Some of the symptoms that help professionals determine if alcohol and drugs are a problem include, excessive drinking/drugs, withdrawal symptoms, shaking of the hands, etc. If a person drinks everyday of the week and relies on alcohol, then you are probably dealing with an alcoholic.

The fact is, most of the people nagging or evaluating alcohol and drugs have a problem themselves or have gotten help someone in their lifetime to treat their own problems. Therefore, as you can see addictions, dependant alcoholics, and other types of alcoholics and drug addicts may alter.

Any chemical that causes harm is a potential danger to you.If you start out drinking when you are young and continue through your lifetime without alcohol causing you trouble, or else landing you a spot in jail, then you are probably not an alcoholic according to some.

The fact is the ones that are drinking and driving and getting caught are alcoholics according to the system. Alcoholism and drug addictions are complex, in the sense there are too many misconstrued inputs and often the label is placed on individuals according to culture and history.

The problem becomes a problem when the person has difficulty putting down the bottle and/or increases their intake as well as combining drugs with the alcohol to get an affect they was had. If someone will steal or lie to get alcohol or drugs then you know they have a real problem.

However, most alcoholics and drug addicts have bigger problems than addictions and this is often ignored. For example, people with mental illnesses often resort to alcohol and/or drugs to find relief of their symptoms. Now if a professional is treating this person for his or her diagnosis and progress is moving along the person often feels healthy and the alcohol and drugs are out the door.

In my studies and opinions, I disagree with alcoholism and drug addictions if the person is able to stop once the mental illness is treated. This means that the person was suffering and the substances was a mechanism to help them cope. On the other hand, if the person is treated for mental illnesses and his or her drug and alcohol habits continue, then I think you had better get out the chair and start talking ‘one day at a time.’

There are many therapeutic strategies in MENTAL HEALTH, and each depends on the patient and the diagnoses. The focus of this therapeutic strategy is to get the patient to stay focused, voice their values and beliefs freely without feeling threatened, learn to pay attention, teaching the patient to accept responsibility and so forth. In most events, the groups consist of Interpersonal, Psycho educational, support, and psychotherapy groups.

Many of the patients that attend each of the groups have difficulty socializing, staying focused, trusting others, and are often emotional immature or underdeveloped. Most of the patients were subjects of harsh society and impractical parent/educational up bring. The point then is to bring the patient to a point of survival that does not include fear.Left untreated it can become a chronic illness that becomes resistant to treatment.

When genetics differ from body to body in the process of food then we can ponder that some of us have an overload of nutrients than the others. Some of us have very low levels of such nutrients causing at most times the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) to achieve not on a physical but also a MENTAL HEALTH unbalance. Its also very important to understand that excessive amount of such nutrients can also result to serious health problems- namely such nutrients include copper, iron, folic acid,, calcium and many forms of fatty acids, this naturally differs from person to person but the presence of multiple vitamins and minerals can be harmful for some and act normal for some.

The medical communities agree on tremendous influence of neurotransmitters on behavior of disorder. People can have a predisposition for there problems due to genetically aberrant level of neurotransmitters. Our MENTAL HEALTH is dependant upon having the proper amounts nutrient intake or presence to be comprehensive of no critical brain malfunction.

The brain works like a factory producing serotonin, dopamine and various such chemicals everyday, the only relief for our brain is the proper intake of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Improper amounts of nutrients can cause serious problems with our neurotransmitters. People with depression require basic amounts of vitamin B-6. This vitamin is the deplete nutrient we persist or have to synthesis our actual MENTAL HEALTH trauma. There are other serotonin enhancing medications and other altering drugs but the true cause of mental difficulties so often remains uncorrected, therefore if a patient needs the support in basic mental conditions medical administrators improvise on vitamin B-6 with supporting nutrients to achieve simple health benefits of the body and mind. Hence nutrient therapy can be very potent chemistry that doesn’t involve side effects, since no molecules foreign are needed for body support. This therapy may eventually eliminate the need for most psychiatric medication and observation.

Nutrients play a critical role in MENTAL HEALTH, they are the building blocks of the nervous system, correct testing and understand of deficiencies, and overloads can pinpoint the causes of many sever mental symptoms, thus opening the door to hope and recovery.

MENTAL HEALTH is how people think, feel, and act as they face life’s situations. It affects how people handle stress, relate to one another, and make decisions. MENTAL HEALTH influences the ways individuals look at themselves, their lives, and others in their lives. Like physical health, MENTAL HEALTH is important at every stage of life.

All aspects of our lives are affected by our MENTAL HEALTH. Caring for and protecting our children is an obligation and is critical to their daily lives and their independence.

Children and Adolescents Can Have Serious MENTAL HEALTH Problems Like adults, children and adolescents can have MENTAL HEALTH disorders that interfere with the way they think, feel, and act. When untreated, MENTAL HEALTH disorders can lead to school failure, family conflicts, drug abuse, violence, and even suicide. Untreated MENTAL HEALTH disorders can be very costly to families, communities, and the health care system.

In this fact sheet, "MENTAL HEALTH Problems" for children and adolescents refers to the range of all diagnosable emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders. They include depression, attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety, conduct, and eating disorders. MENTAL HEALTH problems affect one in every five young people at any given time. "Serious Emotional Disturbances" for children and adolescents refers to the above disorders when they severely disrupt daily functioning in home, school, or community. Serious emotional disturbances affect 1 in every 10 young people at any given time.

MENTAL HEALTH Disorders Are More Common in Young People than Many Realize.

Studies show that at least one in five children and adolescents have a MENTAL HEALTH disorder. At least one in 10, or about 6 million people, have a serious emotional disturbance.

The Causes Are Complicated

MENTAL HEALTH disorders in children and adolescents are caused mostly by biology and environment. Examples of biological causes are genetics, chemical imbalances in the body, or damage to the central nervous system, such as a head injury. Many environmental factors also put young people at risk for developing MENTAL HEALTH disorders. Examples include:

Exposure to environmental toxins, such as high levels of lead; Exposure to violence, such as witnessing or being the victim of physical or sexual abuse, drive-by shootings, muggings, or other disasters; Stress related to chronic poverty, discrimination, or other serious hardships; and The loss of important people through death, divorce, or broken relationships.

Signs of MENTAL HEALTH Disorders Can Signal a Need for Help

Children and adolescents with MENTAL HEALTH issues need to get help as soon as possible. A variety of signs may point to MENTAL HEALTH disorders or serious emotional disturbances in children or adolescents. Pay attention if a child or adolescent you know has any of these warning signs:

A child or adolescent is troubled by feeling:

Sad and hopeless for no reason, and these feelings do not go away. Very angry most of the time and crying a lot or overreacting to things.

Worthless or guilty often.

Anxious or worried often.

Unable to get over a loss or death of someone important. Extremely fearful or having unexplained fears.

Constantly concerned about physical problems or physical appearance.

Frightened that his or her mind either is controlled or is out of control.

A child or adolescent experiences big changes, such as:

Showing declining performance in school.

Losing interest in things once enjoyed.

Experiencing unexplained changes in sleeping or eating patterns.

Avoiding friends or family and wanting to be alone all the time.

Daydreaming too much and not completing tasks.

Feeling life is too hard to handle.

Hearing voices that cannot be explained.

Experiencing suicidal thoughts.

A child or adolescent experiences:

Poor concentration and is unable to think straight or make up his or her mind.

An inability to sit still or focus attention. Worry about being harmed, hurting others, or doing something "bad".

A need to wash, clean things, or perform certain routines hundreds of times a day, in order to avoid an unsubstantiated danger.

Racing thoughts that are almost too fast to follow. Persistent nightmares.

A child or adolescent behaves in ways that cause problems, such as:

Using alcohol or other drugs.

Eating large amounts of food and then purging, or abusing laxatives, to avoid weight gain.

Dieting and/or exercising obsessively.

Violating the rights of others or constantly breaking the law without regard for other people.

Setting fires.

Doing things that can be life threatening.

Killing animals.

Comprehensive Services through Systems of Care Can Help Some children diagnosed with severe MENTAL HEALTH disorders may be eligible for comprehensive and community-based services through systems of care. Systems of care help children with serious emotional disturbances and their families cope with the challenges of difficult mental, emotional, or behavioral problems. To learn more about systems of care, call the National MENTAL HEALTH Information Center at 1-800-789-2647, and request fact sheets on systems of care and serious emotional disturbances, or visit the Center’s web site at

http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov

Finding the Right Services Is Critical

To find the right services for their children, families can do the following:

Get accurate information from hotlines, libraries, or other sources.

Seek referrals from professionals.

Ask questions about treatments and services.

Talk to other families in their communities.

Find family network organizations.

It is critical that people who are not satisfied with the MENTAL HEALTH care they receive discuss their concerns with providers, ask for information, and seek help from other sources.

Important Messages About Child and Adolescent MENTAL HEALTH:

Every child’s MENTAL HEALTH is important.
Many children have MENTAL HEALTH problems.
These problems are real, painful, and can be severe.
MENTAL HEALTH problems can be recognized and treated.
Caring families and communities working together can help.
Information is available; call 1-800-789-2647.

This is one of many fact sheets on children’s MENTAL HEALTH disorders. All the fact sheets listed below are written in an easy-to-read style. Families, caretakers, and media professionals may find them helpful when looking for information about MENTAL HEALTH disorders. For free copies, call 1-800-789-2647, or visit http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov

Some people believe that our brain becomes inactive when we sleep. If that were so then we should not have any dreams. Dreams are evidence that our mind remains active, even when we are asleep. This simply means that our mind is active 24 hours a day without any rest at all. Just imagine how our bodies would behave if we were to go through 24 hours of physical activity.

Although research may show that 30% of mental illness may occur without a trigger of stress, it also shows that a majority - 70% - of mental illnesses occur with stress. The research may have failed to look at the other 30%, mentally ill who may not be ‘acknowledging’ stress at a given moment. This gives us a pessimistic view of mental illnesses. We are made to believe that we can do nothing about them. We are also told that mental illnesses occur because of our genes, our upbringing, our personality, our temperament, our lifestyle and we can do nothing about them. Stress or no stress, we are told, if we have all these factors loaded in our personal history, we are prone to have a mental illness. Some psychiatrists adhere to this belief strongly. This belief is then put across authoritatively as the "gospel truth" of science. Naturally, this brings up a sense of low self-esteem and helplessness in the person who is suffering with the illness. We are then made to believe that medications are man-made answers to mental illness, which is a curse of nature.

Prayer, which was until recently considered unscientific, has now been shown to have beneficial effects on patients.1 Similarly, the current belief in psychiatry is that mental illnesses can be treated by medical professionals only and the person who is mentally ill has no control over their lives. The medical system works in a way in which the doctors themselves have limited choices other than prescribing drugs. The patient has no choices worth mentioning. From the legal perspective, a person who is mentally ill is considered not capable of taking any responsibility for their actions. This is one of the most unfortunate aspects of mental illnesses. People who are mentally ill also have a sense of responsibility in many areas of their lives.

The role of emotions in mental illnesses has been totally ignored by scientists. Yet researches do show that separation from mother,2 losses3 - including deaths,4 traumatic events, especially when they occur over the previous three months5 can trigger mental illnesses. What has been looked at is the history of such events in a person’s life. What is ignored is the emotional upheaval it causes in a person’s body and mind. Emotional expression ameliorates the effects of trauma.6 Repetitive upheavals in the body are simply not forgotten. Release of emotions by emotional expression explains the role of counselling and confession. We tend to believe, erroneously, that everything will settle with time. Things do settle with time - but not everything. It is these issues and their emotional effects, that cause mental illnesses and psychosomatic illnesses. It is obvious that whenever we undergo any emotional experience, our nervous and hormonal systems are shaken-up. The nervous system and the hormones together control the activities of various parts of the body. If the neurohormonal expression is allowed to go through completion, a physiological calmness occurs in the body. This has a scientific basis.7

For people who attend church regularly, a common experience is the sense of calmness on entering a church. Coupled with music, incense and sermons spoken in a low, soft tone, a sense of calmness dwells on the person. There is scientific evidence to suggest that going to church helps a person remain healthy.8 More interesting is the fact that there is little research to state that music or aromatherapy help to bring about MENTAL HEALTH. Yet experience shows that they have a calming effect. Only recently have papers started to be published in scientific journals bridging the gap between spirituality and science.9 It has now been researched that people who are religious in orientation have a lower rate of strokes than those who are not religious.10

The whole area of mental illness is about losing a sense of freedom. When we find ourselves bound to emotional issues of our life, that we cannot rid ourselves of, we lose our freedom of thinking. This creates stress in our mind and our body bears the brunt of it. This loss of freedom brings up a sense of fear or a sense of helplessness. Both such feelings bring up a sense of insecurity. A person loses confidence in their own worth. Self-esteem becomes low. With lack of confidence and low self-esteem, comes poor decision-making. A person suffers with all these conditions when suffering with a mental illness. This changes the behaviour of the person. The behaviour is affected by the way the person feels and thinks. If the person feels fear for a long time, the chances of becoming phobic and paranoid increase. Withdrawal from social situations occurs. The family members observe the person to be unwell. Such a person is then asked to see a doctor. With the person’s self-esteem low, vulnerability increases. This does not mean however, that the person becomes totally irresponsible towards their own well-being. Many times the person wants to do ’something’ to get better, but the health system has limited resources to offer much in terms of growth of the person, except medication. When a mentally ill person goes to seek help - confidence, self-esteem and sense of freedom are already lost. Instead of helping the person become independent, there is a tendency to make the person dependent on medication.

Medication plays its role in controlling the condition or state of illness. It does nothing to improve the quality of life permanently. To improve their quality of life, the person needs to take responsibility for their own well-being. This is encouraged in some of the organisations, which are being run by the sufferers themselves. GROW is an example of such an organisation. Are there any alternatives to medication in mental conditions? A doctor can only prescribe drugs to "control" the mental condition. The current trend in some other parts of the world is to encourage people suffering with mental illnesses to take responsibility for their own well-being, along with medication. Psychotherapy11 and self-help is encouraged. The usage of medication in such situations is minimised or eliminated.

In psychiatry, we know that the suicide rate among physicians is higher than in the general population and psychiatrists are at a greater risk among physicians, than other specialists.12 Research shows that psychotherapy is more economical than medication alone in treating mental illness.13 Conditions like schizophrenia are also being treated without medication in some parts of the world.14 It is also a known fact that the more positive the attitude we have, the more balanced are the chemicals in our body.15 This would be more acceptable for those who see the positive role of religion on MENTAL HEALTH. Some authors have suggested that the medicine of the future is going to be "prayer and Prozac."16 MENTAL HEALTH is a preventative activity. Do we need to suffer first before we take steps to deal with it? If we could only assume responsibility for our own MENTAL HEALTH, we may not have to suffer. The best medicine in this case is certainly prevention.

We live in a free society. The freedom to suffer is also one kind of freedom. We also have the freedom to look for answers to minimise our suffering.

REFERENCES

1. Throw Out that Scale! Of course we all want to keep track of our progress, but stepping on that scale everyday isn’t the way to do it. In fact, it can keep us from focusing on what we really should be focusing on. A preoccupation with what the scale reads can cause us to become dependent and depressed. Instead, keep close attention to how you feel–lack of energy and tiredness could be an indication that you are failing to loose weight in the healthiest way. On the other hand, increased energy could be a sign that you are becoming healthier. Focus on what your body tells you–monitor how clothes are fitting you. This is a much more positive way of monitoring your weight loss. Save the scale for regular doctor’s checkups or occuasional, periodic use.

2. Set Realistic Goals. Trying to "loose weight fast" is often times not only impractical, but also dangerous. Set goals that you know can be feasibly integrated into your daily routine. Not only are quick weight loss attempts often difficult to maintain, but they can also be hazardous to your health–causing you to ruin your metabolism and rapidly regain the weight as soon as you stop your diet.

3. Expect Fallbacks. We all have our bad days. Being hard on yourself for breaking your diet and falling back on your weight goals is part of the process! Frustration can make it even harder to get back on track. Instead, look forward and decide ways in which you can be more dedicated to your goals. Keeping a journal can help.

4. Praise Yourself Often. Remember, attaining your weight goals is just as much a mental process as it is a physical one. For this reason, it is important to keep yourself motivated. Think of ways to positively reward yourself. For example: get your nails done or have a guys-only night out. There are all kinds of ways to pamper yourself without spending too much money. Be creative!

5. Be Open with your Doctor. If you are struggling in acheiving your goals, don’t keep trying to do it alone! Contact your doctor. He/she may be able to help you customize your goals or refer you to a nutritionist or other professional trained to help patients mentally and physically stay on track when loosing weight.

Above all, remember that loosing weight does not mean foregoing fun and ignoring what your mind and emotions tell you. In fact, paying attention to your mental state can ultimately mean far better results. Forget about the scale, be realistic, reward yourself, and, if needed, seek professional assistance. With the right mindset, you will already be well on your way to reaching your weight loss goals!