Stress often builds up gradually before you start noticing it.
Symptoms include:
irritable
anxious
low in self-esteem
have a low mood
have racing thoughts
worry constantly
imagining the worst
go over and over things
having temper outbursts
drinking more
smoking more
on the go all the time
talking more or faster
changing your eating habits
feeling unsociable
being forgetful or clumsy
being unreasonable
struggling to concentrate
headaches
muscle tension and pain
stomach problems
sweating
feeling dizzy
sexual problems
The Five Senses
sight – someone may see colours and shapes, or imaginary people or animals
sounds – may hear voices that are angry, unpleasant or sarcastic
touch – insects are crawling on the skin
smell – usually a strange or unpleasant smell
taste – having a constant unpleasant taste in their mouth
Programmes that influenced and helped with the illnesses
Don't call me crazy is a programme about kids with mental health problems. This programme has helped me portray my character as i have watched how the kids with mental health problems act and respond.
A girl on the programme suffers from schizophrenia where she hears voices in her head telling her what to do. She refers to them as numbers and some of them are nice and others aren't. I have used these ways in my character so i can portray schizophrenia in a certain way.
Bedlam is another tv programme which highlights people with mental illnesses. This show helped me learn about various illnesses and how people manage them. As we have a vary of different health issues in our performance this programme helped us to portray the illnesses and how to understand them.
Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a long-term mental health condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms. Symptoms include-
hallucinations
delusions
muddled thoughts based on the hallucinations or delusions
changes in behaviour
Doctors often describe schizophrenia as a psychotic illness. This means sometimes a person may not be able to distinguish their own thoughts and ideas from reality.
Insomnia
The symptoms of insomnia depend on the type of sleeping problem that you have. A lack of sleep can affect your mood and cause tiredness and fatigue during the day. It's thought that up to a third of people in the UK have symptoms of insomnia at some point in the year, which can include:
lying awake for a long time at night before falling asleep
waking up several times in the middle of the night
waking up early in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep
feeling tired and not refreshed by sleep
not being able to function properly during the day and finding it difficult to concentrate
being irritable
Depression
You feel persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days. Depression is a real illness with real symptoms, and it's not a sign of weakness or something you can "snap out of" by "pulling yourself together". It's affects people in different ways and can cause a wide variety of symptoms such as:
feelings of sadness and hopelessness
losing interest in the things you used to enjoy
feeling very tearful
symptoms of anxiety
feeling constantly tired
sleeping badly
having no appetite or sex drive
complaining of various aches and pains
feel persistently low in spirit
can make you feel suicidal and that life is no longer worth living
Paranoia
A person with a paranoid personality disorder is extremely distrustful and suspicious. Other symptoms include:
thinking other people are lying to them or trying to manipulate them
feeling they cannot really trust their friends and associates
worrying any confidential information shared with others will be used against them
thinking there are hidden meanings in remarks most would regard as innocent
worrying their spouse or partner is unfaithful, despite a lack of evidence
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition where a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviour.
OCD is an unwanted, unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters a person's mind, causing them anxiety.
A compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or mental act that someone feels they need to carry out to try to prevent an obsession coming true. For example, someone who is obsessively scared they will catch a disease may feel the need to have a shower every time they use a toilet.
OCD symptoms
OCD symptoms can range from mild to severe. For example, some people with OCD may spend an hour or so a day engaged in obsessive-compulsive thinking and behaviour. For others, the condition can completely take over their life.
Although OCD affects individuals differently, most people with the condition fall into a set pattern of thought and behaviour. The pattern has four main steps:
obsession – your mind is overwhelmed by a constant obsessive fear or concern, such as the fear your house will be burgled
anxiety – this obsession provokes a feeling of intense anxiety and distress
compulsion – you adopt a pattern of compulsive behaviour to reduce your anxiety and distress, such as checking all your windows and doors are locked at least three times before leaving the house
temporary relief – the compulsive behaviour brings temporary relief from anxiety but the obsession and anxiety soon return, causing the cycle to begin again.
The Equality Act 2010 makes it illegal to discriminate directly or
indirectly against people with mental health problems in public services
and functions, access to premises, work, education, associations and
transport.
Knowing this, why do people still Choose to judge people with mental illnesses? I have found a link to an article titled ''How has faith shaped our view of mental illness'' which you can view here There is also another article titled ''Our unhealthy view of mental illness'' which talks about ways in which our cultural and societal view of mental illness is unhealthy which can be read here
In our piece we have focused on senses and how they are affected by mental health disorders; Below is some research into them.
Schizophrenia interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly,
manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others. Specific
abnormalities that can be noted in individuals with schizophrenia
include:
delusions and hallucinations
alterations of the senses;
an inability to sort and interpret incoming sensations, and an inability therefore to respond appropriately;
an altered sense of self
changes in emotions, movements and behavior.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
"More positive symptoms include delusions,
hallucinations and disorganized thinking because the patient has lost
touch with reality in certain important ways. Delusions can cause the
patient to believe that people are reading their minds or plotting
against them, that others are secretly monitoring and threatening them,
or that they can control other people’s thoughts. Hallucinations cause
people to hear or see things that are not there. Approximately
three-fourths of individuals with schizophrenia will hear voices at some time during their illness."
Disorganized thinking, speech, and behaviour affect most people
with this illness. For example, people with schizophrenia sometimes have
trouble communicating in everyday sentences or carrying on
conversations with others; move more slowly, repeat rhythmic gestures or
make movements such as walking in circles or pacing; and have
difficulty making sense of everyday sights, sounds and feelings. - This information here will be key for our performance!
Negative symptoms include emotional flatness or lack of
expression, an inability to start and follow through with activities,
speech that is brief and lacks content, and a lack of pleasure or
interest in life. "Negative" does not, therefore, refer to a person’s
attitude, but to a lack of certain characteristics that should be there. - This information tell us that within our performance we must convey these feelings, this can happen with use of tone in the voice
Treatments
Tardive Dyskinesia is the most unpleasant and serious side effect of anti-psychotic drugs causing involuntary facial movements and sometimes
jerking or twisting movements of other parts of the body - To reconstruct this we can use body language or physical theatre in our performance, techniques often used by Berkoff
Schizophrenia Documentary (HBO) "Bob" - This documentary about schizophrenia aired on HBO sometime around 1989
From watching this video I have been able to pick out mannerisms which we can use in our piece so that it is more realistic, it also gives us a sense of context as to how people would have been treated so that we can use some quotes and references in our piece
