How Mental Health Affects Speech

 

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If you decide to go into a line of speech pathology employment, you will eventually encounter many different types of mental health conditions; the severity of condition will affect the way your patient interacts with you. Here are a few of the most common mental health conditions that are known to affect speech.

The mental health of stroke victims largely affects the way that they speak. For instance, some recovering stroke patients have to relearn the entire English language, while others speak by replacing letters with numbers. Depending on the severity of the situation, this can be very frustrating for both the patient and their therapist because it makes it difficult to communicate. If you choose a speech pathology career, you will need to have a lot of patience.

Other mental health conditions, like autism, also affect the way a person speaks. Depending on where they are on the Autism Spectrum, the effects can be as mild as occasional stuttering or as severe as being unable to communicate at all without hand gestures. Parkinson’s Disease also has the ability to profoundly affect the way a person speaks. In the least severe scenario, PD causes a person to speak very quietly and slowly, which can make it very difficult for them to participate in a conversation.

Speech therapy can have a positive effect on many different types of afflictions, from Autism to Parkinson’s Disease. If you choose speech pathology employment for your future, you will be able to help a wide array of people regain their life.

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Mental Health Issues and Treatment

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People who are struggling with mental health issues can get treatment and support in a variety of ways. This can help them to cope and overcome these obstacles in their lives.

When mental health suffers, a person can suffer from anxiety, depression and a number of other issues. The first step is to find a good counselor that can help guide you to a solution. Therapy can be very helpful for those who have suffered traumatic events and need help dealing with them. Counseling can give you practical tools to help you live a more normal life each day and can aid you in resolving past issues. This may or may not involve the use of medication, depending on your condition and the treatment plan.

Those who are suffering from addictions to gambling, alcohol or drugs may need further treatment in a rehabilitation center. This is a safe environment where the person stays for a set period of time, ranging anywhere from a few months to up to a year. During the time there, the individual will attend individual and group counseling, along with support groups geared for the type of addiction he or she is suffering from. The center may also use medicines to aid in overcoming an addiction to a particular drug as well.

Your family doctor can suggest the best course of action and give you a referral to a good counselor. If you have a limited income, many counseling centers will allow you to pay based ony your income level.

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What To Expect At a Rehab Stay

On some level, we all have addiction issues. For most of us, these are extremely mild forms of addictions like a desire to indulge in an occasional piece of pie or rush home to watch our favorite television programs. The bottom line is that if these events didn’t occur we could go on with our lives. However, in some extreme cases people become overwhelmed by their addictions which can have a devastating impact on their lives and the lives of everyone around them. When an addiction has reached this critical stage, it might be recommended that a stay at a rehab facility could help them cope with their addiction and develop strategies to help reclaim their lives.

Checking into a rehab for treatment can be a great cause of anxiety in an individual, especially if they are caught up in the throes of substance abuse. One of the most common forms of substance abuse is with alcohol. Often an alcoholic turns to liquor to mask emotional pain or other mental illnesses. This is why the first phase of a rehab stay will often involve some form of detoxification. A qualified rehab facility can provide the kind of medical attention a person needs as they are going through a painful withdrawal.

Once the body has become “clean” you can begin the real work of recovery and target any mental health issues. This will involve some intensive forms of private and group therapy. After the initial stay, a patient will have the opportunity to continue the work as they return to their daily routines. The road to recovery can begin at rehab.

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Navigating Through Insurance

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Dealing with insurance is never anyone’s favorite thing. You need to navigate through a lot of red tape. However, you can bypass a lot of this red tape by being proactive and giving your insurance a call at the beginning of each calendar year. This will give you a chance to get straight answers for the new year and be prepared for everything.

First ask what your out of pocket limit for the year will be. This is a very important question and one that could save you a lot of stress over the year. People get hung up on their bills and begin to worry about how much money they are going to spend when they don’t realize that there is an out of pocket limit for the year. So if you are smart you will find that out so you know what you cannot go over.

Another question to ask is if you can get a list of preferred hospitals that you can go to. The difference between going to hospitals that are covered and hospitals that aren’t will cost you a lot of money. If you knew where you can and cannot go you will find that it is much easier to manage. If you ask they should be more than willing to send that to your house.

The key to dealing with insurance is just to be thorough. You don’t want to make the mistake of not looking at all the angles of your insurance that could save you a lot of money in the long run.

 

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Protecting Your Life and Health

Suffering with a mental illness can be a difficult and all-consuming experience. Learning to live with a disorder is frustrating on its own, but the trail period as doctors try to find the best medication can be just as or more frustrating because of the constant up-and-down emotions the medicine can cause, as well as the different side effects. That is why it is important that, once the proper medication is found, patients are consistent with their medication and that they stay on the same page as their psychiatrist. It is equally important that their other doctors know what medication patients are on because the result of changing a patient’s medication can be drastic.

This was the case with one California patient. Her doctors failed to communicate with doctors in another state, and ended up giving her considerably more medication than her body and mind could handle. This mistake caused damage to her brain and took months to recuperate.  This California medical malpractice case caused serious damage to the patient’s life and health.

For these cases, patients should pursue legal action to protect their own life and health, as well as to keep other patients from becoming victim to the same mistakes. To help prevent these malpractice cases from happening, patients should be familiar with their medical history and should not be afraid to correct their doctor. However, many of the mistakes doctors make are caused inefficient communication between institutions, and because doctors are overworked and tired. New systems of sharing patient information will be crucial to correcting some errors, as will better work hours and regulations for all medical professionals

 

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Treating the Real Causes

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When a person becomes addicted to a substance, it can be all too easy to start thinking that the activity itself is the root cause of the problem. But when a person drives while they’re intoxicated, gets into fights or acts abusive toward their family members, or in some other way acts out, this is nearly always nothing more than a sign of something underneath the surface.

When any kind of addiction gets out of hand, the addicted individual can no longer control the parts of their life that are affected by their addiction. In the case of a sex addict, their unrelenting desire for constant sexuality can hinder their work and family life. In the case of a drug addict, the drugs they cannot stop taking become how they deal with any kind of problem, as well as how they celebrate any kind of positive happening. In time, these activities even tend to stop being pleasurable, and end up merely being for the relief of pain.

The underlying causes of these addictions, however, are never so simple to see. For the addict, the pain generally began a very long time ago, and has merely been repressed throughout the addict’s adult life. In order for anyone to help the addict, regardless of what group meetings they may attend, the underlying problem needs to be both understood and actively dealt with in a kind and caring fashion. Trying to beat a problem into submission or cover it up with techniques will only result in failure in the end. An addict’s addiction is not the real problem, but there is one.

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PACSman, Take My Picture!

Medical knowledge is getting more expansive and medical technology is getting more powerful (also expensive). New sorts of tests are springing up all the time, and doctors advocate various tests on a regular basis in order to ensure health. All of this might make for an overwhelming amount of paperwork, but fortunately this movement is taking place at the same time as the move towards computerized records. Computer systems such as PACS greatly streamline the process.

For example, PACS proves very useful in some tests commonly administered to female patients. Here is a couple of examples and how PACS contributes to the experience of medical archiving:

Mammograms: This X-ray examination of the breasts is becoming increasingly common; many doctors urge females over a certain age to get the test on a regular basis in order to detect any problems as early as possible. PACS sees and saves those images, making them available for immediate viewing and archiving, along with the patient file so that they are ready at hand in the same place.

Ultrasounds: Certainly any mother knows all about the ultrasound, but even those who just watch TV should know about the test that uses sound waves to look inside the body and detect structures, baby or otherwise. At the time that the test generates the images and video, PACS captures those files and stores them on the network for immediate authorized access. That means if there’s something the doctor needs to see right away, he can pull the imagery up on his computer. That saves time and could potentially save lives.

These are just two examples of how PACS makes a revolutionary contribution to medical archiving.

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Nutrition’s Role in Depression

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Ever feel depressed and realized you just forgot to eat? While many people may not know they are experiencing that, not eating right will make you feel symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, lack of energy, irritability, and poor concentration and memory, all of which are also symptoms of depression. Living like that too long will create a snowball effect into making poor decisions, getting behind on work, which eventually results in loss of hope, pessimism, and feelings of guilt. Some key nutrients to make sure you are getting on a regular basis include the following:

Water

Dehydration causes many of the symptoms of depression in of itself. Some studies suggest most of America is regularly a little dehydrated without realizing it. Cut back on soda and caffeine and increase juice and water. Fruits like watermelon are high in water as well.

Protein

A necessary building block for the body, protein provides long term energy. In addition, it helps build muscle, and as you build muscle, you increase metabolism, and all that can lead to weight loss.

Iron

Your blood needs iron. Anemia will make one feel incredibly sick on a regular basis.

Fiber

Fiber keeps you regular, and if you aren’t getting rid of the things you in-take, it sits in your body and makes you feel yucky.

Vitamins and Antioxidants

Found in many fruits and vegetables, vitamins and antioxidants keep you feeling your best. Many improve immunity functions as well as can increase mental concentration, provide energy, and are good for the heart.

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Talking to Resolution

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Studies suggest as children learn to talk and verbally communicate their feelings, they learn to take control of the situation and eventually reduce temper tantrums. Well, adults are basically overgrown children. The old “sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” was based on the concept that the reason for throwing verbal stones was to hurt the other person, but in reality, people throw verbal stones to make themselves feel better.

So maybe it is possible adults who say, “That guy is an idiot,” may just lack the vocabulary to articulate how they truly feel, and maybe if they were able to communicate better, they would reduce their own frustrations and anger. For instance, maybe the guy isn’t an idiot as much as his rhetoric lacks evidence, such as a politician who might make one angry or feel frustrated. Or maybe the guy is someone you can talk to and ask questions to remove assumption such as, “Did I say something to make you angry?” or “Why did you just do that?”  Maybe the problem is some adults are angry about a situation like not being able to pay a bill, and they just aren’t sure how to release that frustration.

Whatever the reason, adults can benefit in many other ways to increase their vocabulary, and it is very possible as they do so, and as they learn to articulate their true emotions and frustrations, whether it be to another individual or to themselves, but as they learn to do such things, they can take better control of their situations and reduce the adult versions of temper tantrums.

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Three Awesome Personality Questions

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After the questions are stated, what the answers mean will be explained. This works best if you answer the questions before knowing what the answers mean. This is inspired by personality tests rumored to be provided by the L.A.P.D. and used in some private investigation firms.

Question 1: What is your favorite color and why?

Question 2: What is your favorite animal and why?

Question 3: How do you feel about ghosts? What would you do if you saw one?

Question one is about you. Your favorite color usually is a choice made based on who you are. If you like green because it’s the color of the light when you are allowed to go, then more than likely, you are the type of person who is always on the go, and it might show a sign of impatience. If you like green because it’s the color of the plants and trees, then it’s very possible you are all about growth.

Question two is about how you like the world to see you. If your favorite animal is the tiger because it’s not the animal to mess with, then you want others to see you as the type of person one shouldn’t mess with. If your favorite animal is the dog because it’s loyal, then you probably take pride in knowing others trust you.

Question three is about how you perceive death. If you don’t believe in ghosts, you are in denial about your inevitable fate. If you do believe in ghosts and believe if you saw one, you’d run away scared, then death probably scares you. If you believe you would ask that ghost a million questions, then you are probably curious about death. Amazingly, as your perceptions of death change in a lifetime, so do your feelings toward ghosts.

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