Psychology Facts

▼ Mental illness ▼

》Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior.

》Examples of mental illness include:
depression,
anxiety disorders,
schizophrenia,
eating disorders
and addictive behaviors.

》Mental illnesses can affect people of any age, race, religion, or income. A mental illness is a medical condition that disrupts a person's thinking, feeling, mood, and ability to relate to others and daily functioning.

》Many factors contribute to the development of a mental health condition, including life experiences (such as trauma or a history of abuse), biological factors, and family history of mental illness.

》Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe. Two broad categories can be used to describe these conditions: Any Mental Illness (AMI) and Serious Mental Illness (SMI). AMI encompasses all recognized mental illnesses. SMI is a smaller and more severe subset of AMI.

》Any mental illness (AMI) is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder. AMI can vary in impact, ranging from no impairment to mild, moderate, and even severe impairment (e.g., individuals with serious mental illness as defined below)

》Serious mental illness (SMI) is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment, which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. The burden of mental illnesses is particularly concentrated among those who experience disability due to SMI.

》Statistics:

One in 5 American adults experienced a mental health condition in a given year

One in 20 Americans have lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression

One in 6 young people have experienced a major depressive episode

1/2 of all mental illnesses show early signs before a person turns 14 years old, and 3/4 of mental illnesses begin before age 24.

Youth depression rates have risen from 12.9% to 25.2% from pre-pandemic to 2021.

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide.

The overall number of people reporting mental health problems has been going up in recent years. The amount of people with common mental health problems went up by 20% between 1993 to 2014, in both men and women

People reporting self-harm went up by 62% between the years 2000–2014 (that means it more than doubled)

People reporting having had suicidal thoughts within the past year went up by 30% between the years 2000–2014

Over a quarter (26%) of young women aged between 16–24 years old report having a common mental health problem in any given week. This compares to 17% of adults. And this number has been going up

》Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders. Approximately 40 million adults suffer from anxiety disorders including:
panic disorder,
obsessive-compulsive disorder,
post-traumatic stress disorder,
generalized anxiety disorder,
and phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobia).

》Approximately 1 percent of Americans are affected by schizophrenia. That equates to more than 3 million people, or roughly the population of the entire state of Nevada.

》Any disease needs treatment, and the sooner that treatment begins, the better in almost every situation. That's certainly the case with mental health challenges. One of the very concerning mental health facts that people here relates to the amount of time between the onset of symptoms of a disease and obtaining treatment is, on average, 11 years in the United States. That's a shocking number to most people.

》In addition to medication treatment, psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services can also be components of a treatment plan and that assist with recovery. The availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery.

》With appropriate effective medication and a wide range of services tailored to their needs, most people who live with serious mental illnesses can significantly reduce the impact of their conditions and find a satisfying measure of achievement and independence.

If you're struggling with a mental illness just know that you're strong, you're resilient, and you're NOT ALONE. Please seek professional help and tell a trusted friend/family member. There is relief. There is a cure. I can personally attest to this.