Friday, 6 May 2022

Chapter three What are learning disabilities, mental health and other problems?

 

Learning disabilities are conditions, the brain, and or disorders that can affect, the body, brain, or even both, which can happen before, during, or after birth or maybe even both. This affects every day of a people’s lives, but they do face strengths as well as weaknesses. There are all types of disabilities and other problems, I will talk about in this book and others you may need to research elsewhere. As I said there are different forms of Autism, and there may be different forms of other disabilities and other problems. I hope I have not confused you with the difference between learning disability and Autism, which confuses me as well cause even I must research to be sure, and often different references tend to tell you different information, etc. I think Autism may well link to more mild mental disabilities. Whereas Dyspraxia, which is a physical learning difficulty.

According to Mencap, there are 1.5 million people with a disability in the UK.

Like I said with Autism always accept the unexcepted the same with all disabilities. No two or more people with the same disability necessarily face the same in life as far as their strengths, weaknesses, etc are concerned.

 

Different types of disabilities and other problems.

Muscular dystrophies are when the person is weakening gradually in a limited time. It seems to be more common in boys than girls, just like Autism really. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/muscular-dystrophy/types/

 

Spina Bifida can happen during pregnancy when the spinal cord nerves run down the spine. This causes a physical disability. This can affect people’s balance, movement, bladder, and bowel control. The bones and joint deformities can affect the movements. Hydrocephalus high presage on the brain because of fluid not being drained away. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Spina-bifida/

 

Cerebral Palsy happens during pregnancy. It is a Mental and Physical disability affecting the body and the mind. The brain controls the movement of the body in every stage of development. Almost like a form of Autism, damage can happen during birth or any time due to a brain injury such as lack of oxygen or the child might have been shaken. Children may face these difficulties, posture, ability to put the body in a chosen positive and keep it there. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cerebral-palsy/

 

There are more disabilities than I have said. These disabilities affect everyday life. For example, mobility, ability, use of hands, physical coordination, or and bladder and bowls, lifting, carrying, hearing, speech, eyesight, memory, concentration, learning, understanding, awareness of danger, and maybe more.  Some disabilities affect more parts of life than others.  Learning disability websites adultprotection.org.uk, community.care.co.uk https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrIDKEgpJVeDWUAOw53Bwx.;_ylu=X3oDMTBycDZicmtuBGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwM2BHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--/RV=2/RE=1586893985/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mencap.org.uk%2flearning-disability-explained%2fconditions-linked-learning-disability%2fcerebral-palsy/RK=2/RS=Bgzmxu13oWdZzTVACR30aNqbkjk-

Anxiety disorder.

 

Anxiety is a Mental health disorder that causes people to feel stressed, worry, panic, and overthink. Some things don’t even need to be worried about what people worry about or people don’t need to worry as much as they thought but this can vary, this isn’t always the case but with the right support, etc. It is possible to help people to get through.

 It may be possible that Anxiety can be linked to disabilities, mental problems, etc people may but may be possible to have Anxiety on its own as well, which for whatever your career is you may need to research this.

 Really, I can speak about the problems I face myself. Although having been to school, college, etc come across people who faced different problems, they have told bits about theirs.

We may panic if we only have a limit of time to do something, something bigger than it is to us, we may overthink without meaning to, we may make a mountain out of a molehill without meaning to, we may say something that may only be said in a few words in one million words, which that could be partly Dyslexia too.

Sheer panic may cause us to have a dry mouth, feel shaky, sweat, even fast heartbeat, tense, and find it hard to sleep.

All these things could boil down to panic attacks, which maybe someone is worried about something but maybe they do not need to worry as much, for example, being nervous about an example, their driving text, etc.

This could even be about emotional problems, family, friends, relationships, etc. I guess there are many websites I can put on but down to you to do your own research as well.

 

Speaking from my own experience Anxiety I think can link with Autism going what I face been in busy places with a lot of people, cities, train stations, bus stations, airports, etc.

Autism is a lifetime disability or even disorder, most of us with Autism have a learning disability, and I am one of them.

I may be wrong but those of us with Autism face social and maybe even general Anxiety. This may cause social interaction and a lack of communication and understanding.

Asperger syndrome is a form of Autism in people who have high intelligence. They do not have language difficulties. 

Communication

 

o         Little language

o         Speaking in the same tone

o         Unable to understand the meaning of gestures and facial expressions

o         Difficulty understanding jokes.

o         Mixing up words like you and me.

°                      Repeating what one another says.

 

Movements

§  Flapping hands

§  Twirling toes

§  Interested in one topic

§  Having fixed route / upset by change


§  Sensitive to sound, smell, taste, etc.

§  Misunderstanding people’s thoughts feelings, actions, etc.

 

 

Cause of Autism

 

The cause of Autism is unknown yet in my case, I was born lack of oxygen to the brain, which caused me to have mild Autism. Although I say that as I have not been diagnosed but these things were never known when I came to the world nearly fifty-one years ago. However,’ as the years went on, my family films, read books, etc on Autism to think what they learned is so similar if not the same as myself, how I was in my own world, finding it hard to accept change, liking my own route, etc. I think if I have any form of Autism at all it is likely to be Asperger's. About five to ten years ago I asked my doctor about getting diagnosed but she said there was no funding for adults.

I guess just before the 21st century, there’s been a case of MMR injections to protect meals, and rubella, they said there was a risk of Autism as a side effect from the injection, but I myself find it hard to understand. I guess if the MMR is likely to be the cause of any type of Autism it may be the Autism Spectrum, which I may be right or wrong, which is down to you to research.

 

Epilepsy, Anxiety, Pressager, Depression, and Stress.

 

Stress and pressure are and always has been the worst killer of all for everyone but if you have certain disabilities etc, it is hard for a person to cope with. However,’ each person naturally copes differently to the other. Bearing in mind that stress plays a lot on a lot of people’s minds, which seems easy for you but the end of the world to them. When people are stressed this is a sense of worry for them and even others around them. some people some things will not leave their minds.

Not in everyone’s case despite the stress they face and how they cope with it, they still manage to live long lives but sadly not always as I just said not everyone’s cases. Some things that people may face others may say move on, get over it, which is not that simple, only they know the person who is putting them through what they are putting them through, which may be why they are finding it hard to get over whatever the problem may be or they may not get over whatever at, which is likely to cause them a lot of anxiety and depression and even risks of suicide attempts, etc. This cause is emotional issues such as relationships, marriage break–ups, death, etc. This can be hard whether you have disabilities etc or not but then you need as twice as much support if you. It is enough to deal with the general day-to-day life such as paying bills that people tend to worry about, for example, therefore how would you help people with disabilities and other problems, through these issues? These stresses can make even a healthy person ill, let alone a person who faces disabilities, etc. This may make them angrier, more stressed, and more depressed than other people.

 

In many ways panic attacks could be quite an like epilepsy, for those who face these issues with their health, the stresses of life are even worse for them. As we all know there is no easy way to avoid stress. However, most people with disabilities, etc may be unaware of what may have happened for a problem to get out of hand so many things may be unintentional. I guess in many cases it can be hard to tell if someone is having a seizure or a panic attack but many say non–epilepsy seizures are fairly similar, which may be where ECG scans etc may come in, where your health professionals may need to research.

If seizures get awfully bad or if epilepsy is mistaken for panic attacks, there can be a risk of people taking no medication or mistakenly overdosing themselves.

When I was about eighteen when I was working and training at the riding stables over Wales. The riding instructor Miss Coyne thought I was having seizures, so she got the doctor over Wales at the time to put me back on the tablets, he put me on Tegretol, I know I wasn’t having seizures but Miss Coyne was saying otherwise. By the time I was twenty I got sick of taking them for no reason to point I took an overdose of the lot at home and ended up in hospital overnight, from there I was taken off medication altogether after I had an ECG that came back normal. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/epilepsy/symptoms/   https://www.netdoctor.co.uk/conditions/brain-and-nervous-system/a336/epilepsy/  https://www.brainline.org/article/seizures-and-epilepsy-frequently-asked-questions

 

Many medications in the 70s and 80s made you very drowsy, they used to slow me right down to a point I was in a danger zone. I could not find my way around places; I had no sense of direction and danger risk of getting run over on the roads. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Epilepsy/   https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/76/suppl_1/i45


Most medications can make people feel which I guess is part of the side effects, this is something else for your health professionals to research.

Nevertheless, Anxiety is a Mental health disorder that’s not much different from ADHD, which also can be a sense of stress and anger, both can easily get mistaken for one another, and both need research to see what is the difference and the same as the two.

 These negative feelings may trigger off whether there’s a reason for it or not which also needs to be investigated. Many times, on and off throughout my life I felt stress and anger with and without a reason.

 I am not saying I was not naughty but it always used to fistfighting me to I was feeling angry and stressed on and off with and without a reason, even more so without a reason, and years ago this wasn’t understood so now how can we help society to understand what we didn’t understand years ago? How can people themselves who face these problems understand themselves? https://theydiffer.com/difference-between-anxiety-and-adhd/


Depression.

 

Most people say that more men take their own lives than women, which is not sure it is true how true it is, but I can well believe it. Now I know not a lot of you guys like hearing this and this case reading. I know many would-be thinking us women think we are always right, or always right, but I would not say we always are. I guess many of you have heard this many times over the years, and I am sorry yes you must be fed up with hearing it.

 However,’ not saying all of you and I hate having to say this, there shouldn’t be a barrier between the two but there seems to be in this case and I’m just been honest. Even before we were aware of the internet etc, when I was a kid, young adult, etc, not on purpose but say passing in the street, etc, I would hear people talk about how boys and men find it hard to say what they were thinking more so than girls and women. How most men would shy away from whatever was said to them etc.

My ex-partner was a fine example where at times, I never knew whatever was bothering whether it was something else or something, he only said if he wanted to and if he wanted to.

 He would sit there giving the silent treatment with a face like a wet weekend as if he were going to blow his top at any second. If you ask him what is wrong, he will say nothing, or it is nothing to do with you, etc. Things like he would moan because he is in pain, but he would not try going anything to get himself treated, etc, if I said doctors, etc he would refuse, etc, very stubbed. He would bottle things up and be complete and he’d be moody etc until he decided to snap out of it, it was like no one else mattered.

 If only I had the strength then to walk away and let him copy on his own, which yes that’s how he made himself out he wanted but I was so much in a different frame of mind back then that I found it hard to walk away from that point but I years later, better late never as they say but not an easy one when someone doesn’t can’t accept your help.

 Not everyone is like him, I am pretty certain he didn’t want to be helped but I think might have been a different story if I had 


walked away from that point but in many people’s cases, it’s not an easy one if someone does find it hard to open up.

When having read on the internet, that more men taking their own lives than women don’t seem to have changed even since before we had the internet, maybe numbers mean the number of people but it’s hard work where numbers are up or down each time you may look.

Depression affects a lot of people’s states of mind. In the case of learning disabilities and other problems, it can be even harder due to behavior, some people can take longer to accept a negative situation in their lives than others. It can be harder for a counselor or therapist if a person either refuses to help themselves or accept help, which is why all you can do is empower someone and let them make their own choice whether they want to go for it or not, if they do then it shows they are helping themselves or and they are taking on board what you may have suggested to them, then you know they are coming to sessions till the end if they are either helping themselves or and trying to follow what you suggest.

 

Some people can become moodier if they take to learn to live with whatever they may be facing. You would think those who have no intentions of helping themselves wouldn’t try to go with counseling or therapy to start with but it doesn’t always happen that way, where they think you can do all the work, which shouldn’t be that way.

I guess it can be extremely hard to cope if people have children, children can sense when their parents are unhappy, and this can make the children unhappy too. Take, for example, children with Autism, which is even harder for an Autism child to understand when their parents are split up and understand why they are. Society tends to think that Autism children purposely behave badly which is not the case when parents need support to be able to cope. If the child or parents could make a choice what will it be? Parent slipping can be destressing for children whether they have Autism. However, the child has the right to know why but when is the best time to raise that so the child can learn to understand. How are either parent or both parents are going to cope with the child’s distress, this could be where the child needs some form of emotional support, therapy, or counseling to live with their parent’s break, which could be the case whether the child has Autism or not, this could cause the child a lot of Anxiety and Depression I guess depending on the situation.   


 Now I will be looking at Mental and Emotional health from my experience. Here I am focusing on feelings by giving an example of what I faced in my life twenty–five years ago, which was the guilt I possibly shouldn’t have faced. Being in love with someone who didn’t really me, but he led me on all the same. However,’ now I have no feelings for him at all to a point I wonder why I ever wasted my time over him. I guess to many people it was just I broken relationship, I think and thought the same. Now that is well past, I have my answer now to a point now I see him as history, I never knew this man, I didn’t see him, I didn’t have a relationship with him, I just dreamt I did. To a point, I can think that way now, even though I know it was true and I wasn’t dreaming just that he’s a past well gone.

Your question may be why are you talking about it then? That question is understandable, I ask myself the same question.

My answer is Counsellors and Emotional supporters I am just preparing for if you get clients who face the same or similar situations.

When you hear about a relationship break – up ease it is easy to think if things are going wrong just walk away.

Why do you love a person who's hurt you?



My word I wish I would have been brave enough to walk away sooner than I did.

Many people advised me to leave him, that made sense, somehow because I loved him, I couldn’t bring myself to close the door on him, and yet he cheated twice. It was as if everyone thought I was crazy but so did I on and off for many years. I had a lot of counseling over the years.

Two years after I closed the door on my ex forever, I couldn’t understand why I still had him in my mind, so I spoke to my Counsellor at that time. She said by the sounds of what you have been saying about him, you have been facing Mental abuse with him all those years, which made sense as to why I had a mental breakdown in 1997.

Going by what I faced never judge someone for still being in the relationship or still having feelings for the person.

These things can take time for some people not others.

Say what you can see but the control of the situation is the clients.

Your suggestions are there for the client to bear in mind, they will either go along with it, it may not be the right time for them yet or they never will.


A good thing is whether it’s a good or bad thing, some clients may have their own ideas to try and if they tell you that, it’s the way they are trying to move forward.

Never tell them what to do or not to do.

Some of their ideas may be good, others may be bad, etc.

If you think what they say isn’t a good idea.

For example, can say, this could happen if you go right, this is could happen if you go left.

Then it should give them something to think about.

Never say no you’re not doing that to what you feel is the wrong choice. For eg, stop drinking and smoking a lot!



Signs of a possible crisis.

Talk

If a person talks about:

  • Killing themselves
  • Feeling hopeless
  • Having no reason to live
  • Being a burden to others
  • Feeling trapped
  • Unbearable pain
  • Increased use of alcohol or drugs
  • Looking for a way to end their lives, such as searching online for methods
  • Withdrawing from activities
  • Isolating from family and friends
  • Sleeping too much or too little
  • Visiting or calling people to say goodbye
  • Giving away prized possessions
  • Aggression
  • Fatigue
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Loss of interest
  • Irritability

They may be struggling personal tasks as bathing, showering etc.

Taking risks, out of control behavior etc.

Moods changing one minute to the next.

Avoiding people even those they know, such as friends, family etc.

Losing in touch with people and reality.

Paranoia.

Abusive behavior towards others, themselves even you.

 https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/helping-someone-else/supporting-someone-who-feels-suicidal/useful-contacts/




 

At least 75% of people if not more face Depression in the Uk, it may well have risen. My guess, only a 3rd of people trying to get help may be more or less which is concerning but we can force people to do so.  Depression affects older people, they 1 in 5 but I am guessing a lot more than that, which are mostly those who live out in the community and care homes, plus people with disabilities and other problems. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/depression  https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/2017/10/anxiety-depression



I must be honest to say that I haven’t done any writing for this book for ages, and I am just trying to go through where I left off. Since then, we have faced the Covid 19 lockdown, which when I think about it I probley should have kept a diary, record etc of how Mental health has increased but in the rest this chapter I will be looking at Mental health. What do know as far as lockdown and Covid is concerned through no ones’ fault we know lockdown and Covid affected lives one way or another. Even now we still not out the woods with Covid even through Lockdown rules have eased. No one is alone but when having disabilities, mental health other problems, society has had no choice but to over protected us in lockdown, which is only a little bit more so than other people.

 

For example, how has lockdown affected me, who can the share if not the same but similar experience? We know the rules kept changing because we were all learning about the virus. All the same with rules changing to quickly, it was hard to keep up with everything what we should and shouldn’t where I was only walking out my home door to shop for food, drink etc. 












 However,’ if you feel the client, anyone else's people's life who may be involved, or your health and safety is in danger it needs to report to your manager. You need to let your client know that and why.

Good choices should be praised mainly when it is something that you haven’t suggested to them. From my experience Counselling sessions are normally six months. If  the client doesn’t go along with what you suggest at that time, it doesn’t mean they won’t, they either will or won’t either, but you have given them something to bear in mind. Counseling is empowerment, even an idea you say they  don’t go along they may think or and do something just as good.

For example, creatively is always a good thing for example poetry, art, etc, where they may express what is bothering them and even why, in many cases not realize where they are taking a step to move forward in their lives, even if most of it say writing, for example, is on their emotional experience.

However,’ it may or may not turn into talent but either way like it was for me with poetry. I didn’t see or really know it was poetry at the time, I just felt as if I was going out of my mind and it was the only, I saw to keep me sane, otherwise I was feeling suicidal whether that was in my mind or not, I was worried that I was feeling like taking my own life, which I know is hard for those who don’t face Mental health to understand.

When I faced my Mental breakdown, I never knew for sure if I was facing a breakdown or not. I had not heard of counseling, but someone suggested the idea. At first, no way I was going for it, as this was new to me, I was worried about what may have happened, worried I would be sectioned, and that the counselor would think I was crazy, etc as I thought was. 

I even had people as it was saying they thought I was hearing voices in my head.  As time went on, I decided to give it a go and during that time, I started to write poetry.

I must be honest to say when I was recovering from Cancer and treatment back in 1993, I was writing short stories, but not short stories just keeping myself sane, I guess. I was probably writing a load of rubbish but at the same time there was a flow, from there I went on a fair few creative writing courses.

Wrote my first poem when I was twenty – three then took it up again when I was twenty – six to twenty – seven when I was doing my Foundation Word power Entry level in college, inspired by John Keats’s poetry in the library.

What I have said there is just examples to empower your clients to move forward. Never forus them to do things but suggest things. Even ask them what they enjoy. With some people now may not be the right time for them to even forus what they enjoy, either way your client be  the judge of deciding that but if they say they enjoy whatever normally, you will be giving them something to bear in mind when they are ready. Suggesting something that they don't like or and may bor them is not like to help them at all. The idea of counselloring and emotional support is to try and help to see that life is worth living.  

 

 

 


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