Mental Health Trauma Analysis

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In A Sociology of Mental Illness by M. Tausig, discusses the impacts of Trauma on mental illness. Trauma is an extreme stressor that occurs after experiencing a major life event. Mental health issues can be influenced by a person’s response to trauma, such as guilt, anxiety, nightmares, flashbacks depression etc.Parental separation can cause trauma to children in unexpected ways and impact their mental health. Through reading this chapter, I determined that from personal experience of my parents’ divorce, I could have been suffering from a minor form of childhood trauma. As discussed in the textbook, guilt and anxiety can be a typical symptom associated with trauma after experiencing a significant life event. With my parents, a lot …show more content…

He spoke with us independently about the family struggles we were having and asked me questions about my dad. However, this therapist told my dad what we had discussed in confidence. This caused many problems for me, as my dad was angry about everything I had talked about with the therapist, as the therapist would reiterate our "private" conversations. Now as an adult, I realize that this was a major breach of confidentiality, and not what a therapist is supposed to do. This traumatized me as a child which made me hate therapists or psychologists, as my trust had been betrayed. When I was fifteen, my mom realized I was suffering with mental illness and got the help I needed. She forced me to meet with a child psychologist. After my previous experience, I was extremely upset and did not want to go. The first lady I met with tried to help me open up and determine what was troubling me. She was nice, however we did not connect on an emotional level. After about a month of meeting with her, she left and I was assigned to another psychologist. Her name was Jolene and she changed my …show more content…

This life event can be a determinate of mental and potential issues they may experience. At such a young age, children do not fully understand the world and any major event can potentially impact their mental health. Therefore the mandatory parental classes they are forced to take after a separation are important. These classes explain to parents how to deal with children after experiencing a separation. If we were to include more information relating to mental health issues, we could better educate parents of potential signs of depression and anxiety commonly experienced by children. I suffered for many years without help, because my parents did not know what to watch for in my behaviours. After my dad was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder my mom started to research more about mental illness. This also helped her identify the struggles I was having with depression and anxiety. My personal experience demonstrates the importance of understanding mental illness. Without my mom’s further research, I may not have gotten the help I needed to deal with this traumatic event, which was also impacting my