Category: Mental Health Awareness

My principal qualification for addressing the subject of ‘Mental Health Issues” isn’t my degrees, my involvement in varies aspects of Ministry, my many voluntary Youth Work, my being the President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Schools Guidance Counsellors Association or the many years as a Teacher, and now Guidance Counsellor in one of the Secondary Schools in SVG. It is my own history of struggles.  

I had been a depression-prone, anxiety-prone, emotionally-fragile person who sometimes found it a lot easier to encourage others than to encourage myself. I’m a soldier in the army of Christ who marches with a limp. Yet I’m still in the fight, only by the grace of God.

Therefore, I am not sharing with you from a pre-eminent perspective, as someone who has apprehended life but as someone who is zealous to transmit what sustains and empowers me. For a few years now I have been inspired to share my story and to be an advocate for Mental Health. However, because of the stigma attached to Mental Health I was afraid but I believe that the time has come for me to do whatever it will take to sensitize our people about Mental Health. Hence, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you my story.

More →

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin

Introduction

Song on Anorexia Nervosa

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wECFdIOvaCo&list=PLYEhyAvxUjMqs8cXT0Gh_k5jKEW0tuzwo&index=1

What are Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behaviour that results in the altered consumption or absorption of food and that significantly impairs physical health or psychosocial functioning.

Diagnostic criteria are provided for pica, rumination disorder, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder (DSM V, 2013, p. 329).

According to National Institute of Mental Health: The eating disorders anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, and their variants, all feature serious disturbances in eating behaviour and weight regulation. They are associated with a wide range of adverse psychological, physical, and social consequences.

A person with an eating disorder may start out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, their urge to eat less or more spirals out of control. Severe distress or concern about body weight or shape, or extreme efforts to manage weight or food intake, also may characterize an eating disorder.

More →

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin

Introduction

What is Depression? 

Depression is a serious medical illness marked by feelings of sadness, irritable mood, emptiness, hopelessness or despair, accompanied by somatic and cognitive changes that significantly affect the individual’s capacity to function.

Depression is an “inexpressible sadness”. There is a vast difference between feeling sad and being depressed. It is normal for people to feel “down” or have the “blues” when they experience a sad circumstance such as the death of a loved one or friend, the loss of a job, a divorce, separation or some other significant loss. However, anyone who experiences continued depression without any recognizable cause should know that this may be a warning sign of major depression.

Depression is a global problem. It affects an estimated one in 15 adults (6.7%) in any given year.  One in six people around the world will suffer from major depression at some point during their lives. Depression is the most frequently occurring and debilitating psychiatric disorder, causing more disability than any other mental illness. It has been estimated that by 2020 depression will be the greatest disability worldwide.

More →

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin

Introduction

What is Anxiety Disorder?

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can be beneficial in some situations. It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay attention.

Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiousness and involve excessive fear or anxiety. Along with depression, anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders and affect more than 25 million Americans.

Anxiety Disorders, include disorders that share features of excessive fear and anxiety and related behavioural disturbances. Fear is the emotional response to real or perceived imminent threat, whereas anxiety is anticipation of future threat.

It is evident that these two states overlap, nevertheless they also differ, as fear is more often associated with surges of autonomic arousal necessary for fight or flight, thoughts of immediate danger, and escape behaviours, while anxiety is more often associated with muscle tension and vigilance in preparation for future danger and cautious or avoidant behaviours.

More →

Facebook

Twitter

Linkedin