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How are societys views about mental health affected by stigma
Mental health stigma introduction
Mental health stigma introduction
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“One in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental illness in a given year” (~). Society looks at mental illness differently than physical illness. The public stigma that is associated with mental illness can affect the attitude of those with mental health issues and unfortunately, slow down the recovery process. By making the public aware of what mental illness really is, how it affects individuals, their families, and the treatments that are available, the long road to recovery can be shortened. Something a lot of people don’t realize about depression, or any mental illness for that matter, is that it cannot be cured right away. Many patients have had to fight through trial and error to hang onto the last bit of will they have to get better. During the diagnosis process, patients often have to wait periods as long as a month to get the correct diagnosis, after which they spend another few months trying to find the right medicine. In severe cases, these few months may be too long. “In 2010 (the most recent year for which data are available), 38,364 suicides were reported, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans. In that year, someone in the country died by suicide every 13.7 minutes” (~). Mental illness is a very serious thing, not to be toyed with or dismissed like a common cold. Some people will only be depressed once or twice for a short period of time, usually due to hormonal changes or external events that have occurred. Others, however, are not quite so lucky. Many victims suffer from depression multiple times in their lives, due to chemical imbalances in the brain that keep them from ever fully recovering. People may go through years of depression without ever seeing the light of being happy an... ... middle of paper ... ...h with their own symptoms, causes, and solutions. In anxiety disorders, the affected person will experience dread or fear in response to certain situations or places. In severe cases, the person cannot regulate these feelings, which could possibly result in an attack. In mood disorders, the affected person feels fluctuating emotions in extremes. Among these, the most common include bipolar disorder and depression. In psychotic disorders, the victim has a distorted perception of reality, involving thinking and the five senses. The most common symptoms include visual hallucinations, hearing voices or other delusions, and the person cannot decipher these hallucinations from reality. In eating disorders, the person experiences compulsions involving food, weight, and self image. Among these disorders, the most common include bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating disorder.