Mental Health Awareness

>>BOTH: Hello, this is Luneverse. >>KELSEY: My name is Kelsey >>KAYLEE: And Iím Kaylee >>KELSEY: And weíre here to talk about mental health. 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental illness >>KAYLEE: In their lifetime. And 1 in 4 will know people who do. Or, if youíre looking at us, 2 out of 2 will experience and know people who do. >>[Laughing] >>KELSEY: So, weíd like to talk about how mental illnesses are portrayed as being, you know, out for someone. Itís a lot of people look at them as if theyíre fake. >>KAYLEE: Itís just that itís fake, or that youíre putting on airs for attention or to seem like you fit in, which is a weird phase everyone wants to be, like, depressed, or on medication which works for some but not for everyone. >>KELSEY: I think everyone goes through that phase where theyíre like, oh, itís the cool thing to do or, you know ñ >>KAYLEE: Cuttingís so bad *** >>KELSEY: Yeah, like itís ñ >>KAYLEE: Woo, self-harm. >>KELSEY: You know, theyíve seen it from a friend, or sibling, or maybe a parent takes medication. So itís not just for attention. Itís not for attention at all, if someone has a mental illness. >>KAYLEE: Legitimate mental illness is not for attention. >>KELSEY: Yes. >>KAYLEE: Letís say it like that, because there are certainly some people who will pretend which is stupid and actually kind of offensive >>KELSEY: Yes. >>KAYLEE: So donít pretend you have a mental illness. And if you do have to for a school play or something, please look it up. >>KELSEY: Yep. >>KAYLEE: But weíll discuss that etiquette, and how to decide, and how to approach someone with it in a different video, because right now weíre dimming. >>KELSEY: [laughing] Weíre dimming. Weíre, uh, dimming our iPad. >>KAYLEE: Our iPad? Ooh, does that mean I get it every other weekend? I want it! >>KELSEY: Looking at our notes hereÖSo thereís many different combinations and varieties of disorders and illnesses, um, that people can suffer from. If ñ for instance ñ >>KAYLEE: Oh, sorry, Iím just going to cut in. Um, you donít necessarily have to have multiple people who are mentally ill, um, donít necessarily have a bunch of different things, or sometimes itíll be a sort of comorbid condition, kind of. Like, itís interrelated, like, it is as a stand alone thing it can be considered one thing but in relation to something else, itíll kind of [claps] >>KELSEY: Fits together. >>KAYLEE: Smooshes. >>KELSEY: Yes. And so, what are some types of mental illnesses? >>KAYLEE: Uh, well thereís ones that everyone thinks of, like paranoid schizophrenia. There are, from what Iíve gathered, variousÖmanifestations of schizophrenia, would that be a good way of putting it? >KELSEY: I believe so, yeah. >>KAYLEE: Bipolar. Borderline personality disorder which is one that a lot of people are mis ñ NOT diagnosed as when they actually have borderline personality disorder. Theyíre put on treatment for bipolar, which is not good. Misdiagnosis is actually quite common. >>KELSEY: Different types of mental illnesses ñ we got a little off track there. So another one is like Aspergerís, Alzheimerís which some people donít think of that people suffer from as they age. >>KAYLEE: That is true. Or not just, sometimes thereís early onset so youíre not necessarily old. >>KELSEY: Some other examples are anxiety disorders, eating disorders such as buleemeh ñ bulimia! ñ and anorexia. >>KAYLEE: [laughs] Helps when you can say it. >>KELSEY: More lesser known ones which weíll get to in another video. >>KAYLEE: Oh, thereís also stuff like Touretteís. Which also, uh, Touretteís and thereís depression! >>KELSEY: Thereís depression! YesÖ >>KAYLEE: Oh, thatís another thing that affects mental illness is substance dependence. >>KELSEY: Yes. >>KAYLEE: Which we will touch on at a different time ñ not everyone who has substance ihÖsubstance dependence issues is mentally ill and not everyone who is mentally ill is addicted to something. >>KELSEY: And itís said that about 20% of people with a mental disorder suffer also from substance abuse or self ñ substance addiction. >>KAYLEE: Yes, and on that note that leads us into our other thing that I completely forgot what the other thing was. What is our other thing? Treatment methods! A lot of the time substance addiction is used as a coping method or itís also in the case of someone such as myself who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder once you get it in your head cannot not do it or else you end up with issues which is why some of us are predisposed to disorders. I meant addiction I said disorders. And, um, yeah, but there are a variety of different treatment methods and not all work for everyone and not everyone wants everything. >>KELSEY: Yes, um, depending on the person, certain treatments will work better. If itís, you know, talking to a counsellor or psychiatrist, if itís medication, if itís, um, some people donít even do that although itís recommended that you do. And so going on with treatment, um, itís also only about one third of people actually seek treatment for their mental disorder and so itís really encouraged if youíre having any issue to go directly to your doctor and talk about it. >>KAYLEE: Even if youíre not having an issue! >>KELSEY: And they can recommend a new treatment plan for you or they can get you just set on the right path and they can talk to you about it and hopefully, you know, make things a little easier on you. >>KAYLEE: And even if you donít have a mental illness, seeking for just to go is really really good for getting in touch with yourself because we are all secretly hippies at heart. >>KELSEY: It can also be handy if you know someone whoís suffering. >>KAYLEE: Yes! >>KELSEY: To talk to someone about it and try to understand how you can help them cope. How you can talk to them, you know, what you should and shouldnít say >>[laughter] >>KAYLEE: [mumble] Taller than you are >>KELSEY: Some, you know, it, itís really handy. I know with me, trying to figure out how to cope with my mental illness, you know, itís been tricky, you know what, people werenít sure how to act around me, they werenít sure what to say. So it can be really helpful. You knew what to say Kaylee. >>KAYLEE: I did know what to say. >>KELSEY: ëCause youíre >>KAYLEE: ëCause Iím messed in the head too >>KELSEY: Crazy too. [laughing] So thatís just one thing to touch on, too. >>KAYLEE: And at any point if you know someone who has something, again, weíll cover this more in our etiquette video, but asking them or letting them know that youíre, not that youíre so much uncomfortable with being around them, but youíre uncomfortable with how to approach it, people are oftenÖ.itís better to ask than to either ignore it entirely, unless the person that is what they would prefer, or just to go up there, like, um, or to assume. You never, ever, ever assume anything about anyoneís mental or how it correlates or how it affects their life, because itís - itís ñ itís a spectrum. Just like the severity of any illness itís a spectrum and [mumble] >>KELSEY: And one more important thing is if someone even hints towards thinking that they might have, you know, a disability of some sort, mental illness, disorder, what have you, if they even mention it in passing, encourage them to get help because if they didnít they did have a problem they probably wouldnít, you know >>KAYLEE: No I donít >>[Unintelligible, Kaylee laughing] >>KELSEY: They wouldnít go ahead and say, you know, I have a problem >>KAYLEE: Yes. Oh! Itís a problem if itís affecting their lifeÖis a big thing because a lot of the time because a lot of people will be like: oh, I am so clean, I am obsessive compulsive. In all likelihood you probably arenít, youíre just clean. Thereís a difference. But if they feel it is becoming a hindrance then encourage help. Oh, and suicide! If anyone ever thinks of suicide or mentions it, always take it seriously even if you think they are joking and there are a variety of helplines, which we will put in our little box along with where we found some of our facts. Some of them are just out of our heads or from our doctors or whatever, but in general itíll all be in our box >>KELSEY: Yeah, weíll have links down there. Down in the ñ >>KAYLEE: Pants. >>KELSEY: Down in the pants. >>KAYLEE: Pants. Thatís what weíre calling it. Thatís our pants. >>KELSEY: Yep. Theyíre down in our pants. >>KAYLEE: We have answers in our pants. [Laughing] Itís like ants but not. >>KELSEY: So I think that about covers it. Anything else you can think of for our introduction? >>KAYLEE: Nope. >>KELSEY: So hopefully that helps somewhat and weíll have more videos to come. >>KAYLEE: Yep. >>KELSEY: So, high five. >>KAYLEE: Bye. >>KELSEY: We did this. Bye.