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Each of the descriptions below is from a person with symptoms of a type of mental illness - depression, elation, schizophrenia, and an anxiety disorder, respectively. In Ireland, one person in nine will be affected by mental illness at some point in his or her life. Some will have a brief episode from which they will quickly recover with appropriate treatment. Others are suffering from serious biochemical illnesses of the brain, some of which may require long-term care.
"I never thought it could happen to me. It's awful. I feel so tired - no matter how much rest I get. I have no appetite. Everything is an effort, even answering the phone or deciding what to wear. I start crying for no reason at all and I'm unable to stop. I don't know what's the matter with me. "
"My wife never seems to sleep. She is up all night cleaning the house, so no one in the family can get any rest. She has all these grand plans and gets annoyed when we can't follow what she is saying. Her spending is out of control. I don't know what to do!"
"My 19-year-old son just sits and stares into space, sometimes laughing and talking to himself. He says I'm talking to him when I haven't said a word. He used to do so well at college, but suddenly he has lost interest in everything. I can't even get him to take a shower or change his clothes. What can I do? "
"Sometimes when I go out to the supermarket, my heart starts beating so fast it feels like it's going to expIode. My throat closes and I can't breathe, so I start to choke. My hands start sweating and I get so dizzy I have to hold on to the wall, so I won't fall. I wonder will I be like this for the rest of my life?"
Today, 200,000-300,000 people in Ireland have a depressive illness and 40,000 people have schizophrenia. Approximately 320,000 people in Ireland suffer from anxiety disorders, which include phobias, panic disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Yet psychiatric illness is still hidden, misunderstood and whispered about, just as cancer and tuberculosis were years ago.
Depressive illness
Depressive illness is not just the ‘blues’ or the ‘ups and downs’ of everyday life. It is an overpowering feeling which dulls thinking, mood and concentration, saps energy, and disrupts sleep. Each year 10,000 admissions to our psychiatric hospitals are people suffering with depression or elation.
Depressive disorders can be treated successfully with a combination of drug therapy and psychotherapy (talk therapy).
If you feel that you or someone in your family may have a depressive illness, ask for medical advice.
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