Mental Health �Medication Story
Inside your head is your brain. Each person’s brain is very different.The brain is like our control centre.The brain is where our personality, our actions and emotions are controlled.
Jobs of the Brain
Each area of the brain has a special job to do. This picture shows where each different job is controlled in the brain. At the top of the brain, the red area receives messages FROM the body like how the body is moving or how it is feeling. The purple area sends messages TO the body telling it how and when to move. These different areas are always working together and talking to each other.
Messages go between �brain and body
This picture shows how messages go around the brain and body. A message goes from the finger to the ‘feel body’ (blue) area of the brain saying that the finger is hot. A message is then sent to the ‘move body’ (orange) area saying that the finger needs to move away. The finger then moves away from the fire. These messages travel so fast that we don’t even notice them.
These messages are carried around the body by the nervous system. The nervous system is like our “knowledge system”. There are two ways that messages are carried around the nervous system.
Part of it is electrical, like electricity. And the other part is chemical, carried by natural chemicals in the body.
Balance
In a healthy person, all the chemicals �in the nervous system are balanced
Like water in a healthy river system
Balance all wrong
Some things can make the balance all wrong
Stress
Bad food
Bad sleep
Family history
Drugs and
alcohol
?
Some things can make the balance in our nervous system go all wrong. Some of the things that can make our nervous system off balance are:
- drinking grog,
When the balance is all wrong, there is a ‘build-up’ of strong (or poisonous) chemicals in the nervous system.This changes the messages that are sent all around the nervous system.Instead of healthy messages that make our body and brain work properly, confused messages are sent around the brain and body. When the balance is all wrong in the person’s brain and body, they may get a mental illness.
.
Balance all wrong
What happens to this person?
The person’s balance is all wrong like a river system with dams or bad chemicals
Balance all wrong
Mental Illness
Balance
Medicine can help to balance the chemicals in the body
Like fresh water in a healthy river system
Mental health medicine taken for one day will help balance for one day. Medicine taken every day will help balance every day Some mental health injections (needles) will help balance for weeks. Mental health medicine needs to be checked regularly by your doctor.
Sometimes you need more for balance, sometimes you need less, sometimes you need to change medicine
Get the balance back
Look for problems with balance
in you, & friends and family
GET HELP
Family help
Ceremony
Healer
MH team/health workers
Medicine
Counsellor
Stop drugs
Stop alcohol
Music
Dancing
Culture
Country
Work
Good food
Good sleep
Exercise