Imagine a friend or family member is diagnosed with a mental disorder. Soon afte
ID: 3487126 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine a friend or family member is diagnosed with a mental disorder. Soon after disclosing this diagnosis, you overhear another friend or family member say, "Oh, that disorder, it is all in his (or her) head!" Considering the bio-psycho-social model of mental disorders, how would you respond to this friend or family member? Explain what may be correct and what might be a misconception. In addition, choose a mental disorder that you are least familiar with, and conduct some online or textbook research. Identify something surprising about the disorder that you did not know or understand prior to this course For this post, it is important that you think of this in hypothetical terms. Do not reference specific family members or experiences, although this may certainly help you to develop a response.Explanation / Answer
The reason why biopsychosocial model is important because it explains how some people who are seemingly “healthy” can get mental illnesses and why some are more prone to mental illness than others. The family and friends need to be explained the importance of all these factors. The biological influences like infection,physical trauma or nutrition has an effect on mental and physical health. Social factors like experiencing some stress at work,in family or in relationships does have have effect on the individual's mental health. Also the psychological aspect like lack of self control,negative thinking,emotional turmoil etc. also can lead to develop low self esteem of the individual leading to mental disorders. The family needs to understand that nothing is "in the head",it is an interaction of all these factors which lead to the development of the disorder. The family needs to be made aware about talking and keeping an interest in the person's life,if he/she is going through any problem because of work or relations. The family members need to know that because of stress experienced the person could experience negative thoughta,and if they notice lack of interaction with people,not going to social gatherings,low food intake,being aloof etc. these could be signals leading towards development of the disorder. The misconception of everything is in the head has got nothing to do with the development of mental disorder. Lifestyle changes,any conflict at work,or in personal relationships can lead to person experiencing mental health problems. Also if the person is suffering from some disease physically that could be the reason for person developing depression as a mental disorder,the family needs to pay attention to this and conduct regular medical checkups as well. Stress in the family environment is another reason,constant fights between family memebers can have a negative influence on the mental health of the individual. The family members need to understand that having a positive enviroment in the house is important because any situation can trigger the onset of mental disorders. Having thyroid in the family is not such a big deal, and we all think it happens because of only hormonal problems and leads to some physical changes. But was surprising was the repurcussions it has on the person's mental health as well. Changes in the body,either increase or decrease in weight,low immunity etc. has lead to the development of depression as well as eating disorders. Depression is common but connection with eating disorders is new a thing I found. Increase in weight obviously makes the person worry about his or her looks which has lead to stress eating. Thyroid was always seen as either a hereditary or hormonal problem leading to some physical changes. But the link with eating disorders was never seen by me. Eating disorders have been linked to thyroid but this is other way round wherein, the person already has thyroid because of which it has psychologically effected the person leading to binge eating and sometimes no eating at all.