What Is Mental Illness?
Mental illnesses are brain disorders, such as major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, psychosis and others. Though it may seem as though these illnesses are not life threatening, statistics show that people with mental illness die eight to twenty years sooner than those without the illness. In fact, mental illness was responsible for more than 10 percent of loss of life in the world.
The good news is there is hope. Years ago, people with mental illness could not get out of bed in the morning to go to work. Today, those same people are productive members of society who go to work and pay taxes.
While some people who are mentally ill reach out for help, others do not due to the social stigma. Stigma is caused by fears and misconceptions and they result in lack of access, poor funding, and ultimately cause inability to obtain appropriate treatment. Stigma is a serious barrier both to seeking care and improving it.
The desire is to build upon the successful efforts in educating more people and getting them into treatment. Everyone can model healthy behavior, notice symptoms, ask for help for yourself or others, provide feedback and information, be a stigma-buster and get involved.