2fer - #7

Posted by Caroline Pitone in English 3 · Pahomov · B Band on Monday, April 23, 2018 at 1:17 pm

Caroline Pitone

Ms. Pahomov

English 3

20 April, 2018

Forms of Abuse and Mental Illness

As years go by, there is still no exact reason as to why mental illness usually develops in a person, whether or not it does develop, or if it is part of people from birth. As for abuse, it ranges in many forms, such as mental and physical, and even addiction. All of these forms in one way or another affect the human brain once it is repeatedly done. Mental illness affects everyday values in a human. Average things a person deals with daily like mood, behavior, and even thinking, is more difficult for a person with mental illness. Individuals throughout the world have been diagnosed with all sorts of mental illness for centuries. Although it is extremely common to have some form of mental illness, it is typically difficult to understand where is derives from in every person. Many people argue that people are born with mental illness and it is later discovered as they grow as a person. But others point out that many people with mental illness have had an abusive lifestyle while growing of age and developing into an adult. Mental illness can derive from experiences in life with abuse, and not only through genetics.

As drugs become more and more common, it is easy for people to accidentally get into the habit of recreational drugs. To be diagnosed, there are procedures and tests that are gone through. These tests are typically psychological and pertains to questions that are going to give doctors the ability to see what is occurring mentally.

During childhood, one is growing up and aging into the human they want to be. But while growing up in an unsafe household, brain development could be altered. When being abused as a child, it not only affects their lives, but it takes away the innocence that a child. It forces them to be deal with things with people, and sometimes being alone, which as a child is detrimental. Any sort of trauma is sure to affect a person as time goes on, and this is why abuse is looked into as being a somewhat cause for mental illness. Trauma is a sort of situation that is abrupt in the life of an average person. With ongoing trauma, it can cause depression, lack of trust, and mainly anger. Victims typically blame themselves for what happens, making the situation harder to forget. Stress in the lives of young developing children have the chances of developing smaller amygdala and hippocampi which are parts of the brain that heavily affect behavior and choices, says psychology daily. When an individual gets a cat scan, it is typically looked at for the size of the brain and structure.

If somebody was abused while growing up this does not mean that it is 100% likely that the person will have a mental illness. However the mental illness sometimes becomes an excuse for times for peoples actions. When seeing a criminal in movies/documentaries, it is not uncommon to hear them talking about their childhood. It is not unusual that they bring up something very traumatic from their childhood and say that it has lead them to where they are today. For example, Mary Bell, a women who grew up in scotland also known as a serial killer. Her mother was described as, “Her mother had made attempts to kill Mary at a young age, but instead, she realized there was extra money to be made if she prostituted her daughter.” She was known as the youngest serial killer, as she killed a four year old and the body was discovered just a day before her 11th birthday.

As more and more people learn about this method of using childhood trauma as a reasoning for their crimes and actions, it is seen more and more as an excuse. It is researched that, “Approximately 20 percent of inmates in jails and 15 percent of inmates in state prisons have a serious mental illness.”, from a treatment center organization. Although one could say this is accurate, it is also easy to seem as though you have mental illness, in order to have a lessened court date, as well as having better treatment in jail, or even getting the opportunity to not have to go to jail at all because of this method. If it is seen as 20% of criminals have a mental illness for murder, it would be easy to differ the criminals who have mental disorders and who don't. But also, when thinking about it, wouldn't it be hard? Symptoms of mental disorders are unlimited. Symptoms could be anything from lying to excessive anger. Any form of abuse can create psychological problems to ones brains, which can often lead to mental illness.

Work Cited:

URLhttps://www.samhsa.gov/disorders

Website TitleMental and Substance Use Disorders | SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Article TitleMental and Substance Use Disorders

Date PublishedJune 20, 2014

Date AccessedApril 23, 2018

URLhttp://www.thehotline.org/2015/05/06/abuse-and-mental-illness-is-there-a-connection/

Website TitleThe National Domestic Violence Hotline

Article TitleAbuse and Mental Illness: Is There a Connection?

Date PublishedMarch 22, 2018

Date AccessedApril 23, 2018

URLhttps://www.domesticshelters.org/domestic-violence-articles-information/abuse-cannot-be-blamed-on-mental-illness#.Wt4kVRl9600