Living with disabilities and mental illness

 I was born mildly brain-damaged and had fits from birth. The tablets I was taking since birth were very strong and caused me to be in a dream world. My mother weaned me off the tablets when I was about 12 yrs old and I didn't have another fit until 20 years later. I was hyperactive and I was autistic, I was awake all night, but I was in another world during the day. This is why I wasn’t very successful at school, I heard people’s voices, but I didn’t understand them.

I had very bad temper tantrums classed as meltdowns today, which made life even harder for my family. I was seeking attention without realizing or even meaning to. I was very lucky to have a family who persevered with me until I did understand how to do something.
My Mother tried to get help, but in those days it was hard to find, she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown until an educational psychologist saw me for a week in my primary school.

During my adulthood, I have realized that there are others in my shoes and some a lot worse. During my childhood I felt like the odd one out, I felt as if some people were making fun of me. I was unaware that I wasn’t the only one; it was as if people thought I was thick. Now I know it only seemed that way, I don’t think I was the odd one out, but I thought I was. In those days it felt like no one had the time to give someone like myself one chance, they didn’t seem to understand I couldn't master things the first time. It is very hard to explain to people that these problems don’t have unless they have these problems themselves. On the other hand, I always believe there are always plenty of people worse off than me.
For me now it isn’t as bad as it used to be because I hear about a lot more help and things now than there used be. I think there is still a lot to understand still about being disabled, we will never know everything.

Dyspraxia and Dyslexia are learning disabilities and learning difficulties, Epilepsy is a long–term condition while Anxiety and Depression mental illnesses.

Due to the fact that there was little known about these problems back in the seventies, and eighties and before then, I was like many people from those generations, I guess if not the same but similar to me were not diagnosed. As I was growing up, my family members read up about long-term conditions to match my symptoms. I did ask my GP about getting diagnosed but she said there was not any funding at the time. I feel if I could have been diagnosed, I could have had more help than I have through, but I hope others if not the same similar to me will get better help and I guess many from my generation will think the same. Without the diagnosis, these problems can cause people to struggle and have if not no help but very little.

 

Mental health is emotional well-being to how we think, feel, behave, react, and interact. Mental health problem is the situation, the problem the person is facing whether it is money, the relationship breaks up, deaths of people they know, etc. For many of us, this is hard to understand even for those who go through it, believe it or not, it is even possible to feel negative for no reason at all, which really when it comes to the cause is Mental illness the person's faces, which in some cases if it's anything could be down to loneliness, doing things too much, not doing things enough, such as sleep, eating, etc or it could no reason all. Many would say snap out of it, this is not easy for everyone, and is not someone else place to tell someone to do that, this is something they work on in their own, time but ask for help if or when they choose to.  However, there is no wrong in trying to offer the person positives such as asking them what they enjoy, which may be hobbies, careers, study, favorite music, band film, etc, no matter why they may be feeling negative, may work for some not others, depending on them, the situation, etc. Only cause it may not work for them, doesn't mean you have failed, they just may find their own way of coping, etc, the best is all you do. My advice is,  what do with my clients, offer, raise awareness, suggest things, etc;  but don't do anything unless they ask.  

What it may be. Mental illness is such mental illnesses as Anxiety, Depression, etc, which affect the emotions of how the person feels, thinks behaves, etc even more so, whatever mental illness they may face is likely to be more sensitive to the situation than what other people maybe. Where it drives them to behave in ways others may not accept or understand for eg, self-harm, thoughts of suicide, a lot of alcohol, a lot of drugs, etc.

  They may someone may advise them to get support, could be getting in touch with a mental health charity or service, etc. Mental health - NHS (www.nhs.uk) Mental health is not an easy subject, it's always best to let a person know you are looking out for them, you hear to talk to if they want to talk, don't them to talk or some people may not want to put on other people whether they know them or, which can be very concerning, where what is bothering them could increase, etc, then no one should force them to talk either. What is concerning is for whatever reason of their own, most people struggle to open up for whatever reason, they may choose to talk to someone they know, or don't know, and it can be concerning whether or not they talk to anyone.  It is hard to know what people are thinking and feeling, even if they seem happy etc. Concerning things is as well we never know with some people for those mainly who seem to feel okay but don't necessarily mean to say that they are okay, which is not easy to know when to say anything or when not to, in case we make things worse, we only know if they say but they shouldn't be forced to either.  About mental health problems | Mental Health Foundation

·  The causes of disabilities and mental illness.

·  Type of disabilities and mental illness. A-Z Topics | Mental Health Foundation

·  How disabilities and mental illness affect lives.

·  How disabilities and mental illness can be supported.

Hi second years Occupation therapists’ students if any of you at least are reading this. Hope you enjoyed the session at the University of Wolverhampton Walsall campus on Tuesday 18th October 2022, I hope I didn't bore you too much lol. 

 

 

A learning disability is an injury, damage, accident, illness, etc, before, during, or after birth in the body or and brain. Before birth any birth can mean any time after birth whether is a day after or years after etc, it could be to do with the mother’s health as well as the baby's health, which more so than not links to mental illness too. More so fustigating for the person because they are on the whole having to ask for support more than other people. (PDF) DISABILITY: TYPES, CAUSES, PREVENTION, AND MANAGEMENT | ResearchGate

 Learning disabilities and difficulties can slow people in a lot if not more ways than other people. This could affect home skills, and health for eg, speaking to professionals, getting to appointments, education, employment, social lives, and more but different people in different ways, which may depend on the disabilities, mental health, and the people who you support.

People with disabilities and mental illness have strengths and weaknesses but there are most limits to what can do and how long etc. For eg, with the benefits we are on if we are lucky to do some work there are limits to the number of hours we can work and

 the money we can earn.

Mental health is emotional well-being, how to cope with the way life treats us whether it is some from years, today or whenever it was whether it is but if the person faces too many negatives, it becomes Mental illness. Causes of Mental Illness (webmd.com)

Mental illness is feelings and thoughts about life around us, which affects we also react, interact even, and the way we behave. What Is Mental Health? | MentalHealth.gov

Information on being an occupational therapist - Degrees and Courses - Health Careers

 

 

Types of disabilities and difficulties could be Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, and more, best research for that is the Mencap website, Rethink, Mind, Sane, Cruise, The Good Samaritans, and more for mental illness. Tap disabilities and mental health in your search engine and the many sites you could learn from.  

 

In fact, research shows that mental health problems are more common in people with learning disabilities. We do not fully understand the cause of these mental health problems, but as in the general population, a range of factors can play a part including genetics. physical ill health. psychological stress. https://mentalhealth-uk.org/help-and-information/mental-health-and-physical-health/#:~:text=Exercise%20is%20key%20for%20good%

You can advise someone to do something or and not to, but you cannot them to do and don't do something. Motivation is a hard thing and yet from my experience, what professionals were saying to me, I admit it is, comment sense but most things are easy said than done, if you are the person facing the problem, therefore never tell someone to stop or start doing something, which is likely makes them stressed, do it or don't do it more. Not the case in everything but most things are hard to take on board if no one came up with it in their childhood etc.   Try to show empathy by taking an interest in finding out what the person enjoys, whether it is not only to help their mental health but to help their hobbies, education, career, etc. The idea of trying to support someone with mental illness is to try and bring positive lives, where the choices are theirs, not yours, bring in what they enjoy for them is bringing in more negative when we should be here to try and help them to see positive, what makes them happy. How Occupational Therapy Empowers Those with Mental Illness | Sheppard Pratt

·  Help with motor skill development or grip supports to improve handwriting, teeth-brushing, dressing, and feeding abilities

·  Self-regulation and emotional management techniques for people with behavioural disorders

·  Advice to aid with social participation and confidence building

·  Pain and fatigue management strategies

·  Physically and or mentally your support for people could come in for people, such as at school, college, university, in the workplace, in their homes, etc. 

·  Study support, communicating with schools, colleges, etc, for example, if someone with Dyslexia, for example, has extra time support during exams, they may need help with reading questions for example.

·  Kitchel tools at how such as opening bottles, cooking, etc. Occupational

·  What is Occupational Therapy? OT Explained - RCOT

·         The answer is very unknown to know whether people can face mental illness without a learning disability. Can we face disabilities without Mental illness? Again, an unknown but in my experience yes, I cannot speak for those who are the same if not similar to me. I find it causes me a lot of Anxiety to ask others for help a lot whether others' minds or not. We all need help with something at some time but when having a learning disability, even more so. However, learning disabilities do not go away but when living with learning disabilities, all of one's life, the support for some disabilities does get a bit less than what it would have been at the start of a person's life but depending on the disabilities and person, etc. Disability - Mind

·         My guess is that it is possible mainly when we face negative emotional issues to the point everyone does face mental illness, mainly how we are facing a money crisis, in this day and age, which has happened before but each time it does happen, it gets hard to cope with. It would be wrong to guess which is worse in the sense face mental illness with or without a learning disability, people with disabilities are likely to need more support to manage money, etc.

·         A learning disability can happen to anyone at any time, before, during, or after birth, affecting people physically or mentally to the brain or body.

·         How it affects people depends on the disabilities, mental illnesses, and the people who face them, which are different for different people.

·         We all have strengths and weaknesses like everyone else, but we can take longer to learn than other people, depending on how much we struggle. We can learn new skills but there are limits to what we can learn, train, and put into a career, etc. How you support will depend on what people need support how much support people need etc. Either these things could be a person's strength or a person's weaknesses for example. Cooking, shopping, housework, housing, finding where to live, health, education, work, their social lives, and more.

·         causes of disabilities and mental health problems

·          When facing too much negativity in life. Mental illness and negative problems are remembered from childhood, loneliness, not being treated by other people because you may have a disability and mental illness, or issues, grieving over death, stress, money, housing problems or and more, trying to get along with most people, abuse, and more.

·          What causes mental health problems? - Mind  CBT How to support them, try to encourage people to think, talk about, do, etc positive things they enjoy. Hobbies, interests, favorite music, film, tv, careers, etc. Depending on what they are facing, some people may take longer than others to feel and think positively than others, some people may have their own ideas. Other ways to try to support people  Types of talking therapy - NHS (www.nhs.uk)  Different Types of Mental Health Treatment - familydoctor.org  Types of Mental Health Therapy: Approaches and How They Work (verywellhealth.com)

·         Anxiety is a sense of panic, and worry,  some things may seem worse than what they really are. Struggling to move on from past negative experiences.  

·         Depression is a feeling of sadness with or without a reason and on this link A-Z mental health - Mind

·         How to support disability Living Well with a Disability - HelpGuide.org

·         Learning disability support - Mind    How to Help Those Who Have a Disability: 12 Steps (with Pictures) (wikihow.com)

·          How to Help Those Who Have a Disability: 12 Steps (with Pictures) (wikihow.com)  Disability rights: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

·          How to offer help. only ofter if they ask. Never force people to talk or have your help but let them know, they are welcome to let you know if you can help. Never do what you can't do, always ask the person if they would like you to find help from someone else who may know or service, etc.