PGS Portsmouth Point Summer Mirror

Page 62

SEEING things DIFFERENTLY 62

Flixy Coote YE AR 8

CHALLENGING MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH

O

ne in four people are affected by a mental illness in their lifetime, either directly or indirectly, experiencing it themselves or through those of a family member or friend. Although many people are likely to come across mental illness, many will not recognise it, just thinking they are “feeling bad” or “a little bit down”, when they are actually suffering ill health. You can’t see mental illness in the mirror; it is internal and this makes it easy for sufferers to hide it - either because they are embarrassed or for other reasons. It is relatively easy to hide it, as so many other people don’t see it or recognise it. A mental illness can be defined as a health condition that changes an individual’s thinking, feeling or behaviour, causing them distress and difficulty in functioning. It can be severe or mild. Many people think that having a mental health condition means that you are “crazy” or “mad” and, as a result, may treat you differently. However, many people themselves experience a mental health condition without being aware of it. Sometimes, people recognise their mental illness, but worry that others will not; as a result, they bottle things up and put on the appearance of being fine. However mental health isn’t just about mental illness. It can also be about what you are feeling. To see mental health as purely about illness is a misconception. It is also about wellbeing. Everyone once in a while will feel sad or anxious or angry, but this does not necessarily mean they have an illness - it might just be a passing thing. But if that person is feeling that anger, anxiety or

P O RT S M O U T H P O I N T. B LO G S P OT.CO M

sadness on a more prolonged basis, he or she might be suffering from a mental illness. People are accustomed to think that mental health disorders are always permanent; this, however, is incorrect. The most common mental illness, anxiety, can be sparked by a single event or experience, such as a car accident, but, equally, can be cured by therapy over time. Depression is much more common than some people wish to acknowledge, for example resulting from the loss of someone you are close to; again, a combination of medication and therapy can help someone overcome a depressive illness. Even a more permanent mental health issue can often be treated very effectively, for example bipolar disorder, through a combination of medication and therapy. It is only relatively recently that mental health has really been addressed openly and with less stigma, although there are problematic attitudes towards it even today. In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, despite pioneering work by psychiatrists and psychologists, people with what now would be understood as treatable mental health issues were locked up in asylums and psychiatric hospitals, often in appalling conditions. The primary purpose was not to cure them but simply to separate them from the rest of society. Shockingly, patients in these institutions included young people with what now would be classed as “learning difficulties”; records include letters from teachers recommending certain students should be sent to psychiatric institutions so as not to have an “evil influence” on the other children. Nowadays, such a student would receive educational support rather than what was essentially imprisonment.


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Articles inside

Do We Have the Politicians We Deserve? Christopher Clark

3min
page 73

Photography: Mirror Benedict Blythe and Oliver Stone

2min
pages 74-76

COVID-19’s Economic Impact Mirrors The Great Depression Alex Bradshaw

9min
pages 70-72

Should Companies Mirror Society? Diversity and Quotas Sophie Reeve-Foster

7min
pages 68-69

Mirror, Mirror: Debating Personality Tests Emily Nelson and Lian Kan

10min
pages 64-67

The Distorted Mirror: Recognising Body Dysmorphic Disorder Phoebe Clark

2min
pages 60-61

Seeing Things Differently: Challenging Misconceptions about Mental Illness Flixy Coote

5min
pages 62-63

A Reflection of our Relatives? The Biology Behind DNA Sophie Escott

4min
pages 58-59

Why We Are Not Mirrors of our Genes: What Epigenetics is Teaching Us Isla Sligo-Young

3min
pages 56-57

Reflections on Medical Technology in the Digital Age Anna Danso-Amoako

4min
pages 54-55

The Underfunding of the NHS: Covid-19's Unflattering Mirror Sophie Mitchell

6min
pages 52-53

What Healthcare Can Learn from Aviation Shapol Mohamed

8min
pages 50-51

Speeding Mirrors: The Magic of Classic Motorsport Matt Bryan

17min
pages 44-49

The Agony in Gethsemane Tom McCarthy

10min
pages 36-39

A Mirror to Nature: Gilbert White’s Ecological Revolution James Burkinshaw

10min
pages 32-35

The Golden Ratio and Its Repetition Throughout Nature Max Harvey

6min
pages 40-41

How Architecture Reflects Our Surroundings Habina Seo

8min
pages 42-43

Is There Such a Thing as Human Nature? Taylor Colbeth

4min
pages 30-31

The Girl in the Mirror: Sylvia Plath Tara Bell

5min
pages 12-13

The Mirror Crack’d’: Emily Dickinson and ‘The Lady of Shalott’ Edith Critchley

9min
pages 14-17

The Mirror of Narcissus? AI and Human Identity Lottie Allen

7min
pages 28-29

The Mirrors of Literature: From Epic to Dystopia Louise Shannon

5min
pages 18-19

Utopia or Dystopia? How Literature and Film Predict Our Future Haleigh Smith

10min
pages 24-27

When Reality Mirrors TV Nicholas Lemieux

8min
pages 22-23

Mirror of Modernity: The Unendurability of King Lear Naomi Smith

9min
pages 20-21

Reflections: The Man I Love Mark Richardson

13min
pages 8-11

An Evening with Mr Richardson Matt Bryan

19min
pages 4-7
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