Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, Dementia – all these have ceased to be the shock words that they used to be. In general, people are becoming more open to viewing mental health problems as something that’s not ‘crazy’, but just like any other health problem. However, there continue to be some well guarded secrets about the human mental health, diseases that torment the well being of the brain.
These include issues that bafflingly have an impact on the state of a person’s mental health. They’re problems that have led to many mental health products such as Addium, home care techniques that make living with mentally challenged patients easier and cures that can quickly set right seemingly incurable mental troubles. Let’s look at some of the weird and otherwise lesser known mental health facts.
Mental disorders could soon be diagnosed with physical examinations
While there may not be a definite link between physiology and mental disorders, there have been recent medical studies and documentations that point towards that possibility. For instance, men and women of medicine from the Schizophrenia Association of Canada report that schizophrenia is a very complex illness with a number of genetic, psychological, behavioral, and physical factors at play. The Canada Mental Health Association says there’s a clear link between mental health problems and chronic physical problems.
Among the most obvious physical aspect of diagnosing schizophrenia is identifying a wider hard palate at the roof of the patient’s mouth. Hard palate deformities have shown noticeable correlation with schizophrenia in longitudinal studies conducted over the past decade. While it might be an overstatement to set the findings in stone, it does look like the psychologists will have more than just mental and behavioral cues to diagnose mental disorders.
Mental diseases and young populations – the link
It’s commonplace to regard mental disorders as unnatural and rare cases, even more so in cases of children and young adolescents, as any exhibition of seemingly unnatural behavior is attributed to the dynamic growth of their brains and confused responses to new situations. However, there’s more than one medical report from leading research institutes, including the World Health Organization, that explain the reality.
As many as 20% of children in the world suffer from some type of mental disorder or health issue. In Canada, government backed research reports suggest that mental disorders are the second biggest cause of premature deaths and disabilities among children, especially in the age group of 15 to 24 years. Another link is between mental disorders and drug usage, as there are ample cases of psychological diseases triggering drugs usage as a self-medication, or vice versa.
The vague lines between psychological and physical health
While medical professionals tend to draw an invisible line between physical diseases and mental diseases, there are reasons to reconsider the same. That’s because the impact of psychological disorders on the physical well being of the patient are now documented. Anxiety disorders are known to lead to back and muscle problems among young adults as well as elderly patients. Also, the neuro-chemical imbalances triggered by mental disorders can upset the physical well being of the patient. Endocrine glands can release a massive amount of toxins under stress, and this could seriously damage the body’s tissues and internal organs. Patients suffering from mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression are 150% likelier than psychologically fit individuals to fall prey to cancer. Even John Hopkins University has said that people suffering from psychological health troubles were doubly more inclined or forced to visit hospitals than others.
