and lose their family, many people will not
be able to deal with their loss and may fall into depression or suffer from other
mental conditions

13. Self-esteem problems
• Low levels of self-esteem can also lead to mental illness.
• Since life is not easy from time to time, people with low levels of self-esteem may not
be able to deal with all the shit that comes along life.
• Adverse events in the life of these people may take away all their hope and their self-
esteem may become even lower.
• Thus, there may be a vicious circle of low self esteem and mental problems, from
which it might be quite hard to escape from.

14. Social pressure
• Social pressure might be another cause for mental health problems.
• The majority of people in our current society feel the obligation to fit in our social
paradigm.
• However, fitting in to cultural values can lead to a loss of identity for many people,
which may translate into emotional weakness and mental illness in the long run since
people may never learn who they actually are.

15. Cultural values
• Cultural values are often considered to be the north star of people.
• Violating cultural values, on the other hand, may destroy the reputation of people.
• Thus, many people are worried about violating cultural values, even if they secretly
do not belief in them.
• In turn, behaving against their beliefs may lead to plenty of emotional stress for
those people.

16. Poverty
• Another big cause for mental illness is poverty.
• Poor people are often not able to get proper education, which in turn may lead to
low levels of education.
• A lack of education may lead to unemployment or to quite bad job opportunities for
those people.
• In turn, people may get frustrated and lose their hope for a better future, which may
result in severe mental health issues.
• Making things worse, poor people may also not be able to get proper medical
treatment against mental health issues, which exacerbates the issue even further.

17. Drug abuse
• Drug abuse may be both a cause as well as an effect of mental health problems.
• Drug addicts are usually quite obsessive to assure their daily supply of drugs.
• Therefore, they are often willing to commit crimes, which may result in jail in the
long run.
• Moreover, many drug addicts will end up homeless in the streets.
• All these adverse living conditions as well as substance abuse itself may lead to
severe mental health conditions.

18. Genetic preconditions
• Studies have shown that mental health problems can be handed down to future
generations.
• Thus, if your parents suffered from mental problems, you have increased chances to
suffer from mental illness as well.

19. Substance abuse of parents during pregnancy
• If your parents consumed illegal drugs or also legal drugs like alcohol or tobacco
during pregnancy, chances are that the unborn child will suffer from severe physical
and also from mental health issues.
• However, many drug addicts do not care too much about this issue since their
substance is often their number one priority, which increases the chances for mental
health issues for their children significantly.

20. Diseases
• Diseases can also lead to mental health conditions.
• For instance, some diseases may result in long term mental health issues if they are
not treated properly.
• Moreover, people may also develop mental issues due to physical health conditions.
• For example, imagine you have an accident and have to use a wheelchair due to this
accident.
• You may not mentally able to accept this fact since you want your old life back, which
in turn may result in depression or other mental health problems.

21. Brain defects
• Brain defects may also play a role in the development of mental health conditions.
• However, it is quite hard for scientists to assess the true impact of brain defects on
mental health, since there are many other variables in a person’s life which could
also affect their mental health state.

22. Unemployment
• Some people define themselves mainly on their success in their professional work
career.
• However, this is quite dangerous since if those people get fired, they may fall into
depression or develop several other mental health issues since their purpose in life
has been taken away from them from one day to the other.

23. Homelessness
• People who live on the street may develop significant health issues, both physically
as well as mentally.
• They are often not able to deal with their situation and try to suppress their feelings.
• Moreover, many homeless persons also use drugs, which makes the situation even
worse in the long run.
• These circumstances can lead to serious mental health problems and may also lead
to suicide in the worst case.

24. Social isolation
• Depending on the stability of a person’s mental health, social isolation may also lead
to mental problems.
• While some people do not have problems to spend plenty of time alone, others are
desperate for company.
• If the second group of people does not have enough social interaction, this group
may become mentally sick in the long run.

25. Insomnia
• Enough sleep is crucial for our body and brain to work properly.
• People who suffer from insomnia may also suffer from severe mental health
problems since their brain will be overwhelmed on a regular basis due to a lack of
sleep and will not be able to process information in a healthy manner.
• Thus, people who suffer from insomnia are also much more likely to develop other
mental health issues.

26. Obesity
• Obese people often also suffer from quite low levels of self-esteem, which in turn
may lead to depression or several other mental health issues.
• They are also often victims of bullying, which makes their situation even worse.

27. Child labor
• Children who had been abused for child labor purposes usually also have a higher
chance for mental health problem.
• This is especially true when this labor implied sexual abuse or other horrible actions.

28. Discrimination
• Discrimination may also be a significant cause for the development of mental health
issues.
• For instance, if you are a minority and are discriminated in every part of your daily
life, including education, job opportunities and many other things, you may be more
likely to develop a high level of frustration, which may turn into hopelessness and
depression in the long run.

29. Types and Effects of mental illness
• Social isolation
• Physical health issues
• Accidents
• Depression
• Personality disorder
• Psychosis
• Obsessive or compulsive disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Eating disorder
• Self-harm disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Panic attack
• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder
• Suicidal tendencies

30. Social isolation
• Mental health issues can lead to social isolation.
• People suffer from mental illness may have longer the motivation to leave their
home and watch TV or play video games all day long instead.
• However, this may lead to a point where they lose all their social connections,
including family members and close friends.
• This may further exacerbate their mental situation, which may result in a vicious
circle of loneliness and mental problems.

31. Physical health issues
• Mental problems may also lead to physical health issues.
• For instance, if your brain does no longer work properly, you may forget to carry out
tasks of your daily life.
• This may include answering your mail from official authorities regarding social
security and health insurance.
• Thus, in case of injury, you may not be protected by health insurance since you
missed to communicate to your health insurance company which in turn may lead to
severe health issues since you may not be able to pay for the treatment costs
yourself.

32. Accidents
• Mental health issues may also lead to accidents of many sorts.
• For example, if you suffer from mental issues and are not able to pay attention to the
traffic, the likelihood that you get involved and hurt in a traffic accident increases
significantly.

33. Depression
• People who suffer from mental health conditions may often feel not valuable and do
not feel as a functional part of society.
• This kind of emotional loneliness may result in serious levels of depression.
• Moreover, people with mental health issues also often become socially isolated,
which may increase the likelihood for depressions even more.

34. Personality disorder
• Mental health issues may also include personality disorders.
• People suffering from personality disorder usually display maladaptive patterns that
are deviating against the accepted norms of a culture.
• However, not everyone who deviates from social norms can be regarded as suffering
from personality disorders, so that the diagnosis of a personality disorder can be
quite tricky and may in fact often be false.

35. Psychosis
• Psychosis may be caused by mental health issues or also be drug abuse that has been
cause by mental health problems.
• People suffering from psychosis usually have difficulties to recognize what’s real and
what’s not real.
• Thus, they may also be in danger for physical accidents if they are no longer able to
differentiate between dreams and being awake.

36. Obsessive or compulsive disorder
• People who suffer from obsessive or compulsive disorders feel the need to perform
certain routines repeatedly.
• These people often have only insufficient control over their thoughts and routines,
which may make them dangerous to society if they develop violent thoughts.

37. Post-traumatic stress disorder
• PTSD is often developed by persons who suffered from traumatic events in their past.
• This can include the death of a loved one or also child abuse of several sorts.
• Thus, extremely horrible events often cause post-traumatic stress disorders, which
may also lead to other mental conditions in the long run.

38. Eating disorder
• Depending on the person, mental issues may also result in an eating disorder.
• While some people eat excessively to cover their mental issues, some people lose
their appetite when facing tough mental states.
• Thus, for the second group of people, eating disorders may result in anorexia, which
may even lead to death in the worst case.

39. Self-harm disorder
• Some people with mental health issues also suffer from self-harm disorders.
• In order to distract themselves from their mental pain, they accept to physically harm
themselves since their mental issues often cause more pain than their physical harm.

40. Schizophrenia
• People suffering from schizophrenia often hear voices that are actually only in their
heads and also often suffer from different types of psychosis.
• This may in turn make them unsuitable for social interactions, since they may be a
danger for themselves and also for others.
• This may lead to social isolation, which may make the problem even worse.

41. Panic attack
• Panic attacks are usually characterized by a sudden and uncontrolled episode of
intense fear, without actually being a reason for that from an objective standpoint.
• Thus, people suffering from panic attacks often lose control over rather trivial things
due to their mental health issues.

42. Anxiety
• Mental illness is often accompanied by anxiety.
• People who suffer from mental disorder are often afraid to meet other people and
are also afraid when they take a look at their future.
• Many of them are quite hopeless and also feel lost in life.

43. Bipolar disorder
• BPD is characterized by abnormally elevated moods.
• People who suffer from BPD often have difficulties to maintain social relationships,
since they are often quite compulsive and hurt the feelings of others.

44. Suicidal tendencies
• Mental health issues of several sorts may also lead to suicidal tendencies for many
people.
• Mental issues like depression often lead to a state where people lose their will to
live.
• These people may see death as a form of relief and may therefore commit suicide.
• Therefore, it is crucial to detect and medically treat mental issues appropriately in
order to avoid suicide of people.

45. Solutions for mental disorders
• Psychiatric support
• Medical treatment
• Programs against drug abuse
• Reintegration of homeless persons into society
• Fight discrimination
• Fight bullying
• Support children who had a tough childhood
• Reduce unemployment
• Psychological support in case of strokes of fate
• Increase the level of tolerance in our society
• Build self-esteem
• Ignore social pressure
• Raise awareness on this topic
• Education

46. Psychiatric support
• People who are suffering from mental health problems should get support from
psychiatrists in order to be able to overcome or at least reduce their mental
problems.
• Thus, in every health insurance worldwide, people should have the right to get
mental support from psychiatrists or psychologists in case they need it.

47. Medical treatment
• Many mental health problems also have to be treated with certain drugs in order to
minimize symptoms.
• Depending on the mental problem and the overall state of the patient, doctors
should prescribe medicine against mental illness.
• However, also drugs that are designed to fight mental health issues may have severe
side effects and may even exacerbate the mental problems of patients.
• Thus, these drugs should be prescribed with great care and on an individual basis in
order to avoid making things even worse for patients.

48. Programs against drug abuse
• Since the abuse of legal and illegal drugs can cause severe mental health problems, it
is crucial to introduce programs against drug dependence.
• These programs should start in school where children are educated in an objective
manner about the dangers of drugs.
• In contrast to our current view on things, we should not only highlight the dangers of
illegal drugs, but should also focus on the harmful effects of legal drugs like alcohol
and tobacco, which kill millions of people each year worldwide.

49. Reintegration of homeless persons into society
• Since homelessness can also contribute to the development of mental illness, we
should introduce programs which aim to reintegrate homeless persons into our
society.
• Many homeless people actually want to have their old life back, however, they are
often overwhelmed by their problems and don’t know where to start.
• By supporting them and giving them a clear plan how to get back into normal life,
they may also get back their hope and fight for a better future.

50. Fight discrimination
• Discrimination is a big global issue and contributes to a variety of problems, including
the development of mental health issues.
• Governments and celebrities across the world have to take a stand in order to
decrease the level of inequality and to increase the level of freedom of people.
• By doing so, the overall acceptance for discriminated minorities will increase in our
society and the level of discrimination will be lowered due to that.

51. Fight bullying
• We as a society should also try to fight bullying.
• Victims of bullying may suffer from severe mental issues.
• Thus, whenever you see kids bullying someone, take a stand against it!
• By doing so, we can eradicate bullying in our society step by step.

52. Support children who had a tough childhood
• Children who had been abused by their parents or other families or had a tough
childhood for other reasons are often traumatized.
• These children need a special support from psychologists so that they are able to
overcome their trauma.

53. Reduce unemployment
• Since many people fall into depression due to unemployment, it is also crucial to
reduce unemployment rates when it comes to fighting mental health issues.
• Thus, governments in regions with high unemployment rates may introduce financial
incentives for firms to open branches in those regions.
• These financial incentives can come in the form of tax advantages or other financial
subsidies.
• By do so, firms have a bigger incentive to open branches and unemployment rates
are likely to decrease due to that.

54. Psychological support in case of strokes of fate
• A serious of horrible events can lead to mental issues for some people.
• Those people often need psychological assistance in order to be able to process what
happened to them.
• Thus, basic health insurance should also include the consultation of a psychologist in
case of such strokes of fate happen.

55. Increase the level of tolerance in our society
• We also have to increase the level of tolerance in our society.
• Although many politicians and many people claim to be tolerant, their actions do not
match their words at all.
• This is especially true when it comes to minorities or other people who do not share
the same cultural values.
• We should increase our level of tolerance towards minorities significantly in order to
integrate them into society.
• Only then will those people feel as a valuable member of society and less people will
suffer from mental problems.

56. Build self-esteem
• If you suffer from mental illness, one step to fight it is to build self-esteem.
• Self-esteem is crucial in life for success since if you are confident, you will master
hard situations in life much easier compared to people who always struggles with
themselves.
• Thus, in order to improve your level of self-esteem, join groups who share the same
view on life.
• You can also join sport clubs or do activities on your own.
• Once you find the courage to go out and do things, you will be surprised how easy
your self-esteem will increase and your mental issues may vanish due to that.

57. Ignore social pressure
• Many people in our nowadays society also feel what is called “social pressure”.
• People feel the need to oblige to social norms and cultural values.
• However, this compliance with cultural values often leads to high levels of
unhappiness since people are not free to do what they actually want.
• Thus, instead of complying with social norms, try to form your own character and act
according to that.
• You will be surprised how much better you will feel by ignoring social values and do
whatever you want.

58. Raise awareness on this topic
• Many people are still not aware that mental disorders are a big problem in our
society.
• Thus, you should raise the awareness on this topic so that parents take care of their
children and can react in case they detect mental problems.

59. Education
• Education is crucial to fight several kinds of problems.
• This is also true when it comes to fighting mental illness.
• Thus, children as well as grownups should be taught about mental health issues so
that they can take measures to avoid the development of those issues.

60. Conclusion
• Mental illness is a significant problem in our nowadays society.
• The daily information overload tends to make people quite insecure and
overwhelmed by all those impressions.
• People who are not able to deal with this information overload properly may be at
risk to develop mental health issues.
• Of course, there are also several other causes for mental health issues.
• Mental disorders can lead to a variety of serious effects, including suicide in the
worst case.
• In order to fight mental disorders, we have to increase the tolerance in our society
and also provide medical and psychological support for people suffering from mental
disorders.
• By doings so, we can increase the overall mental and physical health of our society
and can also improve the quality of life for many people worldwide.

61. Sources
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder
• https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_illness
• https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health
• https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml