Tag / mental illness

by karentwinem

When They Don’t Think They Are Mentally Ill

One symptom of having a mental illness is … not knowing that you have a mental illness. Really.

This symptom is anosognosia … pronounced uh-no-sog-NOH-zee-uh.  It means being unaware of one’s disease, disability or defect. This is common, as many who have tried to help a loved one can tell you.

Some people who have brain-based or “mental” illness have insight.  They know they have a mental disturbance that could be an illness. They recognize they have  experiences, including beliefs and perceptions, that don’t match reality.  Because they can see this, they are much more likely to accept treatment.

People with anosognosia often don’t accept treatment simply because they don’t think they are sick.

Anosognosia affects 50 percent of people with schizophrenia and 40 percent of people with bipolar disorder.  It also can be a symptom of major depression with psychotic features.

What Causes This?

The symptom can vary over time. Sometimes people understand they are ill, and sometimes they don’t. They are not being stubborn or difficult. The same brain dysfunction that causes hallucinations and voices also causes anosognosia.

People constantly update their own mental images of themselves.  You remember that you have a sunburn or a bruise or a runny nose, so you are not surprised when you see it again. The updating process takes place in the frontal lobe.

Unfortunately schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and dementia damage the frontal lobe.  So our loved ones can lose the ability to update their self-images.

Without an update, they have an old self-image from before the illness. Since our perceptions feel accurate, they believe they are well.  They decide that our families are lying or making a mistake.  When families insist that they are right, the person with the illness may get frustrated or angry.  They may begin to avoid family and friends.

Why Is Insight Important?

Lack of insight not only causes conflict. It usually causes a person to avoid treatment. It is also the most common reason that people with mental illness stop taking their medications.  When combined with psychosis or mania, lack of insight can cause dangerous behavior.

How Can You Tell If It’s Anosognosia or Denial?

It’s likely to be anosognosia if:

  • The lack of insight is severe and persistent (lasting for months or years).
  • The beliefs (I am not sick, etc.) are fixed. They don’t change when you confront the person with overwhelming evidence.
  • You hear illogical explanations or elaborate statements that attempt to explain away the evidence of the illness.

How Can You Help Your Loved One?

Anosognosia is a delusion. We can’t talk people out of delusions.  (That’s what a delusion is: a belief in the face of contrary evidence.) So stop arguing about it.

The alternative that experts stress is listening to the person.  The LEAP method, developed by Dr. Xavier Amador, has proven quite effective in research in helping people to accept that need for treatment.

In summary, the LEAP method is:

  • Listen to your loved one. If they don’t think they are sick, find out what problems they think they do have.  Lack of sleep, for example.
  • Empathize. Let them know you understand how difficult things are.
  • Agree with the loved one on some point. Example:  Lack of sleep makes things hard.
  • Partner with the loved one, starting with solving the problem that they recognize.

The method is detailed in Dr. Amador’s book, “I’m Not Sick. I Don’t Need Help.”  Details on also available in the videos here.  They are worth watching.

 

holding hands
by karentwinem

Create a Healing Environment

Creating a low-stress, healing environment can help our loved ones with mental illness.  This post contains information from “Helpful Family Attitudes and Skills” by Dr. Christopher Anderson and “Guidelines for Creating a Low-Stress Home Environment for a Mentally Ill Person” by Dr. Brian D. Eck.

Three Key Principles 

Accept the person as ill. This is simple to say but difficult to do. The grief over a dramatic reduction in functioning is never totally resolved. Both the patient and the family cling to old images and false hopes of what the ill person could have been if he had not been afflicted with the illness. To be helpful, families should greet patients where they are, love them as they are, and promote growth that is in line with their current condition. Specifically:

  1. Mourn the loss, but not in the presence of your relative.
  2. Never discuss what he was or what he could have been in front of him.
  3. Avoid comparisons to peers.

Attribute symptoms to the illness. It’s an impossible task, but families must attempt to be objective and calm when the loved one’s brain is causing bad behavior.  This includes times when the loved one is screaming that he hates you because you are poisoning him. Our culture is more likely to attribute behavior to an illness when the person has Alzheimer’s or brain cancer.  Even when the behavior is completely unacceptable and must be restrained, such as violence, it is likely due to the illness.

Include the person in the family. Families often subtly exclude loved ones with mental illness from the family.  Examples include:

  • Not discussing the loved one with friends when they discuss their other children.
  • Not inviting other people to their home when the loved one is present.
  • Not altering family gatherings so the loved one may be included for at least part of the event.
  • Not including the loved one in family portraits.
  • Not asking the loved one to help you do things.

Creating a Healing Environment

Recognize that the illness is no one’s fault.

Understand the limits of the illness and the extent of the person’s control over his behavior.

Go slow! Recovery and growth take time. Rest is important.

Keep it simple and structured. People with mental illness do better with structure and predictable routines. Home life should have a consistent rhythm with change as seldom and gradual as possible.

Keep it calm. For the most part, try to keep the environment quiet with calm voices and limited stimulation.

Give people space. Private time and space are important for everyone.

Set limits. Have clear and appropriate expectations. Everyone needs to know what the rules are. A few good rules that are consistently enforced will help keep things calm.

Ignore what you cannot change. Let some things slide. Do not ignore violence.

Speak simply Say what you have to say clearly, calmly, and positively. When you address them, your loved ones will most likely respond only to the first couple sentences that you say to them at one time.

Offer praise and encouragement. Try to be sure that you have at least a ratio of four positive interactions to one negative or challenging interaction.

Follow doctor’s orders.  Encourage your family members to take their medications as prescribed and only those that are prescribed. If you can, have them sign a release of information so that you and the doctor can discuss your family member’s treatment program.

Carry on your business as usual. Reestablish routines as quickly as possible when they are disrupted.

No street drugs or alcohol. Emphasize that illegal drugs and alcohol make symptoms worse.

Recognize early signs of relapse. Learn what changes you will see in your family member’s symptoms and behaviors, especially those which usually occur just before a relapse. Contact their care team when you see the changes.

Find a way for the person to learn life skills.

Solve problems step by step. Work on one thing at a time and be patient as they learn from the consequences of their behavior. Let them experience the non-dangerous consequences of their choices.

Offer opportunities to meet their needs Offer opportunities to have major personal, social, activity, and competence needs met.

by karentwinem

It’s National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

The pandemic and systemic racism has caused so much angst this summer.  So it’s important to talk about National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.

The House of Representatives started this annual observation in 2008 in honor of mental health advocate and writer Bebe Moore Campbell.

The Department of Health and Human Services is highlighting its free and accredited e-learning program: Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals. This program is part of the Office of Mental Health’s Think Cultural Health E-learning courses.

Despite advances in health equity, disparities in mental health care persist. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports that racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States are:

  • Less likely to have access to mental health services.
  • Less likely to use community mental health services.
  • More likely to use emergency departments.
  • More likely to receive lower quality care.

All this adds up to poor mental health outcomes, including suicide. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the CDC:

  • In 2017, 10.5% (3.5 million) of young adults age 18 to 25 had serious thoughts of suicide including 8.3% of non-Hispanic blacks and 9.2% of Hispanics.
  • In 2017, 7.5% (2.5 million) of young adults age 18 to 25 had a serious mental illness including 7.6% of non-Hispanic Asians, 5.7% of Hispanics and 4.6% of non-Hispanic blacks.
  • Feelings of anxiety and other signs of stress may become more pronounced during a global pandemic.
  • People in some racial and ethnic minority groups may respond more strongly to the stress of a pandemic or crisis.

 

by karentwinem

A Dozen Ways to Love Someone With Mental Illness

It takes enormous courage and determination to live positively with a serious mental illness. But it can happen.  And we can help.  We can respect and protect our loved one’s deep vulnerability.

Here are a dozen ways to offer that support, based on material from NAMI’s Family-to-Family program.

  1. Don’t nag or criticize.  People who have a mental illness are unable to defend themselves against a direct personal attack.  Despite irritation, try to be supportive. Keep negative and nagging remarks to a minimum.
  2. Don’t push or punish.  It doesn’t work.  It will be hard on both of you.  And it is highly correlated to decompensation and relapse.
  3. Praise positive behavior and ignore negative behavior. This is the best way to influence your loved one’s behavior is to praise the positive.  Studies show your loved one will want to perform the behaviors that earn them recognition and approval.
  4. Learn to recognize and accept symptoms.  We wouldn’t get furious if a person with epilepsy had a seizure.  So we need to accept that some behaviors are the direct result of the illness.  Don’t argue with delusions.  Don’t try to talk someone out of a clinic depression.  Also, help your loved one understand that symptoms are not their fault, but part of the illness.  Some symptoms can be controlled with treatment, including medications.
  5. Stand up to the stigma.  People with mental illness are not bad people.  They are people with a bad disease.  They are not trying to embarrass or anger us.
  6. Lower your expectations for your relationship.  Then lower them again. People with mental illness do not have the capacity to provide emotional support to us. Get help from other places.
  7. Treat them like other people.  At the same time, set basic rules and limits for the whole family.  Structure is almost always helpful.
  8. Encourage steps toward independence.  When your loved one is ready, encourage them to take small steps toward being more independent.  But keep your expectations reasonable.
  9. Don’t dwell on “what might have been.”  Accept the illness.  Still, don’t give up hope.  We need to tell our loved ones that the illness can make things difficult.  But a happy life is still possible.  People do adapt.  Some people actually get much better.
  10. Be patient in health, as well as in sickness. When our loved ones improve, stay patient and loving. It takes time to develop a lifestyle that protects them from becoming ill again.
  11. Be gentle with yourself and others in the family.  This is a marathon, not a sprint. Mental illness is often cyclical, so things will get better, then worse and then better again.
  12. Pray for grace.  Ask for tolerance, compassion, endurance and self-control.  Sometimes only God can give you the attitude you need.
by karentwinem

Understand the Inner Life of a Loved One With Mental Illness

Have you ever gone 24 hours without sleep? 48 hours? How did you feel?  How did you look?

Dozed off for a second, awakened with a start and didn’t know where you were?  Lost your sunglasses or car keys and no matter what you did, you couldn’t find them?   Gone driving down a road when your sense of direction got mixed up? Had a song stuck in your head that would not go away? How would you feel if that song stayed for a month or more?

Now let’s put three or more of these items together.  Say you’d hadn’t slept for three days, you heard the same music going on and on in your head, and you couldn‘t find your keys.  How would you feel?

That thought experiment gives you just a hint of the inner life of a person with mental illness. Even in remission and even when properly medicated, chronic mental illness leaves its sufferers in a devastating limbo.

Many people with mental illness are effectively cut off from the predictable, rewarding, self-fulfilling live involvements that make existence meaningful.  They suffer deeply from their inability to be competent and successful in their daily lives.

This threatens our loved ones’ psychological integrity.  It sets up a process where they feel they must protect their “core self” at all cost.

Many behaviors that result – refusing medication, rejecting family support and community programs and disrupting family life, for example – don’t make sense to us. Yet they are directly related to their struggle to maintain some dignity and self-respect in the face of stigma, failure and shame.

Psychological traumas are associated with any serious chronic illness.

 Whenever a person has a serious chronic illness …. COPD, emphysema, chronic heart disease, or a mental illness … two things happen to the sense of self.

First, they lose their protective belief that they are exempt from harm. Much of our sense of safety and willingness to take risks rests on a belief that serious harm or real trouble will never happen to us.  Young people especially still have this sense. Second, they lose their sense of a predictable, dependable future.

This results in some common defensive coping strategies.

These are self-management techniques that are basically maladaptive.  They don’t help people get what they really want, but they do provide temporary psychological refuge when confidence and self-image are taking a nose-dive.

  • Abusive criticism of others
  • Anger and attack
  • Apathy
  • Bargaining
  • Blaming others
  • Controlling or manipulative behavior
  • Defensiveness
  • Denial
  • Dependency
  • Doing nothing
  • Drug and alcohol abuse
  • Envy
  • Excessive sleeping
  • Haughtiness
  • Irritability
  • Quitting a job
  • Refusing help or services
  • Refusing medication
  • Rejection of family and friends
  • Resistance to change
  • Running away
  • Self-absorption
  • Suspicion
  • Withdrawal

From time to time in daily life, all of us will use one or more of these behaviors.  If we are criticized at work … snubbed by someone we thought was a friend … having a fight at home … we may use one of these behaviors if we feel momentarily crushed.  We complain or attack.  We “need a drink.” We get fed up and call in sick.

For us, these responses happen when we feel temporarily defeated.  We normally pull out of them quickly.  We turn to our social and personal life structure, finding comfort and reassurance.

The situation for people with mental illness is drastically different. Their social and personal life is vastly diminished. They often face poverty, stigma, disability, joblessness and social rejection. They are trapped in a runaway train going the wrong way.

The negative coping strategies become a familiar and reliable way to protect themselves from becoming even more diminished.

 

by karentwinem

Mental Illness: Chronic Illness Has Predictable Reactions

Mental illness is a chronic illness with life changing impact. Even when a person is properly medicated, in treatment and in remission, mental illness puts its sufferers in a devastating limbo.  Let’s consider what it could be like:

  • Have you ever gone without sleep for one night? 48 hours? Longer?
  • Have you ever woken up, startled and not sure where you were?
  • Have you lost your keys or your glasses and couldn’t find them?
  • Has a song been running through your head for a couple of hours?  A day? A week?

Remember how you felt in these circumstances.  Irritable, frantic or close to screaming? What if it all happened at once?

Thinking about this can give us some empathy for people with mental illness.  Furthermore, many people who have brain-based mental illness are effectively cut off from predictable and rewarding life experiences.  They suffer from their inability to competently do things that they could do before.

This life-constriction threatens our loved ones’ psychological integrity.  This sets up a process where people with mental illnesses feel they must protect themselves at all costs.  They struggle to maintain some dignity and self-respect in the face of stigma, failure and shame. Still, the behaviors that result — refusing medication, rejecting family and community support, and disrupting family life — do not make sense to us.

Whenever a person has a serious chronic illness, such as COPD, emphysema, chronic heart disease or mental illness, two things happen to their sense of self:

  1. They lose their protective belief that they are exempt from harm.  Much of our sense of safety and our willingness to take risks rests on this belief, especially among younger people.
  2. They lose their sense of a predictable, dependable future.  This results in the use of defensive coping strategies.  These self-management techniques are basically maladaptive.  They don’t help people get what they really want, but they do provide temporary psychological refuge when confidence and self-image take a nose-dive.

In the next post, we will look at typical defensive coping strategies and the empathetic guidelines to help families deal with loved ones who exhibit them.

 

 

 

by karentwinem

Tips to Reduce Anxiety About the Coronavirus

Scary dreams and worries can kick off an overwhelming level of anxiety during this pandemic.  While it’s bad for everyone, it’s worse for people who have mental illness.

Those who have existing issues with panic disorder, depression and generalized anxiety are almost certain to have more intense symptoms unless we take preventive measures. The symptoms can include digestive problems, dizziness, elevated heart rate, fatigue and insomnia, among other things.

I got the idea for this list from an article by Noma Nazish in ForbesLifeand have adapted for my website mindfulchristianyear.com

Control what you can control. And that means you. Wash your hands. Stay six-feet away from people. Still, it helps to smile and be friendly when you pass people from this distance. We also can pray for each person we pass on the street or in the park.

Schedule times for prayer and quiet. If you don’t already have a routine for regular prayer during the day, it’s a great time to start. An alarm on my phone reminds me to stop about every three hours to pray or read Christian materials. Sarah Young’s books, starting with Jesus Calling, are excellent. Her app is very good as well. I also use materials in apps like Pray-As-You-Go, the NIV Bible, Ending Your Day Right, Centering Prayer and the Divine Office.

Make this a good time for your children or grandchildren. Our attitudes will decide how the kids remember this time. Model faith, calm and self-care. Let your kids talk through their fears and concerns. Listen for increases in symptoms.  Determine whether you need to make a call to your child’s psychiatrist to provide information. Make sure you also find some ways to have fun together.

Use block scheduling to set up a routine. Setting up a routine will help to keep you and your family focused on the good. Block scheduling – setting aside an hour or two for each major kind of activity – has been very useful. Activities can include: reading, homeschooling, housework, paperwork, making things, exercise, shopping online, etc.

Reduce your exposure to news and social media. I look at my social media channels once a day. I also read the COVID-19 round-up on my Associated Press app and one local news app in the morning and at night. We do watch the PBS NewsHour as well. Other than that, I try to concentrate on my own life. I think the most reliable sources of information are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WebMD, the Weather Channel’s COVID-19 section, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the John Hopkins’ Coronavirus Resource Center.

Stay connected to family and friends. This is the era of FaceTime calls and Zoom/Skype meetings. There’s also the good old-fashioned phone call and new-fashioned texting. Check in with your loved one with mental illness on a regular basis without seeming too anxious yourself. Make an effort to cheer your friends and family up. It will cheer you up, too.

Do a daily stress-reduction exercise. My isolation gift to myself was a subscription to the Breethe app, which is offering specific relaxation exercises regarding coronavirus anxieties. I also use Calm, Meditation Oasis and the Cleveland Clinic’s Stress Meditation. The relaxation exercise is on my block schedule for a specific time in the afternoon.

Eat well. Stress eating is one of my problems, but I do know that mindfully choosing to eat a nutritious meal before I can have my salty/sweet treat is cutting down on the overeating.

Get out in the fresh air and sunshine. Take a daily walk. Set up your patio furniture early or sit out on your porch to read.

Be the hands and feet of Christ. Get involved in helping other people during this time. Your church may have ideas. You also can call a humanitarian organization to see if you can help. Many people are helping from home by calling others to see how they are doing.

Like everything in life, this crisis is offering opportunities to grow as Christians.

by karentwinem

Know Your Meds: Long-Acting Injectables

NOTE:  This information came from NAMI and other sources, as well as my own experiences.

Long-acting injectables (LAIs) can be helpful when an individual with mental illness either refuses or is not compliant with medication, often with very unfortunate results.  Most of the people I’ve met who are using LAIs got started in a hospitalization or a situation in which they had regularly become a danger to themselves.

LAIs slowly release medicine into the blood. Injectable medications used for individuals living with mental illness include: Abilify Maintena®, Aristada®, Haldol decanoate®, Invega Sustenna®, Invega Trinza®, fluphenazine decanoate, Risperdal Consta®, and Zyprexa Relprevv®. The LAIs can last anywhere from 2-12 weeks with just one dose, which helps to control symptoms of mental illness.

What do LAIs do?

LAIs treat psychosis (hallucinations or delusions) in individuals with schizophrenia. Some LAIs may be used as mood stabilizers in individuals with bipolar disorder.

How can an LAI help?

Living with active psychosis causes many people to make very bad decisions, which can result in arrests and involuntary commitments.  LAIs can help individuals stick to a medication plan.

When comparing LAIs to pill medications, LAIs may lower the chances of someone going to the hospital. LAIs allow for a steady level of medicine in the blood. These steady levels help lower the chance of side effects. The LAIs may also help improve quality of life and satisfaction with medicine.

How are LAIs given?

LAIs are given as an injection in the muscles of the arm or bottom. When starting a LAI for the first time, individuals may also have to take pill medication for a few weeks. The pill allows the injection to have time to start working. Injections are given every two to 12 weeks depending on the medication.

What if I’m interested in an LAI?

If interested in a LAI, talk to a doctor. A LAI may not be right for every person with a mental illness. The main side effect of a LAI is pain at the injection site.

When talking to a doctor, ask:

  • How will a LAI help?
  • What symptoms will a LAI control?
  • What side effects may occur?
  • What blood work will need to be done?

How can I pay for an LAI?

LAIs are usually expensive.  Many insurance plans should help cover the cost of one of the LAIs. The drug company for each medicine may also be able to help.

by karentwinem

Know Your Meds: Mood Stabilizers

Mood stabilizers are typically used to treat intense, repeated shifts in a person’s mood, which may be common for those experiencing bipolar, schizophrenia, or borderline personality.

Many mood stabilizer drugs are also commonly categorized as anticonvulsant medications.

The oldest of them, lithium, has been in use for over 50 years and has proven very effective, particularly for bipolar disorder, type I. However, regular blood tests are required when taking lithium because of potential serious side effects to the kidneys and thyroid.

Newer mood stabilizers, many of which were originally used to treat seizure disorders, may work better than lithium for some people. Mood stabilizers can prevent manic or hypomanic episodes and depressive episodes. but also have side effects to know about and monitor.

Common mood stabilizers include:

by karentwinem

Know Your Meds: Anti-Anxiety Medications

The next class of medication are anti-anxiety medicines, which reduce the emotional and physical symptoms of anxiety.  Benzodiazepines such as alprazolam (Xanax) can treat social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. This information comes from NAMI and goodtherapy.org

These medicines work quickly and are very effective in the short-term. However, people prone to substance abuse may become dependent on them.

Because the body can become used to the meds, doctors may need to increase the dosage over time to get the same therapeutic effect. People who stop taking benzodiazepines suddenly may experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Other potential side effects include:

  • Low blood pressure
  • Decreased sex drive
  • Nausea
  • Lack of coordination
  • Depression
  • Unusual emotional dysfunction, including anger and violence
  • Memory loss
  • Difficulty thinking

Antianxiety and antipanic medications on the market include: