About Mental Illness
Mental illnesses include such disorders as schizophrenia,
schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive
disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic and other severe
anxiety disorders, autism and pervasive developmental disorders,
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality
disorder, and other severe and persistent mental illnesses
that affect the brain.
These disorders can profoundly disrupt a person's thinking,
feeling, moods, ability to relate to others and capacity for
coping with the demands of life.
Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion,
or income. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal
weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing.
Mental illnesses are treatable. Most people with serious mental
illness need medication to help control symptoms, but also
rely on supportive counseling, self-help groups, assistance
with housing, vocational rehabilitation, income assistance
and other community services in order to achieve their highest
level of recovery.
Here are some important facts about mental illness and recovery:
- Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders. They
cannot be overcome through "will power" and are
not related to a person's "character" or intelligence.
- Mental disorders fall along a continuum of severity. The
most serious and disabling conditions affect five to ten
million adults (2.6 – 5.4%) and three to five million
children ages five to seventeen (5 – 9%) in the United
States.
- Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability (lost
years of productive life) in North America, Europe and,
increasingly, in the world. By 2020, Major Depressive illness
will be the leading cause of disability in the world for
women and children.
- Mental illnesses strike individuals in the prime of their
lives, often during adolescence and young adulthood. All
ages are susceptible, but the young and the old are especially
vulnerable.
- Without treatment the consequences of mental illness for
the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability,
unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate
incarceration, suicide and wasted lives; The economic cost
of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars
each year in the United States.
- The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today
are highly effective; between 70 and 90 percent of individuals
have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality
of life with a combination of pharmacological and psychosocial
treatments and supports;
- Early identification and treatment is of vital importance;
By getting people the treatment they need early, recovery
is accelerated and the brain is protected from further harm
related to the course of illness.
- Stigma erodes confidence that mental disorders are real,
treatable health conditions. We have allowed stigma and a
now unwarranted sense of hopelessness to erect attitudinal,
structural and financial barriers to effective treatment
and recovery. It is time to take these barriers down.
© National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
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