Mental Health

MENTAL HEALTH:  The successful performance of mental function, resulting in productive activiteis, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the ability to adapt to change and to cope with adversity.  From early childhood until late life, mental health is the springboard of thinking and communication skills, learning, emotional growth, resilience, and self-esteem.

MENTAL ILLNESS:  The term that refers collectively to all mental disorders.  Mental disorders are health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning.

Mental health problems are very common and treatable. Did you know that mental illness affects one in five Americans and that nearly half of those affected do not seek treatment? (See the sections below for some of the reasons why people avoid getting help.)

Caring for your mind as well as your body is good for your overall health and well-being and is key to your success at home, at work, and at school. To the left are links to most of the most common mental health diagnoses; however, mental health problems also include workplace stress, anger management, family and relationship problems, and grief, just to name a few.  For those that choose to seek help for these problems, the results can be dramatic.  These people are usually able to return to a high level of functioning and lead a fulfilling life.

For those who do not seek treatment, however, the outcomes are not as good.  This is evidenced in part by increased medical costs, billions of dollars in lost workplace productivity each year, and high suicide rates.  Unfortunately, the barriers to seeking treatment are sometimes difficult to overcome.  There may be a lack of confidence that mental health problems are valid, treatable health conditions (see below), or there may be a lack of resources or reduced access to resources because of cost.  This is especially true in rural areas, and various funding cuts over the past several years have dramatically impacted access to treatment.  Collaborating with community partners, applying for grants, and creative utilization of resources help our agency alleviate this barrier.

Most of us deal with a mental health problem at some point in our lives. It's important to get the facts about these problems and to be aware that help is available. Mental health and physical health go hand in hand, and minding both results in fulfilling and productive lives.

Is mental illness all in your head?  In a word, yes. But don't get the wrong idea.  It's not made up or imagined.  Mental illness is a very real, physical problem in the brain and results in a vast array of unpleasant and uncomfortable symptoms as well as a decreased ability to function in everyday life.  Since all of our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are created in the brain, any or all of these things will be affected when the brain isn't working right.

The most basic explanation of how our brains work is this:  our brains are made up of millions of brain cells, or neurons, and different areas of the brain are responsible for different functions of the body--everything from breathing to sleeping, appetite, senses, making decisions, and our emotions. The brain cells communicate with one another via chemicals, called neurotransmitters, and there are many kinds of these.  When we are dealing with mental illness, we are dealing with  neurotransmitters and/or areas of the brain that are not functioning as they should. Because there are not yet tests to determine which neurotransmitter is out of whack, and brain scans are expensive and not routinely used for mental illness-related problems, it is sometimes difficult and time-consuming to find the source of the problem and successfully treat it.  Additionally, because many mental health problems are related to our emotions which are very difficult to measure objectively, the field of psychology is sometimes referred to as a "soft" science.  "Hard" sciences include areas such as chemistry or biology, where there is hard, observable and measurable evidence for most things. 

Because of the ambiguity of psychological and mental health issues, many people still believe that depression and anxiety and other problems are imagined and somehow under our personal control. These people may abide by the philosophy that you just need to "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" or "suck it up and get over it."  They may also have a belief system that is strongly opposed to talking to others outside the family about personal problems.  Many don't even talk to other family members about these issues.

Other myths related to mental health and mental illness include:  young people and children don't have mental illnesses; people who need psychiatric care should be locked up in institutions; people with mental illnesses can't live normal lives or they're dangerous; and people with mental illnesses are only suitable for low-level jobs without much responsibility.  None of these statements are true.  Many successful, productive, and high-functioning people have a mental illness or have struggled with a mental health related problem. If you think you don't know anyone with a mental illness, you are completely wrong! 

Belief in the above myths leads to stigma, a major reason why people choose not to seek help for their mental health problems.  Many people have actually sought the help they need, only to be punished for it--they may be labeled, shamed, ostracized, and discriminated against. For these people, the stigma is sometimes as bad as or worse than the illness itself.

Knowledge and treatment of mental illness is still relatively new in the whole scheme of things.  As recently as 50 years ago, people with mental illness were often treated like animals, locked up and stripped of their basic human rights. Mental illness was misunderstood, and the array of medications and treatments we have today had not even been researched or discovered at that time. Even in this day and age, labels like "crazy," "psycho," "schizo," and "wacko" persist. 

Unfortunately, the media are responsible for many of the misconceptions, or stigma, which persist about mental illness.  News stories often stress a history of mental illness in the backgrounds of people who commit crimes.  Television news programs frequently sensationalize crimes where persons with mental illnesses are involved.  National advertisers use stigmatizing images as promotional gimmicks to sell products.  Even the entertainment industry capitalizes on mental illness, even using people's struggles as a source of humor.  How often do you see a stand up comedian making fun of someone with cancer?  Why should mental illness be any different?  Ironically, the media also offers our biggest hope for eradicating stigma because of its power to educate and influence public opinion.

Stigma is not only hurtful, it is dangerous.  Stigma discourages people from getting help; it keeps people from getting good jobs and advancing in the workplace; it leads to fear, mistrust, and violence; it results in prejudice and discrimination; and it results in inadequate insurance coverage.  Fortunately, this last concern is being eradicated as more and more laws are being passed requiring mental illnesses to have the same insurance coverage as physical ailments.

It's easy to label someone else and overlook what's really inside.  It's important to get the facts about mental illness and to treat people with the dignity and respect we all deserve.  Emphasize people's abilities, not their limitations.  Use respectful language and tell someone if they express a stigmatizing attitude.  And remember tht mental illness is not uncommon.  Consider that people like Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, Mozart, Isaac Newton, Betty  Ford, Kirk Douglas, and Mark Twain, just to name a few, have experienced mental illness and led productive and fulfilling lives.  As Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother in 1889:  "As for me, you must know I shouldn't precisely have chosen madness if there had been any choice.  What consoles me is that I am beginning to consider madness as an illness like any other, and that I accept it as such."  Words to live by.

For more information regarding stigma, visit http://www.stopstigma.samhsa.gov/.