Relationships July 31, 2017
A brief look at today's statistics of the population in the U.S. living with mental illness.
Mental illness needs to stop being a taboo topic. Too many people shy away from the truths about mental illness even though it’s a very common struggle.
One in five adults in the U.S. have experienced mental illness in a given year, but somehow no one wants to talk about it. With more education and understanding, there will come greater healing and acceptance for those living with mental illnesses.
Here are some essential facts about mental illness in the U.S.:
To get grounded, it’s important to know what exactly mental illness is. It can be defined as: “health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning.”
That is contrasted with mental health which is, “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to their community.”
When someone is mentally “healthy” they live everyday lives without anxieties about casual things. They can function properly in society and work to their full potential. There is always some level of mood interference, no one can be thriving all the time. And as Veronica Sawyer in the iconic ’80s film “Heathers” once said: “If you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn’t be a human being. You’d be a game show host.”
In short, mental illness indicators can be the hindrance on your ability to live up to your full potential in your overall well-being.
Different branches of that include: social well-being (such as social acceptance, personal self-worth, usefulness to society, sense of community, etc.), emotional well-being (such as perceived life satisfaction, happiness, cheerfulness, peacefulness, etc.) and psychological well-being (such as self-acceptance, personal growth, optimism, hopefulness, purpose, etc.). Mental illnesses can be just as challenging, if not more challenging, than a physical illness.
Some of the most common mental illnesses in the U.S. are: anxiety (including PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder], OCD [obsessive compulsive disorder] and various phobias) at 18.1 percent of the U.S. population, depression (or depressive episodes) at almost seven percent of the population, bipolar at more than two and a half percent of the population and schizophrenia at about one percent of the population.
About one in 25 adults in the U.S. experiences a serious mental illness in a given year. “Serious mental illness” can be considered episodes that substantially interfere with or limit one or more major life activities.
And while some type of mental illness affects about 20 percent of Americans in a year, only 56 percent of those people received treatment. Part of that is due to lack of access, but part of it is fueled by the stigma of mental illness. Fear of judgement and misunderstanding drives people away from doctors, clinics and psychiatrists, thus away from the help they need.
It is incredibly important to seek help when living with mental illness, and equally important to be empathetic towards those living with mental health issues and aware of those indicators of mental illness.
