What is Your Mental Health Quotient?

 

     

    May is Mental Health Awareness Month first established in 1949. This month is dedicated to educate the public about mental illness, raise awareness surrounding research and treatments, reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and celebrate recovery from mental illness. More than 43.8 million people are affected by mental health disorders each year. Less than half of those will seek a mental health professional's help.  

 In the ongoing controversy over gun control, many site mental illness as the cause for mass shooting while those in the mental health community don't want mental illness associated with gun vilonce. In this area alone, education regarding mental health is important.

    Violence is not a symptom of psychotic illness. The relationship between mental illness and violence is complex. Research suggests there is little relationship between mental illness and violence when substance use is not involved.

    Psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia can sometimes be associated with aggressive or violent behavior. People living with schizophrenia are no more violent or dangerous than the rest of the population, if they are:

• receiving effective treatment
• not misusing alcohol or drugs.

    They are more likely to harm themselves than others.

    There is a slightly increased possibility that someone living with a psychotic illness may be violent if they:

• are not receiving effective treatment
• have a previous history of violence
• misuse alcohol or other drugs
• are experiencing active psychotic symptoms (and are responding to hallucinations or delusions)
• are triggered by fear (for example, if they think they are in danger)
• are experiencing psychotic symptoms for the first time, or the experiences are unfamiliar.

    People living with schizophrenia are more likely to express their aggression, agitation or frustration towards themselves, or to family and friends – rarely to strangers.

    When it comes to knowing whether we are mentally healthy, we seem to choose to ignore this part of or physical wellbeing. More time is given to our intellect and recently or emotional state of being over our Mental Health Quotient.

    IQ is short for Intelligence Quotient. IQ tests are tools to measure intellectual abilities and potential. They're designed to reflect a wide range of cognitive skills such as reasoning, logic, and problem-solving. Intelligence is something you are largely born with. IQ tests are not a test of knowledge, which represents what you learn through education or life experience. A score of 116 or more is considered above average. A score of  130 or higher signals a high IQ. Average IQ is 100. An IQ of 70 or below may indicate limited intellectual fuctioning. Remember, the score represents how you compare to your PEER group in: language, reasoning abilities, processing speed, visual-spatial processing, memory, and math. IQ tests cannot predict how your life will turn out. Character, opportunity, ambition, and sometimes luck, affect how your life will turn out. People love to brag about their intelligence.

     EQ is your Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient. EQ is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict. Five components of Emotional intelligence are:

SELF-AWARENESS: the ability to recognize and understand your moods and how they affect others.

SELF-REGULATION: This involves being able to control your impulses and moods and to think before acting.

INTERNAL(intrinsic) MOTIVATION: As the opposite of external motivation, this means being driven to pursue goals for personal reasons, rather than for some kind of reward.

EMPATHY: Essential for building and leading teams. Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand other's motivations and to put yourself in their shoes.

SOCIAL SKILLS: The ability to manage relationships, build networks, and connect with people.

    People with a high EQ have greater mental health, job performance, and leadership skills. The EQ test score average is around 100 with a maximum score of 160, unlike an IQ test score which is limitless. 115 is a great EQ score while a score of 85 or less indicates a need for improvement. To be aware of your EQ score is trendy.

    The MHQ, Mental Health Quotient, provides a fast, easy, and comprehensive way to assess population mental health and well-being; identify at-risk individuals and subgroups; and provide diagnosis-relevant information across 10 disorders and was developed by Sapien Labs. According to the World Health Organization, WHO, mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community." Mental Health Quotient scores range from -100-+200. Negative scores reflect clinical or clinically at-risk populations with a score of 100 being centralized.

    Most affective ways to combact the stigma and shame surrounding mental health issues is to:

TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OPENLY

EDUCATE YOURSELF AND OTHERS ON THE WARNING SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF MENTAL ILLNESSES

PRACTICE KINDNESS AND COMPASSION

TAKE AND SHARE A FREE MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING

PARTICIPATE OR VOLUNTEER IN MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS EVENTS

TAKE A HOLLISTIC APPROACH TO HELP IMPROVE THE MENTAL WELLBEING OF YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND YOURSELF: Self care or even focusing on physical health through exercise and healthy eating habits.

MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT

    It is important to note:

• 48 million have an anxiety disorder
• 21 million have major depression
• 9 million have post-traumatic stress disorder
• 7 million have bipolar disorder
• 3.5 million have borderline personality disorder
• 3 million have obsessive compulsive disorder
• 1.5 million have schizophrenia
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• You are someone you know may have a low Mental Health Quotient. Improvement in this score is possible if you are aware of the problem. During this month, take a free mental health screening test, readily and easily assessable online Take a Mental Health Test - MHA Screening (mhanational.org) and according to the results follow up with resources within your community. Please SHARE this bblog post with friends and family. 

    

Christian Women and Depression

    

Seven million Christians in the US experience major depression each year. It is estimated that 106.8 million Christians attend church at least once or twice a month. The National Institute of Mental Health lists the prevalence of having a major depressive episode in 2017 at 7.1%. Being a Christian does not guarantee a lower risk of depression. Another study shows nearly one in six (15.6%) very religious American adults have been diagnosed with depression in their lifetime. This group is about 24% less likely to be diagnosed with depression than those who are moderately religious and 17% less likely to be diagnosed with depression than those who are nonreligious. WHY ARE CHRISTIANS DEPRESSED?

    I used to live in a small rural community. On every corner there was a church. For every large family group there was a church that goes back from generation to generation. Everyone knew the family you belonged to if not you personally. It was a die-hard Christian community. There was a secret though. Look into the eyes of the many God-fearing women and you would notice fixed dilated pupils. The majority of the women 30 and over were on antidepressants. After the age of 29, it was pretty much standard procedure to be prescribed something for depression. With such a large Christian population it would seem there would be no time for sadness for the saved. The women followed the Proverbs account of a Godly woman and taught the little ones in Sunday school to revel in being a great southern cook and housekeeper, Butttttttttt.    In small groups away from the Christian man, there were whispers of discontent mingled with the fear of missing heaven. Anger and confusion turned inward led to depression. The inability to say what's on their mind built up over time. I was privy to a post of a woman who was a part of the Quiversful Movement (an online community) and she said she was a closet alcoholic. Her inability or the overwhelming demand of being the perfect Christian wife, mother, and woman left her to find solace in being absent in life through drinking.

    Faith and depression have a connection in that religious women have a higher incidence of the condition. Clinical Depression is a medical issue. While women are more likely to get depressed than men, they don’t have what has been derisively termed as a “weak gene.”  The mistaken train of thought is that they are predisposed to be depressed because of their gender. But it’s true that they are twice as likely to become depressed, and the risk factor just balloons when they are deeply religious. 

1 in 8 women may experience depression at least once in their lifetime.

    In general, people of Jewish descent, Pentecostals, and those with no affiliation experience higher rates of depression than other religious groups. Religious affiliations were categorized into six groups: mainline Protestant (27 percent), conservative Protestant (59 percent), Pentecostal (4.2 percent), Catholic (2.4 percent), other religions (2.6 percent), and no affiliation (4.4 percent). The six-month prevalence of major depression among Pentecostals was 5.4 percent, compared with 1.7 percent for the entire sample. Even after psychosocial factors such as gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, negative life events, and social support were controlled for, the likelihood of major depression among Pentecostals was three times greater than among persons with other affiliations. 

    Can the demands of being a Godly Christian woman be leading to the large number of antidepressants being prescribed for these women? In Utah, there is a high incidence of antidepressant use by those women of the Mormon faith. Is there a link? Statistics indicate that 11% of women and 5% of men are taking antidepressants. I believe that total is low. Are Christian women trying to just get through their Christian lives? Surveys of alcohol use among African Americans point to the positive relationship between religious participation and abstaining from alcohol, for both women and men (Caetano and Herd 1984; Herd 1988; Herd and Grube 1996). 

    A strong commitment to religious values and church participation has been a significant component of family life for many African Americans. As the central pillar supporting the African American community, the black church provides spiritual, social, emotional, and economic resources (Lincoln and Mamiya 1990). Most African Americans are affiliated with Baptist denominations, which are characterized by a lack of tolerance for consuming alcohol (Herd 1996). In addition, African American women participate in religious activities to a higher degree than African American men (Taylor et al. 1999). Their high rate of abstention from is consistent with the norms of their religious denominations. Thus, African American women’s level of religious participation may serve a protective function, buffering them from higher rates of alcohol use. 

    Well, regular alcohol use is a no-no for Christians, but antidepressants are more acceptable. PLEASE do not take from this post that those needing medical help for depression and other mental illnesses should not seek help. PLEASE always seek help for any emotional difficulties you may be going through. Women within the Christian community may be using antidepressants just to make it through an existence that would cause any person to become depressed trying to always be a"superwoman."

    Women are more than likely to be prescribed antidepressants than men. 5.3% of the men and 9.8% of the women were prescribed at lest one antidepressant. As of 2023, around 24 percent of women in the United States reported currently having or being treated for depression, compared to 11 percent of men. Women are more than twice as likely as men to use antidepressants, and use among White women is at least double that of other races/ethnicities, according to a new analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics.

    Being able to talk about life as a Christian woman and all it entails should be a natural part of the Christian experience before it leads to alcoholism and other drug addictions. Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

    Many Christian women may become depressed from the definition given of a Christian woman in the Bible. By biblical standards the woman has the role of being a wife and a mother, rearing godly children, and teaching her children in God's laws (Genesis 1:28; Proverbs 1:8; 6:20; 22:6; 23:22). She is expected to have habits such as prayer, reading the Bible, being thankful, being joyful, not worrying, being generous, living simpler lives, serving others, and having self-control. Her virtue shows as she strives steadfastly. All that she does through her work and her diligence are to insure that her family will not suffer in the future. Clothes, food, and shelter will be provided by her hard work, but she also realizes that there are other needs for the future in addition to material security. The ideal woman is a woman who is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

    A godly woman does not dress in public in ways ungodly, suggestive, slovenly, or slipshod. Her outer adornment reflects her inner demeanor. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong (Proverbs 31:17). Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future (Proverbs 31:25).

There is a lot of pressure on the Christian woman to face life's obstacles with joy and smiles. But many of life's experiences bring forth tears. Not acknowledging or supressing emotions can lead to unwanted affects. Suppression gets held in the body and creates a host of downstream effects, including anxiety, depression, stress-related illness, all the way to substance abuse and suicide. Holding back your emotions can actually intensify them. A classic example of this involves anger. Many people believe it's better to tamp down anger than express it. But suppressing your anger means you don't address it, so it continues to build and seethe under your mask of calm.

    Why should you stop hiding your feelings? Although it may not feel comfortable or “safe” to express one's emotions, suppressing, suffocating or hiding feelings can harm one's mental health. It can lead to harmful behaviours such as using drugs, alcohol, food, or sex to numb any emotion. Moreover, suppressing emotions can manifest in physical symptoms like frequent headaches or stomach aches. These physical manifestations serve as reminders that the mind and body are intricately connected. When emotional distress is not addressed, it can take a toll on our overall health. 

    Emotions are physiological states that mobilize us for particular behaviors and communicate important information about our internal and external environments to ourselves and others. Anger mobilizes us to attack, and signals that a boundary, value, or rule has been violated. Fear mobilizes us to freeze or flee and signals threat or danger. Shame mobilizes us to hide and signals low social status. Guilt mobilizes us to make amends and signals remorse. Joy motivates us to approach and signals reward.

    Accepting and responding to an emotion entails noticing its presence (often, its physical presence in our body), softening our resistance to it, tuning into what it's trying to tell us, and using that information to inform (but not dictate) our behavior.The more we recognize, allow, and make space for our emotions, the greater tolerance we build for them. With greater tolerance, we're better able to modulate our emotions so they don't overwhelm our decision-making abilities or reason, or seem so unbearable that we have to suppress them. It may not always feel easy to respond rather than react to our emotions, but each time we try to do so, we get that much better at it. 

    ALWAYS seek professional help when you believe your emotions may be affecting your daily life and relationships negatively.

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