Part One
Brain and Mind always question who is running the show, Complex but not so hard to understand.
The brain, as we all know, is a Physical Organ made of neuron cells, Blood vessels and supporting structure etc. The brain as an Organ works by communication among its different parts ( such as frontal lobe, Amygdala, Hippocampus, Striatum, Motor Cortex and sensory Cortex, Visual area, Auditory area to name a few) by the help of neurotransmitters generally known as ( Dopamine, Serotonin, Epinephrine, Glutamate, Histamine, and so on). There is a delicate balance among these chemical compounds and this Balance is extremely necessary for anybody functioning in the society at optimum level.
These chemicals like any other have different properties to produce different effects in the brain and hence develop perceptions/feeling/emotions and behaviors that lead to consequences. It has long been known that certain Chemical compounds give high feelings and hence potential for abuse, certain chemical compounds cause sleepiness and relaxation so on and so forth, deficiency of others can lead to depressed feeling, excess of some chemicals can cause Hallucinations.
In other words, anything related to our being known in conscious state is primarily dependent upon these Neurotransmitters. Whenever there is any disturbance in the balance, then the whole picture changes so theoretically :
- Excess Dopamine can cause Auditory Hallucinations and delusions
- Decreased Serotonin can cause depressed feeling
- Disruption in Epinephrine or the Epinephrine system can cause Poor attention/Concentration.
Mind is on the contrary Meta physical entity, which cannot be seen but everybody knows it. It is combination of perceptions, feelings, and emotions, which lead to behaviors and consequence of behaviors, lead to perception again.
Cascade starts with Perception coming from all five senses like (Touch, hear, see, Smell, and Taste.) Followed by Feeling good, bad, or neutral. Then the next step is Emotions Like love, hate and friendliness. Followed by the Behavior anything mounting from moving to or from the trigger, using words or expressions to express, commenting or ignoring. This will lead to Consequences of the behavior whether it is good or bad.
Now the Brain connections (Neurons make connections with each other through dendrite and Exons) Neuroplasty (Mechanism) explains how these connections keep changing throughout the life span. Brain connections are interchangeable and can affect the performance of the mind positively or negatively.
Moral:
“Behavior and Biology may be interchangeable and can affect each other”
Mental Health:
A sound Mental Health means optimum balanced Perception----Feeling----- Thinking---Emotions----Behaviors------ Consequences and response to the interaction. Brain Connections and its Neurotransmitters provide a medium for healthy and efficient functioning of the mind. Disruption or Imbalance in these chemicals can lead to different perceptions, feelings and emotional responses and in turn leads to unusual or inappropriate behavior. For example, In Psychosis (e.g. Schizophrenia, delusions) mania and/or OCD lead to specific symptomatology and hence behavior patterns recognizable and well known replicable in these illnesses.
In short, problem starts with Physical derangement like any other organs in the body (e.g. Heart, Kidney, Lungs, and Liver). People usually do not feel ashamed of having these problems in general.
“Why feel ashamed or embraced when we have mental Health Issue”
Through Human Generations Value and power had been associated with Sound mental health and best organization and executive skills. Even whenever there is, a competition among Candidate for throne in Historical Dynasties, the individual with best executive functioning would win the battle even may be physically not that strong as compared to his/her competitors. Weakness of mind or poor mental health affects the normal functioning more than anything else does.
Discrimination and stigma associated with mental health Prevent people and families seeking mental health treatment despite the availability of such services. This may stem from the belief that mental health issues are untreatable or difficult to treat and people, who are suffering, may face rejection, discriminations and lose social support. Hearing the stories about people treated in the institutions and mental health rehabilitation programs.
Stigma may stem from “Hide the weakness that can make someone vulnerable”
Stigma Associated with mental health problems can serve two-edged sword by affecting the person and not allowing to get help.
Many people are not aware of or at least do not know the extent of Medical/mental health Confidentiality laws and their serious nature. Health Information sharing governing principals is available online, in the textbooks and through asking the health Care professional. It can be very useful to alleviate the concern of the person in need of help or seeking help.
Stigma Deters Treatment
Individuals
- Keep people who are experiencing a problem from acknowledging problem and seeking help
Family / Community / Societal
- Keeps people from recommending help or acknowledging problem for family or friend
Policy Arena
- Keeps government and private sector from addressing problems