MENTAL AND

EMOTIONAL HEALTH
C

Mental Illness
 Mental illness
•According to Donatelle (2006), mental
illness are disorders that disrupt thinking,
feelings, mood, and behaviors and impair
daily functioning. These disorders may be
caused by prolonged stress and mental
and emotional suffering due to various
triggers.
Triggers

•These are events, conditions, or

situations that may “activate” a
person’s tendency to
experience symptoms of mental
disorders.
 A. Major Depressive Disorder
•It is normal to feel sadness or grief when
faced with difficult situations. However, a
person may develop a major depressive
disorder when depression is on a daily
basis, characterized by “persistent
sadness, despair, and hopelessness”
(Donatelle, 2006).
Symptoms of Depression
•Lack or loss of motivation
•Over thinking (that may say something about him/her)
•Lack or loss of energy
•Slow to react
•Difficulty in concentrating and remembering
•Loss of appetite
•Excessive gain or loss of weight
•Withdrawal from others / feeling alone
 B. Bipolar Disorder
•Also called manic depressive disorder.
•It is a “form of depression characterized by
alternating mania and depression” (Donatelle,
2006).
•A person who experiences thus disorder may at
times feel very happy and elated, then at an
instant may feel utmost sadness and despair.
Symptoms include:
•Rapid speech and racing thoughts
•Difficulty in decision-making
•Recklessness and impulsiveness
•Agitation
•Difficulty in concentrating
•Extreme irritability
 C. Schizophrenia
•It is a “mental illness with biological
origins that is characterized by
irrational behavior, severe alterations of
the senses and often inability to
function in the society” (Donatelle,
2006).
•A person with this illness may experience
hallucinations or feeling of being
detached and away from reality.

•He/she may lose the functions of the

sense organs and thinks and imagines
very differently than that of a normal
person.
 D. Post-traumatic stress disorder
•A person may have this disorder when he or she
experienced a traumatic situation such as being
abused, raped, or involved in an accident.
•Symptoms may vary from being spaced out
(tulala), extreme sadness or frustration,
irritability, avoidance to people or isolation, and
others.
Remember:
•Mental disorders are diagnosed.
•Only professional physicians may determine the
illness being experienced by an individual.
•Note that the symptoms of the disorders should
be prolonged and repeated.
•Not because a person experiences one or two
of the symptoms at one time, it does mean that
he/she is already diagnosed with that illness.
Treatment and Cure
•A professional physician may
decide on whether to give the
patient medication or subject him
or her to routine therapy sessions.
 There are also other mental health
problems that individuals may
experience.

•Learning problems and disorders

•Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
•Anxiety problems and disorders
•Moods problems and disorders