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Post by Admin on Jun 18, 2019 15:31:18 GMT -4
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Post by Adriana Roman on Jun 18, 2019 22:36:32 GMT -4
It is an act of courage for these politicians to admit and accept they have a mental health problem. Not only politicians, but anyone who admits and recognize they need help are putting themselves first in order to have a better and healthy life. The problem is that talking about it is taboo and like it says in the article it has the stigma of being called crazy. Politicians (and doctors, students, lawyers...) need a healthy mind in order to function in their careers and ignoring the fact that you have a problem will only make it worse and affect others in the society by making irrational choices just because you wouldn’t want to take care of yourself. Taking a Prozac for MDD should be seen the same ways as taking lisinopril for HTN. As Kanye West said on his interview with David Letterman, “a sprained brain is like having a sprained ankle”, and the more you push on it the worse is gonna get. Kander, the Afghanistan veteran who was running for mayor, pushed his brain for 12 years and had to press pause on his career to take care of himself and live a better life for him and his family. Admitting you have a problem just makes you human and raising your hand to ask for help does not make you a weak person. It’s all about accepting that mental health issues are more common than we think no matter how hard we try to hide them and that it does not exclude anyone, as in this case with politicians.
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Post by Julie Vokrri on Jun 18, 2019 23:19:45 GMT -4
According to a study by Jonathon Davidson of the Duke University Medical Center and colleagues they reviewed 37 presidents from 1776-1974. The authors concluded that about 25% of presidents met criteria for either depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobias. Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson etc. The study also concluded that 8% of presidents such as Lyndon Johnson and Theodore Roosevelt were bipolar. Finally 8% of the presidents studied showed alcohol dependence.
Also Dr.Nassir Ghaemi who runs the Mood Disorders program at Tufts Medical Center argues in his book "A First Rate Madness: Uncovering the links between leadership and mental illness" that leaders with certain mental illnesses may actually perform better during times of crisis.
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Post by Shivaan Oomrigar on Jun 19, 2019 8:15:48 GMT -4
Mental health issues are extremely prevalent in our society, especially recently. They often are overlooked or under treated by health care providers. Many people suffer silently because they feel ashamed or worry about being scrutinized by their peers. When suffering people don’t seek the necessary treatment, they struggle to be productive members of society. Their mental illness consumes them, to the point where their career suffers or their families break up. I believe it is important to recognize the specific symptoms of mental health disorders and to encourage people to receive any necessary treatment. Seeking help dose not make these people any less human.
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Post by Keyur Kurani on Jun 19, 2019 10:04:06 GMT -4
Mental illness in politics has always an issue driven by fear and ignorance. When citizens themselves struggle to comprehend their own struggles, how can we expect them to accept those same struggles in their elected leaders. But politics is not the only place where this exists. It is around in every field of work: medicine, banking, construction, etc. But these articles highlight a very true fact; if one needs help, it is okay to slow down and take the time and ask for it. People should not be penalized or demonized during their attempts to seek help. They are as human, if not more so, as anyone else in this world.
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Post by Kyle Wilson on Jun 19, 2019 17:10:41 GMT -4
I think it takes a great deal of courage to speak about one's own mental health especially when you are in the public eye as much as politicians. The Washington Examiner article stated that an estimated 47 million people in the Unites States in any particular year suffer with a mental condition, that is nearly 14% of the population. So the odds are that many people in either local, state, or federal government are dealing with these issues. As the discussion on mental illness becomes more and more talked about in the public realm, hopefully the trend will be that more funds are allocated to assist in the treatment of those affected. However, I do agree that government officials with certain medical conditions like bipolar disorder should tightly monitored but not necessarily denied the opportunity to serve.
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Post by Christy Schramm on Jun 19, 2019 19:14:51 GMT -4
Another thing to consider regarding politicians with mental health illnesses is whether they were diagnosed before entering office, Politics is stressful, and it may not be until they in are office that they have a break in their mental health. They could have a personality disorder and may not know until a stressful situation occurs while they are in the public eye. Unfortunately, being in the public eye can cause further mental health issues. People are always going to find a reason to be "a hater" and give low blows against a public figure, even if it is about their mental health. Nobody should be looked down upon for having a mental health illness if they are seeking help. I hope that we can change the stigma about mental health in the future.
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Post by Natalia Adorno on Jun 20, 2019 18:24:04 GMT -4
Mental Health Conditions are big problems these days that should be taken more seriously. The issue in mental conditions is to accept that you are having a problem and admit it to other people since there is a stigma in that if you have a mental conditions and you need psychiatric help means you are “crazy: and the only way to get care is by taking a lot of medications. For these reason I thing that the first step to help with mental issues problems is to inform the patients and the people in this World what are mental issues and that having a mental issues doesn’t mean that you’re “crazy”. On the other side we should not judge people for having the courage to admit and seek for help, instead we should motivate them and help them to go through with it.
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Post by Eva Khondaker on Jun 23, 2019 14:40:16 GMT -4
“Unlike other forms of psychological disorders, the core issue in trauma is reality.” – Bessel A. Van der kolk.
This quote harnesses a lot of power because it deals with the very essence of PTSD. PTSD is often reduced to merely an inability to deal with flashbacks due to prior traumatic situation(s), however, it is much more intricate in its manifestation in the human brain. If someone could physically SEE how much pain we are in mentally, with intrusive thoughts and a raging inner critic, we might be better understood. BUT we can’t stick a fragile sticker on our foreheads warning others to be careful with us, like you can with other things requiring extra care. Others don’t experience the world the way we do. It can make for a very isolating and tough situation.
In the article, Jason Kander mentioned that his moment of clarity came when he started to realize that time wasn’t going to ease or eliminate the pain, “trauma doesn’t get better with age…If you broke your arm and then you waited almost 12 years to actually do anything about your broken arm, it would be pretty mangled.” One thing is clear: once a psychophysiological injury has taken place, that injury like every other injury is able to HEAL. And the road to recovery can begin with self-acceptance. The unhealthy subconscious habits and thought patterns that we developed are entirely possible to change. When you begin to accept yourself as you are in the moment, scars and all, you can start making better choices for coping and begin to find healing from the past.
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Post by Jamal Shuja on Jun 29, 2019 11:59:29 GMT -4
Like any mental disease patients with PTSD may not know what they are dealing with until its effecting their everyday life. In the article, Jason Kander relates treating his PTSD to a a broken arm injury that was never addressed, “if you broke your arm and then you waited almost 12 years to actually do anything about your broken arm, it would be pretty mangled” (Former Democratic). I think by putting more emphasis on screening techniques for PTSD in patients who are at high risk, military patients for example, as providers we can avoid “mangled mindsets” in our patients and slow the progression of PTSD by beginning early treatment. References: Former Democratic rising star speaks out for first time about PTSD treatment. (2019, June 13). Retrieved from www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/former-democractic-rising-star-afghanistan-war-veteran-speaks-out-first-n1017406 |
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