Mental Illnesses Barbara Wexler Analysis

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“An individual’s ability to think and communicate clearly, to learn and grow emotionally, to deal productively and realistically with change and stress, and to form and maintain fulfilling relationships with others” are areas of life that are affected by mental illnesses. Mental illnesses are serious conditions that affect an individual’s brain and how they react to different stimuli. Those who suffer from mental disorders can be seen as a threat to themselves and others, especially if they are diagnosed with a more serious illness. Mental disorders range from being sad and not being able to get happy, to killing oneself. Mental illnesses are an expansive group of disorders that vary in cause and type with many different treatments that depend …show more content…

All mental illness can be diagnosed to anyone no matter their age, gender, background, and experiences. In ‘Mental Health and Illnesses’ by Barbara Wexler, mental health is described to be “measured in terms of an individual's ability to think and communicate clearly, to learn and grow emotionally, to deal productively and realistically with change and stress, and to form and maintain fulfilling relationships with others.” There are thousands of different mental illnesses that can affect the way the mind interprets and reacts to different stimuli. How the person reacts and responds to certain situations can demonstrate different mental illnesses. Expression of moods and emotion, ability to think and feel, and ability to function are impacted by mental health (Wexler). Mental illness impacts many different aspects of life for different people. Each case is different and each person diagnosed with a mental illness responds to the illness in different …show more content…

There isn’t a positive cause to all mental illnesses that has been found. There are hundreds of studies that have been done to discover the reason people develop mental illnesses and researchers have a general idea why people develop certain mental disorders. One theory is that people diagnosed with depression have a tendency to have a smaller hippocampus- a part of the brain that helps you learn, retain memory, and process emotion (“Spotting Depression in High School Students”). Mental illnesses are in the brain, so one theory is that if a person has a mental disorder their brain has not developed completely or something caused the brain to not be able to function healthily. Cell phone use and the influence of social media is a popular theory as to why mental illnesses are developing so rapidly (“Rise in Depression Among Teens May be Due to Cell Phone Use”). Mental illness diagnoses have been increasing in recent years, especially in teens. Technology has become more popular and rose along with the number of teens with mental illness, these two things have been linked together as an effect of social media and the capability to have exposure to cyber bullying and rays that can affect and possibly harms theyour brain. Mental illness is thought to be a result and combination of biological, environmental, and psychological factors in an individual. Although there are theories to what causes mental illness, anand exact