{"id":6698,"date":"2023-08-11T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/?p=6698"},"modified":"2023-09-25T09:37:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T14:37:13","slug":"mental-illness-views","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/mental-illness-views\/","title":{"rendered":"Views of Mental Illness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bridging the Understanding of Mental Illness Between Individuals and Experts<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

The Path to Mental Fitness – Part 2
<\/strong><\/p>\n

In our <\/span>first episode<\/span><\/a>, we talked about the Elephant in the Room. Have you ever heard the question asked, how does one eat an elephant? The answer is one bite at a time. Here’s a follow up question. What part of the elephant are you eating? So, I did a little research to determine how our thoughts about mental fitness align with the professionals. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Before we get to that, I need to paint the picture of a term that’s going to be very important called the “root cause.” In the world of Information Systems, where I received my postsecondary education and spent the majority of my secular career, we often use this term, root-cause.  For example, when there is an outage, the team troubleshooting, not only desires to restore the system, but look for what caused the outage. You see, if we identify the cause, it will help us with a better solution and possibly eliminate this from occurring again. Here’s another example. You could have a leak in your ceiling coming through in your kitchen. However, that leak could be the result of a hole in the roof on the other side of the house. To resolve the leak, we must identify the root cause. The leak in the kitchen is a symptom or sign of a problem elsewhere. The true problem or root cause is due to a hole in the roof on the other side of the house. In the same way, many of the mental health issues we experience and have described are not all the root issue, but symptoms of another issue, the root cause. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now for the question we’ve been waiting for, what is the cause? 
<\/span>To get to the root-cause we have to open up our minds and think about these mental health challenges a little bit differently. We have to consider some new type of thinking because our old way of thinking has caused this to plague us for far too long. So let’s decide together to get a handle on it. We need to determine some root causes so we know what we’re dealing with. We might not be dealing with an undefeatable issue, but rather a simple root cause. <\/span><\/p>\n

What I found when researching this topic will provide the signs and symptoms associated with mental challenges from a clinical standpoint and how the world defines it. Most of what we’ve found came from the Mayo Clinic. This particular clinic is one our society places on a little bit of a pedestal. When we think about the healthcare-world, the Mayo Clinic is a leading expert. <\/span>[1]<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

They call these the signs and symptoms that lead to something even worse, worse as it relates to mental health challenges. Some of the illnesses we named in our <\/span>previous lesson<\/span><\/a> were signs and some of them are symptoms of something worse. Let’s pair what the experts have identified, with what we’ve identified.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Feeling sad and down. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>When you “feel sad and down” tends to cause one to not want to be around people. This is called isolation, which we mentioned. “Feeling sad and down” is just a symptom that indicates that you might be heading towards a worse condition like isolation or closing yourself off from others. Find out what’s making you sad, down, and unhappily. You must avoid this to the best of your ability. It could lead to something worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Confused thinking or reduced ability to concentrate. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>When you find yourself unable to concentrate, a lightbulb should go off. If not treated or reversed this could lead to something worse. In other words, you need to determine what’s causing your confused state or inability to concentrate. You’ll want to eliminate that from your mental health diet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excessive fear or worry, or extreme feelings of guilt. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>Fear, worry, guilt in abundance is not healthy. In fact, the scripture states and this is important, God has not given you the spirit that brings fear. <\/span>[2]<\/sup><\/span> He has given us a way out of worry which is prayer. <\/span>[3]<\/sup><\/span> Worry, fear, and guilt are a root cause of other health issues. Until you learn how to overcome these, then you might continue to suffer with and\/or form some serious mental and physical health challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

Extreme mood changes from high to low. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>Who would have thought that something so simple as unchecked mood swings is a sign? When unchecked these things are going to produce some outcomes that we just don’t want. By the way, these are the studies from the professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Withdrawal from friends. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>You might not think much of it if and when you find yourself withdrawing to yourself. Again this is a symptom of something, a root cause that can become something more serious. That’s why getting together with others is so critical in life. Others will help you notice simple and small changes in your behavior which can head off many of these symptoms of mental issues that form.<\/span><\/p>\n

Significant tiredness. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>When you hear yourself or someone else always complaining about being tired, that’s an alert. We wonder why we have mental health issues and here it is always being tired is an overlooked sign.  Over work will lead to significant tiredness, which will in turn lead to mental illnesses. You know what the answer is for mental health issues caused by being too tired? Rest. The Bible says God gives rest. <\/span>[4]<\/sup><\/span> Maybe your answer to being tired is to get closer to the one who gives rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Detachment from reality. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>I don’t know if you know any people who live in a fantasy world. I know some people who live like that. What I mean by this is they don’t see things like you see them. The sky is blue, but they see pink. This is a problem and it’s mentally unhealthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inability to cope with daily problems. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>Have you ever seen somebody drop a glass and they just lose it? They accidentally knocked the glass off the table and they just went ballistic. Some people go through phases where they have an inability to cope with the daily problems life throws at them. This can lead to extreme stress, problems understanding, and not being able to focus or concentrate. These are mental problems surfacing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trouble understanding. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>You have to watch out for people who have trouble understanding. We need to know that this is a symptom that leads to greater mental issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

Changes in eating habits. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>Changes in eating habits, while for expecting mothers is a good sign, for everyone else not so good. When we experience changes in our eating habits or an eating disorder starts to form, we need to check our mental health. Don’t just shrug it off as a chemical imbalance. There’s a root cause you need to find. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sex drives change. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>This one is a bit touchy in the church world. Church people don’t talk about sex. However, for a husband and wife this is a good way to determine if there’s something mentally out of sorts going on with your spouse. You may not have considered that one’s sex drive is tied to some mental illness. Worry, fear, anxiety, these things all impact us in different ways. This is an “<\/span>Elephant in the Room<\/span><\/a>.” So I’m safe, blame this bullet on the Mayo Clinic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excessive anger and hostility. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>Anger, hostility, violence, and road rage are symptoms. These things lead to greater mental illnesses. Let’s watch out for the signs and get some help when needed. This is next level mental fitness. We’re not going to allow the symptoms we see and experience to go unchecked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suicidal thinking. <\/b>[1]<\/sup>
<\/b>Have you ever really taken a moment to think about what it means to have suicidal thoughts? It means that \u201cI would be better off dead.\u201d What in this world would lead someone to believe that death is a better alternative? This is a symptom that must be headed off before it escalates into action.<\/span><\/p>\n

When any of these symptoms arise, it points to the fact that there are mental challenges pending. Take feeling sad and down, while it seems normal and less life threatening, it is the start of being mentally unfit. It’s like gaining a little weight. At first that process seems manageable until you realize over time it has gotten out of control and resulting in one’s physical unfitness. <\/span><\/p>\n

In light of these professionally identified symptoms of mental illness, what is mental fitness then? Let’s think about that for a moment. What’s interesting is <\/span>the list<\/span><\/a> our group identified and the professional list are pretty close to being the same. That should make you wonder a little about what culture is feeding us. People are making us feel as if it’s okay to have these symptoms. In other words, people are making mental illness okay. Let me stop you right there. It is not okay to live with mental illnesses that are in your power to do something about. That type of thinking is not only anti-Bible, but antiChrist. Making it okay goes against everything that Jesus taught and stood for. We are not made to live this way. Could it be that we are normalizing these symptoms as things we should live with rather than identifying the root cause to eliminate them? The latter is the purpose of this lesson. <\/span><\/p>\n

Question: what symptoms on this list are most prevalent in your world?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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[1] Mayo Clinic Staff. \u201cMental Illness\u201d Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research Accessed August 9, 2023.  https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/mental-illness\/symptoms-causes\/syc-20374968<\/a>
[2] \u202d\u202dII Timothy\u202c \u202d1\u202c:\u202d7\u202c \u202dNKJV\u202c\u202c, Bible.com, accessed August 10, 2023, https:\/\/bible.com\/bible\/114\/2ti.1.7.NKJV<\/a>
[3] \u202d\u202dPhilippians\u202c \u202d4\u202c:\u202d6\u202c \u202dNLT\u202c\u202c, Bible.com, accessed August 10, 2023, https:\/\/bible.com\/bible\/116\/php.4.6.NLT<\/a>
[4] \u202d\u202d\u202d\u202dPsalms\u202c \u202d127\u202c:\u202d2\u202c \u202dNLT\u202c\u202c, Bible.com, accessed August 10, 2023, https:\/\/bible.com\/bible\/116\/psa.127.2.NLT<\/a>

All Scripture references used by permission, see our <\/em>Scripture copyrights<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When you pair your idea of mental illnesses how would it stand up against what the professional says and how can this help avert more serious mental challenges?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6700,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[559,560],"tags":[553],"class_list":{"0":"post-6698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-next-level-mental-fitness","8":"category-path-to-mental-fitness","9":"tag-ethnic-groups","10":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/20230811-TIF-BLOG-Views-of-Mental-Illness.png?fit=760%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4jb7V-1K2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6698"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6709,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6698\/revisions\/6709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kerryaclark.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}