Is there a psychiatrist in the house ? ( Need some advice for fellow teacher )

[birbear]

The World Health Organization predicts that by 2010 there will be more time loss from work from mental illness than from colds/flus. Do they expect more people to go mad, or do they expect colds and flus to be on the wane?

I wouldn't use the phrase "go mad", but yes, there has been an increase in mental illness diagnosis over the past 20 years, with many more cases becoming severe enough for people to be hospitalized.

The trend is expected to continue.

1 out of every 30 people diagnosed with depression will successfully commit suicide in the next year.

It is likely you or a loved one will be diagnosed with a mental illness within your life time.

[kublia khan]

Tell him to seek medical help first, if these are sudden onset symptoms the possibility of a Brian tumor or a dementia inducing illness are both very real possibilities

[kublia khan]

sh** LMFARO

[pies]

If I were you, I would approach him as a friend and talk to him about the changes you have noticed in him. My concern would be a brain tumor.....sounds like he needs an MRI to me. My husband, who had a brain tumor, presented with headache, forgetfulness, personality changes.

[hardworking]

Could be depression.

[birbear]

It's a word that brings with it a negative conotation.

Would you call somebody who has a leg deformaty a "gimp"? Would you find some "cute" word to describe somebody who had angioplasty? Do you look down on people who have diabetes?

Mental illness is just that... an illness. It's bad enough that insurance companies treat us differently, even though we're treated by MDs. Surely we don't need to be downtrodden by the rest of society?

[HiTech RedNeck]

and so, what if i were a gimp who had gone mad? wanna make sumfin of it???

[Mootey]

I agree with you Candor7. I worked with a teacher who became mentally disabled. She was really ill so I got to team teach with her in order to keep things moving. My administrators were well aware of her problems.

[sushiman]

" If I were you, I would approach him as a friend and talk to him about the changes you have noticed in him "

I approached him just yesterday , but I don't think it did much good . Not sure how well he understood what I was talking about to tell you the truth , and it was too difficult for me to say in Japanese . I'm hoping the principal will talk with him ( I'm tight with the school nurse and she too has spoken to the principal . I spoke with the principal a couple of days earlier ) and suggest seeing a doctor . If the principal suggests it he might do it .

[Intolerant in NJ]

...yet...at this point it sounds as though you've done about as much as you can - continue to work with him as best you can, being supportive and avoiding arguments or confrontations when possible - be watchful for any changes in behavior and demeanor (his becoming more secretive or demanding, for example) and for any indication that he might hurt himself or others (talking about it, threatening to hit someone, etc.) at which point about all you can do is again report what you've observed with specifics (what he said, etc) to the principal or your supervisor, especially if you yourself are feeling threatened....

This sounds very much like a situation we faced years ago with a Lebanese hospital worker who was hired without adequate background check and soon after starting with us was observed to be engaged in rather passionate arguments with himself, laughing for no apparent reason, and mumbling under his breath at inopportune times. There wasn't much we could do but observe him for a time, but after about two weeks he made some inappropriate comments to several young female visitors which gave us cause to require him to have a medical evaluation, eventuating in his being hospitalized for paranoid schizophrenia....

Good luck.....

[tiki]

Does he go to the bathroom a lot? That could be one sign of diabetes.