MENTAL HEALTH

Common questions which might prop up in one’s mind are:

  1. Are “mental” diseases brain diseases?
  2. Where in the brain might mental disorders originate?
  3. What in the brain might be at fault?
  4. When might such abnormalities begin?
  5. Why do the brain dysfunction(s) occur?

Anatomy of the mind


functions

area involved

Cognition ( Perception and memory)

Neocortex and Hippocampus

Affect ( feeling and expression)

Amygdala-hippocampus and cingulate gyrus

Conation (Thinking and action)

Prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia

Neurochemical System of Brain


Neurochemical Systems

actions

Norepinephrine

Flight/Fight/Fright

Dopamine

Pleasure seeking/executive

Serotonin

Appetitive functions

Acetylcholine

Memory, arousal

GABA

Inhibitory

Glutamate

Excitatory

 

A Unified Model of Mental Disease

etiology

Genes,   Environment

BRAIN STRUCTURE AND PHYSIOLOGY

E.g. altered association cortex circuits/hypofrontality

BRAIN CHEMISRTY

Altered Dopamine regulation

SYMPTOMS

Altered cognition/ perception/thinking

DISEASE

Schizophrenia


Emotion

  1. Adaptive value
    1. Signaling aggression is safer than acting it out.
  1. James-Lange Theory
    1. Physiological reactions are interpreted, producing emotional response. For example sight of bear would result in physiological response in the body which in turn would lead to fear

 

  1. Cannon-Bard Theory
    1. Interpretation and physiological reactions occur in parallel. For example sight of the bear would result in physiological reaction and feeling of fear at the same time.

Fear

  1. The amygdala plays an important role in conditioned fear.
  1. Amygdaledectomy reduces violence in humans, but it also comes with some side effects (e.g., blunt emotions).

Psychosocial Health:
It consists of four factors

  1. Emotional Health
  2. Social Health
  3. Spiritual Health
  4. Mental Health

EMOTIONAL BLOCKS

  1. Guilt, depression, anger.
  2. Worry, anxiety.
  3. Comfort with status quo.
  4. Boredom.
  5. Excess energy: “my mind is too busy.”
  6. Intolerance of ambiguity.
  7. Fear of success. Fear of failure.
  8. Need for perfection.
  9. Excessive zeal, ego involvement.
  10. Disinterest.
  11. Impatience, frustration.
  12. Seriousness.
  13. Not invented here.

SOCIAL BLOCKS

  1. Fear of rejection.
  2. Need to please others (friends, social groups, management).
  3. Unwillingness to collaborate
  4. Fear of confrontation.
  5. Lack of confidence in personal creativity – “others are more creative.”

SPIRITUAL BLOCK

  1. Inability to connect to self, other and larger purpose
  2. Inability to be fully present in a moment
  3. Inability to develop to our fullest potential

PERSONAL PERCEPTIONS

  1. Leader/victim. (Do you have control?)
  2. Confidence & Trust. (How you see the world.)
  3. Talent/Contribution. (Do you have impact on world around you?)
  4. Strength of Expectations. (Must everything turn out exactly as you expect?)
  5. Personal value. (Do you feel you have to constantly earn esteem of others?)
  6. Skills and Specialization. (Sometimes you “know too much.”)

REMOVING BLOCKS:

  1. Envision yourself feeling differently.
  2. Use that vision to become bigger than the blocking emotions.
  3. Encourage your feelings to emerge.
  4. Nurture positive thoughts – give yourself positive encouragement.

Characteristics of psychologically individuals:
Psychologically healthy people

    1. Feel good about themselves
    2. Feel comfortable with other people
    3. Control tension and anxiety
    4. Able to meet the demands of life
    5. Curb hate and guilt
    6. Maintain a positive outlook
    7. Enrich lives of others
    8. Appreciate nature
    9. Cherish the things that make them happy