Mental Health – When Mental Health is an Emergency
When mental health is an emergency, it means that you need to seek help immediately. The symptoms of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression can be serious and even life-threatening, and you should not wait to get medical attention.
Depression
Depression is a common mental health condition. It’s often a condition that doesn’t get much attention, but it can be treated with the right care. However, it can also be a life-threatening condition.
Depression is a complex problem, and the right treatment may take time. For example, many people with severe depression don’t start treatment until their condition sends them to the emergency room. If you or a loved one is experiencing a severe form of depression, you should make a plan for how you will handle it.
A major component of a plan is making sure you have an advocate, such as a trusted friend, parent, or therapist. When a crisis arises, you should be able to rely on that person to help you.
You should also be able to tell that you are in a crisis. If you or a loved one feels that you are ready to commit to suicide, you should seek immediate help. This includes contacting a mental health professional, who can recommend a counselor, or even going to the emergency room.
Bipolar disorder
If you suffer from bipolar disorder, you may need to seek help when your mental health is an emergency. You can get help by calling 911 or contacting a local hospital. Fortunately, there are many treatment options available. These include medication, talking therapy, and lifestyle changes.
Bipolar disorder is a complex condition that affects the brain’s neurotransmitters. It causes episodes of mania and depression. Symptoms can interfere with work, relationships, and daily activities. Often, they last for months or longer. Medications can treat symptoms, but it is important to remember that they cannot cure the disorder.
People who have bipolar disorder have a high risk of suffering from psychosis. This is when people see things that don’t exist. The person may also have delusions, unusual beliefs, and difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a complex mental illness that can impact an individual’s daily life. The condition can affect a person’s relationships, education, occupational functioning, and general well-being.
In order to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, a doctor needs to perform a thorough medical assessment. This can include asking questions about the patient’s past and current symptoms. It can also involve gathering information from family members or others familiar with the person’s history.
Medication can be used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia. However, it can take some time for the medications to start working. Antipsychotic medicines, for example, can take up to six weeks to begin working.
If a person experiences a severe case of schizophrenia, they may need to be hospitalized. The typical hospital stay is between a few days and several weeks.
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge to mental health around the world. It is a major public health emergency that has had severe impacts on the economy, health systems, and society at large.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people have reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and other emotional disorders. The crisis has widened gender differences in these disorders, especially in the case of depression.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also created a significant need for mental health services for children. Some countries have responded by adding new mental health services or expanding existing ones. Others have attempted to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on health care by shifting to a phone-based format or integrating online services.
Stigma has a negative effect on the physical and mental health of people. Those with stigma may be denied educational opportunities, targeted by verbal abuse, and excluded from the community. They also might not be as likely to seek medical assistance, making them more susceptible to the pandemic’s effects.
Sri Lanka’s mental health system reform after the tsunami
Since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami devastated coastal areas of Sri Lanka, the country has been focused on rebuilding its mental health system. After the tragedy, a new national mental health policy was approved, emphasizing community-based care and decentralized care. The WHO provided critical support to the Sri Lanka Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, helping it develop a national mental health implementation plan.
Over the past four decades, psychiatric care in Sri Lanka has seen a rapid transformation from an asylum-based model in British colonial times to an integrated model with community-based and hospital-based services. However, the human resources needed to deliver comprehensive care are scarce.
Sri Lanka has a population of 22 million people and a multiethnic ethnic background. This makes it a good example of how quality population health outcomes can be achieved in a low-income country.
