Is Racism Linked to Mental Disorders?

At Pubmed, I found a scientific study regarding the relationship between racism and mental health disorders. Personally, I have never thought of racism as being a factor in disorders such as depression but after reading this study it makes complete sense.

The purpose of the study was to explore the associations between self-reported racism and the health and well-being outcomes. The study was done on 345 young aboriginal Australian people aged 16-20. The subjects were also prospects in the Prospective Aboriginal Birth Cohort study; commited to the study at birth (1987-1990) and then there was a follow up done in 2006-2008. The participants self-reported their social and emotional well-being. In the study they used a questionnaire to assess their well-being because it was validated as 'culturally appropriate' for the participants then recorded subject's waist-to-hip ratio and BMI (Body Mass Index).

32% of the participants reported racism: racism was associated with anxiety, depression, suicide risk, and poor overall mental health, which puts the 32% of the participants at risk for the above problems. The study concluded that there was no significant correlation between self-reported racism and resilience or any anthropometric measures.

After the study was completed they found that self-reported racism was associated with poor social nd emotional well-being. Poor social and emotional well-being include: anxiety, depressino, suicide risk and poor overall mental health in general.

One could have guessed that would be the results of this study simply because if you are getting bullied for something you cannot control such as the colour of your skin, religion and so on, your self esteem would decrease which could lead to mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and can also put you at a high suicide risk.

ECT Controversy

Today, I plan on discussing ECT, a very controversial topic in Mental Health. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure where a brief electric stimulus is used to cause a seizure. It is not fully understood why ECT works, or what the electrically stimulated seizure does to the brain. ECT is given to about 2 million people per year and is usually administered in hospital psychiatric units and in psychiatric hospitals. It is used for people with severe depression, acute mania, and certain schizophrenic syndromes. Suicidal patients who cannot wait for antidepressant medication sometimes use ECT to help them.

ECT is the most controversial psychiatric treatment. The main concern of the treatment is if its effectiveness outweighs the side effects. ETC seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can alleviate symptoms of certain mental illnesses, although, the use of ECT is still considered controversial. Lawsuits have been brought against some physicians, especially when consent was not obtained. The mortality rate is about 1 in 3000 for electroconvulsive therapy.

The brain is the control center of the body, it receives information from the outside world through the 5 senses. It also receives information from the inside of the body regarding all the body's internal functions: heart rate, blood pressure, amount of glucose (sugar), oxygen, carbon dioxide, hormones etc. in the blood. Old information, when needed, is retrieved for comparison with new information so that decisions can be made. These decisions include the obvious conscious ones, such as, getting up for breakfast or what clothes to wear. So when the brain is put in jeopardy for a short term treatment, one must question the actual benefits of it.

After ECT treatment, the patient has amnesia immediately after their therapy and is usually disoriented and confused for the next hour or so. Treatment is spread out over 12 sessions, and is most often administered during the week. Patients are known for becoming disoriented through the therapy, although it subsides upon termination of treatments. Memory impairment can remain for months. ECT has only been proven beneficial short term, while long term effects can be detrimental.

I believe that electroconvulsive therapy causes much more harm than good. It is a short term fix for a possible life long problem. Memory loss and confusion are among the few symptoms, ECT causes brain damage and can also be used a form of torture... Why would anyone want that kind of therapy? Especially if there is not a solid answer for why it can cause short term relief of mental disorders.

Credibility of Health Information

The topic of depression and other various mental health issues in the past have been kept quiet due to the shame felt by the victims and society refusing to acknowledge it. That being said, there are now many different avenues for gathering information such as online articles and journals, credible books of authors with a degree in the mental health field. Some sources are not credible at all and as consumers, society must be aware of the misinformation available to the public and how easily one can be manipulated into believing the wrong information.

http://www.protazen.com is a website I found to be a good example of an unreliable source. The website advertises a "natural cure for depression". The website has advertisements all over it, and there is no evidence of an experimental or epidemological evdience to support it - other then "success stories" from customers. The website probably benefits from advertising, therefore they have financial gain from marketing protazen. It simply is not logical for this product to be marketed because at the bottom of the webpage there is a small paragraph stating that the product is in no way able to cure disease. One would have to ask what is the purpose of the "all natural depression cure" if it cannot cure disease at all? The purpose of this blog post is to point out key things to look for when deciding if a website is credible or not. Here are some red flags to watch out for:

 1. In the blue section, the screen shot shows that the site says:

"These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."

This is the first red flag one should see as it basically states the entire webpage is a waste of time. The product will not fix any sort of disease, therefore, not curing one's depression or anxiety.

 2. The product is being advertised on a webpage that anyone could have purchased for personal use. The name for the website http://protazen.com is quite simple, anybody with extra money can run a ".com" website. There is no specific, credited doctor or pharmacist promoting the drug.

3. The advertisements on the website suggest that the operator of the website could be getting paid extra money to have brands and other services available to the consumer online, therefore, giving them motive to continue marketing this product.

 depressionhurts.ca is a credible source with little to no advertising because the creators of the site have a genuine interest in the mental health of society. There is different interactive options on the website that involve the viewer. The website is not trying to sell anything, which gives them no kind of motive for marketing false information.

4. The majority of evidence that says the product is legitimate is only anecdotal: success stories of people explaining how the product worked for them and the wonderful ways the product changed their life. No evidence suggests it was tested and proved by any sort of scientific team.

The National Institute of Mental Health is a credible government website that show information on research updates and have research teams working toward improving lives of people with mental health issues. The website also discusses research areas and there is a blog for sharing ideas on the website as well. 

5. Finally, another reason this site is not credible is that it just plain does not make sense, the variety of supplements they sell off the site can be found here. Some of the supplements are simple things such as omega 3 fish oils and seratonin support. Majority of them are simple ingredients - some of which can be found in Canadian homes already.

Welcome!

"Health is a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease or infirmity." (World Health Organization 1948) 

Welcome to my blog! My name is Robyn and this is my blog where I will be discussing health issues in society - specifically focused on mental health. I have always been intrigued by mental health and the effects it can have on one's life. Recently my father was diagnosed with depression, it was not until he was diagnosed that I truly began to appreciate the impact mental health can have not only on the individual, but the environment and people around them as well. I hope while I am learning more about this topic I can enlighten the few people that do visit my blog and open their eyes to the significance of mental health.


This is an example of a holistic model of health derived
from the First Nations Medicine Wheel

The importance of one's health is becoming more and more relevant in modern society. People are aware of their physical health, although, few are truly aware of their mental health. Whether one is considered to be in 'good' mental health or 'poor' mental health it plays an extremely significant role in one's well-being. Individuals should be considered healthy on a holistic level that includes mental, physical and social aspects of health. The First Nations people have been practicing the holistic idea of health for centuries. They created a medicine wheel with four components of health. The image in this blog post is an example of a branch of the medicine wheel; it incorporates the emotional, mental, spiritual and physical sides to becoming healthy from a holistic point of view. Mental health is important for everyone, it does not just affect a specific group of people, all humans are at risk for mental illness, and similarly, everyone has the opportunity to be in excellent mental health.