First Aid Mental Health

Clinical depression is a good example of a mental illness that presents with these changes: emotional changes include tearfulness, irritability, loss of interest, and feelings of sadness; physical changes include inability to eat, lack of energy, weight loss or gain, lack of sexual drive, and impaired sleep; personality changes are manifested through such behavior as easily getting upset or making unusual business decisions; cognitive changes include lack of concentration and memory lapses; and behavioral changes are shown by agitation and violent tendencies and frequent pacing.

The majority, if not all, of patients suffering from mental illness must endure and cope with these modes of change.

Mental Illness- A Medical Disorder

Mental illness, like physical illness, is a medical disorder. Psychiatric research in the past decades has shown its underlying physical mechanisms. Major mental disorders have manifested “chemical imbalance” or neurochemical brain changes. Likewise, abnormality in brain structure is also found in the emotionally ill population, such as the changes observed in schizophrenic patients.

Moreover, heredity is prominent in the etiology of the majority of mental illnesses. For example, a significant percentage of manic-depressive patients’ first-degree relatives are predisposed to mood disorder. Lastly, changes in hormonal and endocrine functions, as well as in other brain and physical mechanisms, are also involved in the cause of mental illness.

The need for first aid for mental illness

First aid for common physical problems is well established. Preventive measures have been used by people from all walks of life, and are commonly applied to physical problems. Simplified approaches for emergency situations such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) have been developed, taught, and applied, saving millions of lives.