Mental illness and Addiction in Nepal

A person who lives in harmony with the other persons and can face the strain of the environment is called mentally sound. A person who is physically healthy may be mentally ill. About 1o% the people are mentally ill and 1% severely ill. Loss of sleep(Insomnia), Loss of memory(Amnesia), change of perception, i.e. illusions or delusions. Unreasonable Phobias and Anxiety, Depression and strong feelings of hopelessness, There are 3 major categories of mental illness. Psychosis It is most sever type of mental illness. Such persons are generally called mad. They are not in touch with the reality and do not accept their illness. They do not prefer to make treatment of medication. They also have sudden shift of mood can be violent at time. Neurosis It is a mild type of mental illness. The person knows that he or she if sick and prefers to take treatment. It may include several disorders like anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, inferiority complex, mode disorder, phobias etc. In Anxiety disorder there is over reactions to stressful events. This may cause tremors, high palpitation, sweating and slight trembling etc. In Obsessive and compulsive disorder the person have irresistible impulse of doing a particular action. The persons may show obsession for cleanliness, dieting or looking young. In Border line personality disorder the person is emotionally unstable and unpredictable. He or she may be highly reactive or irritating. Epilepsy The affected person has convulsion of fits for a short period. There are strong contraction of the jaw muscles and the person may even fall down. The person regains consciousness in a short time. Causes of mental illness are hereditary, deficiency disorder, family atmosphere, injury to the brain, special factors like injustice, wrong judgment etc. Treatment for it are electric shock treatment, psychotherapy, drugs etc. Some important phobias Acrophobia- fear of lights, Algophobia- fear of pain,Heamatophobia- fear of blood, Hydrophobia- fear of water, Mysophobia- fear of contamination,Pyrophobia- fear of fire, Xenophobia- fear of strangers.