wellbeing Archives - Christel Maritz

Mental Illness

Mental illnesses are disorders of brain function. They have many causes and result from complex interactions between a person’s genes and their environment. Having a mental illness is not a choice or moral failing. Mental illnesses occur at similar rates around the world, in every culture and in all socio-economic groups. The statistics are staggering, 1 in 5 young people suffer from a mental illness, that’s 20 percent of our population but yet only about 4 percent of the total health care budget is spent on our mental health.

The impact is more than in statistics and factoids, it’s in feelings and emotions.

It’s in our families, with our friends and in our communities. Having a mental disorder should not be any different than experiencing a physical illness. And it doesn’t have to be; you can help make a difference.

Mental Health Practitioner Christel Maritz +27 72 242 5857

A mental illness makes the things you do in life hard, like: work, school and socializing with other people. If you think you (or someone you know) might have a mental disorder, it is best to consult a professional as soon as possible. Early identification and effective intervention is the key to successfully treating the disorder and preventing future disability. As a health care professional we can connect the symptoms and experiences the patient is having with recognized diagnostic criteria help formulate a diagnosis.

As a parent, there are few things more difficult than seeing your loved once suffer and not being able to fix it.

Watching your loved once deal with depression in particular can leave you feeling helpless and frustrated. But while mental illness might not be something you can make go away, there are things you can do to be supportive and help them get through it.

As a health care professional, I Christel Maritz – as a Psychologist – can connect the symptoms and experiences you are having and with recognized diagnostic criteria help formulate a diagnosis. If you feel Overwhelm you can contact me and together we can embark on finding your solutions. Don’t let a mental illness be the end of your world.

Resources:

http://teenmentalhealth.org/learn/mental-disorders/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/annaborges/parenting-and-depression?utm_term=.wvE7A9VpZ&utm_content=buffer7d24d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#.acVPlOBAG

Mental Health Benefits of Writing

Writing has mental health benefits and can do wonders for your health. Beyond keeping your creative juices flowing—regular writing can give you a safe, cathartic release valve for the stresses of your daily life. Not only does regular writing make you feel good, it helps you re-live the events you experienced in a safe environment where you can process them without fear or stress. In fact, there’s so much data about the mental and emotional benefits of journaling that as counselors, social workers, and therapists often encourage their patients to do it. This study from the journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment is a great experiment, and a solid summary of current research on the topic.

Writing has many mental health benefits!

In the piece, the researchers noted that 15–20 minutes on 3–5 occasions was enough to help the study participants deal with traumatic, stressful, or otherwise emotional events.

It’s been specifically effective in people with severe illnesses, like cancer, for example. In fact, the practice is so well regarded, there’s a Center for Journal Therapy dedicated to the mental health benefits of regular journaling, both in therapeutic and personal settings. It’s not just what you write about though. How you write plays a role as well. This University of Iowa study showed that journaling about stressful events helped participants deal with the events they experienced. The key, however, was to focus on what you were thinking and feeling as opposed to your emotions alone. In short, you get the best benefits of journaling when you’re telling your personal story, not just writing about your feelings on their own. It’s a great example of how telling your own personal story can make a huge difference in your well being.

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Wellbeing

Many of the challenges we face in the modern world are rooted in human behavior, so psychological knowledge can help us find solutions. As a Psychologists I work in many different areas and are concerned with practical problems. Below are only a few examples:

Helping people to overcome depression, stress, trauma or phobias
Easing the effects of parental divorce on children
Speeding up recovery from brain injury
Helping to stop or prevent bullying at school or in the workplace
Ensuring that school pupils and students are being taught in the most effective way
Making sure that people are happy at work and perform to the best of their abilities

My goal as a Psychologist is working in harmony with my patient to facilitate solutions and creating emotional wellbeing. If you suspect that you can benefit from my support and intervention, please contact me directly at cmaritz@webmail.co.za

well-be·ing | noun: well-being; noun: wellbeing | the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy. “an improvement in the patient’s well-being”