Mental Illness Vs Mental Health

Mental illness is a disease that is misunderstood, miscommunicated, and viewed as predominantly negative in our society. Even in ancient times, anyone thought to be mentally ill was locked away in a facility for fear that they were a danger to others. Sometimes, the mentally ill person was even thought to even be possessed. The public’s view on mental health has improved with time and education, but the mental health stigmas still exist. Being someone who works full time within a behavioral health unit, my perception of mental health and the public’s perspective of mental health significantly differ.
For the past two and a half years I have worked at a local hospitals behavioral health unit. From the beginning, I have viewed each patient with

Not every single person that has been diagnosed with a mental disorder is an unlawful individual, drug addict, or danger to society. But sadly, that’s the stigma. The public fears people with mental illness. They think that anyone with a psychiatric disorder cannot be controlled. In an online blog post, Susan Blumenthal states, “many consider mental health problems to be the result of personal character flaws rather than real illnesses, like heart disease or diabetes” (Blumenthal, 2012). Family members often think that the diagnosed loved one is just “attention seeking” or that they “need to just get over it already.” When an unfortunate event happens in the world, such as a public shooting, immediately the public assumes that “they must have some type of psychotic

However, we as human beings have much farther to go. With the appropriate education, I think that the perception of the public will change regarding psychiatric disease. If all the facts are produced at the time of an unfortunate incident, such as a shooting, then numerous people wouldn’t use the justification that the person was mentally ill and solely blame their actions on their diagnosis. With appropriate medication and therapy treatment these diseases can be controlled and maintained. If the public was educated on the effects of treatment then maybe their view on mental disease would not be so harsh and judgmental. If everyone had the insight that I do at my job, then it also would change their perception of mental