Mental Health Case Study (Term Paper Sample)

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In recent years, mental health has been considered an essential element of general public health, well-being and quality of life. This awareness has been fuelled by its recent increased burden becoming a public health issue. In United Kingdom, mental illness "is the largest single source of burden of disease" CITATION Roy10 \p 7 \l 1033 (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010, p. 7). In terms of prevalence, breadth of impact and persistence, mental illness surpasses all other health conditions. In England, its wider cost is estimated at £105 billion annually CITATION Roy10 \p Ibid \l 1033 (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010, p. Ibid). The objective of this paper seeks to apply conceptual perspectives of mental health and mental illness in extensively reviewing a case study. The review involves identification of cause and functional difficulties, diagnosis and treatment of the health condition.
Mental Health
According to Jahoda CITATION MJa58 \n \t \l 1033 (1958), mental health can be separated further into three domains; self-realisation, a sense of mastery and autonomy. Mental health is not just about lack of mental disorders; it can be described in two broad dimensions; positive mental health and mental ill health. Generally, mental health encompasses subjective well-being, autonomy, competence, perceived self-efficacy, intergenerational dependence and ability to recognise individual intellectual and emotional potential. This is captured in World Health Organisation’s definition of health in its constitution. It defines it as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" CITATION Wor09 \p 1 \l 1033 (World Health Organisation, 2009, p. 1). Another definition considers mental health as "a state of well-being whereby individuals recognise their abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and make a contribution to their communities" CITATION Wor03 \p 7 \l 1033 (World Health Organisation, 2003, p. 7).
Therefore, mental health entails empowering individual as well as community’s competencies and enabling them to attain their self-determined objectives. This idea has aroused a feeling that calls for consideration of mental health as a concern for everyone and not just those suffering from mental illness. There are three approaches to mental health as a personality trait; Salutogenic, psychoanalytical, and transcultural approaches.
Salutogenic Approach
The salutogenic approach was proposed by Antonovsky CITATION AAn79 \n \t \l 1033 (1979) and it promotes mental health as a positive concept. Before Antonovsky stress was considered a negative event that greatly contributed to people breaking down. In contrast, Antonovsky argued that chaos and stress are natural conditions in life. In his view, the critical question ought to be centred on salutogenesis (Cause of health) and not the pathogenesis (reasons for the disease).
Salutogenesis is characterised by two fundamental concepts; generalised resistance resources (GRRs) and the sense of coherence (SOC). Generalised resistance resources are biological, psychological and material factors that make it simple for individuals’ to become conscious of their lives as consistent and structured. They include knowledge, intelligence, money, culture, social support traditions and ideologies. Availability of these kinds of resources in an individual’s immediate surroundings increases their chances of managing challenges of life. Generalised resistance resources assist an individual in developing coherent life experiences. Moreover, these coherent life experiences, in turn, strengthen a sense of coherence. Sense of coherence is shaped by three types of life experiences; comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness CITATION AAn79 \p 326 \l 1033 (Antonovsky, 1979, p. 326). Sense of coherence is applicable to the individual, group and community level. According to Antonovsky sense of coherence is mainly formed in the first 30 years of life and therefafter only drastic changes in life would influence its change.
Mental ill health
This deals with mental disorders, symptoms and problems. It is a psychological or behavioural manifestation of cognitive impairment characterised by an inability to cope, disordered thinking, inaccurate perception of reality, and social dysfunction CITATION The00 \p 8 \l 1033 (The British Pychological Society, 2000, p. 8). Currently, Mental illnesses are defined by the existence of symptoms. Also, mental symptoms that lack criteria for clinical disorders do exist. These subclinical conditions occur as a result of persistent or temporary distress CITATION Vil \p 338 \l 1033 (Lehtinen, Ozamiz, Underwood, & Weiss, 2005, p. 338). Common forms of mental disorders include depression, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, eating disorders and addictive behaviours. There is no single causative factor for mental illness. These factors have been broadly categorised into three; psychological, biological and social factors CITATION The00 \p 21 \l 1033 (The British Pychological Society, 2000, p. 21).
Schizophrenia
It is a severe mental disorder. It lasts, at least, six months with at least one month of active-phase of the following symptoms; hallucinations, delusions, grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour, disorganised speech or negative symptoms CITATION Tan13 \p 1-3 \l 1033 (Tandon, et al., 2013, pp. 1-3). There are six subtypes of schizophrenia; paranoid, disorganised, Catatonic, Undifferentiated and Residual CITATION Tan13 \p 3 \l 1033 (Tandon, et al., 2013, p. 3). Psychological disturbances are not effectively accounted for by schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, shared psychotic disorders, brief psychotic disorder, and substance-induced psychotic disorders.
Paranoid schizophrenia
It is the commonest form of schizophrenia. It is characterised by auditory hallucinations, deluded thoughts processes. Individuals often develop a deluded believe that there is a plot and against them. Martin also has accused his on several occasions accused his parents of conspiring with the Chinese to have him killed so they can use his organs for transplants.
Etiology
The exact cause of schizophrenia has not been identified but theories have been put forward regarding its etiology.
Genetic
Genetic studies have focused on identical and fraternal twins and comparison of biological and adoptive relatives of individuals previously diagnosed with schizophrenia. From the studies, the close relatives are at greater risk of having the diagnosis. Statistics indicate that the child whose both parents have been diagnosed with schizophrenia has a 45 percent chance of being diagnosed; a child whose one parent is diagnosed has a 13 percent chance and a sibling has a 9 percent CITATION The00 \p 24 \l 1033 (The British Pychological Society, 2000, p. 24). For the general population, the overall risk is 1 percent. From our case study, Martin has an estranged aunt who has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals over the years due to erratic and bizarre behaviour although nobody in the family really talks about her. Linking to statistic above, Martin could have possible inherited the gene responsible for his psychotic experience. Also, a report by The British Psychological Society (2014), indicate a tendency to certain behaviours and unusual beliefs such as hearing voices run in families CITATION Bri14 \p 38 \n \y \t \l 1033 (p. 38). Genome-wide association study has identified specific genetic characteristics that appear common to individual with certain mental illnesses. However, this is not conclusive as it still has t under extensive validation and in the near future could uncover the role of genetics in mental disorders.
Stress Vulnerability Model
This suggests that biological and environmental factors both significant. It also suggests that every individual has different vulnerability level to the development of schizophrenia. This degree of vulnerability depends on both biological (genetic or Neurochemical changes) and psychological factors. Only in the presence of environmental stresses, can vulnerability result in problems. If the vulnerability is greater, such individuals become less resilient and as a consequence low levels of environmental stresses are enough to trigger problems CITATION The00 \p 28 \l 1033 (The British Pychological Society, 2000, p. 28). In the case of Martin, he might have become vulnerable to certain environmental stresses in the University triggering his psychotic experiences.
Mania
It refers to a complex cluster of symptoms such as grandiose delusions, impulsiveness, agitation CITATION Gon10 \p 71 \l 1033 (González-Ortega, Mosquera, Echeburúa, & González-Pinto, 2010, p. 71). In most cases it is a case of a combination of euphoria and depression and irritability. Recent studies have identified that grandiose delusions have been linked with patterns of thoughts similar to that in paranoia CITATION Ben98 \p 120 \l 1033 (Bentall & Kinderman, 1998, p. 120).
Symptoms
Common paranoid symptoms include auditory disturbances, unexplained anger, and emotional disconnectedness; severe anxiety and agitation, argumentative behaviour violent behaviours, delusions and frequent suicidal thoughts. Most of these symptoms can occur in other subtypes. Two symptoms in particular specifically occur in paranoid schizophrenia; auditory disturbances and paranoid delusions.
Making a Diagnosis
It is often paramount to rule out other illnesses. Therefore, medical history, physical examinations and laboratory tests should be conducted before concluding that the individual has P...