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Types of risk factors influencing mental health and well being
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Richard J. Codey once said, “For too long we have swept the problems of mental illness under the carpet... and hoped that they would go away.” Many of us know one or more person that suffers from some type of mental illness. In America alone one in four adults, approximately 61.5million people, experiences a mental illness in a given year. – National Institute of Mental Health. Some of these illnesses include depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Clinical Depression is the most common form of a mental illness and is also the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15 and up. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America,” it affects 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older.” That is about 18% of the world’s population. In contrast to normal sadness, clinical depression is more “long term”, and interferes with your daily life. It can come in numerous forms and severities. It can be caused by several different factors including a mix between your genetics, where you live, how your mind processes things, and even your past. It affects a person’s mood, thinking, sleep, appetite, and behavior. It often lowers people’s self-image and leaves them feeling alone and worthless. Some symptoms of depression include irritability, loss of interest in activities or hobbies you once enjoyed, thoughts of suicide, change in appearance, and loss of energy. Women are 70 percent more likely than men to experience depression during the course of their lifetimes. They believe this has to do with hormones and the fact the women are more likely to seek help and men are more likely to turn to drugs and alcohol. Thirty percent of all clinically depressed patients attempt suicide. There are over 38,000 suic...
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...ds, or school and think of how many are people suffering. Mental illnesses aren’t always easy to detect in yourself, or in others and these illnesses affect millions of lives every single day.
Works Cited
Anxiety and Depression Association of America Facts and Statistics, http://www.adaa.org/about- adaa/press-room/facts-statistics
DBS Alliance. Bipolar ism: Bipolar Lifestyles. Jul 23, 2012, from http://www.Statisticbrain .com /bipolar-disorder-statistics
National Institute of Mental Health. Statistics: Any Disorder Among Adults. March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/statistics/1ANYDIS_ADULT.shtml
National Institute of Mental Health. The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. March 5, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-america/index.shtml
Mental illness plagues one out of four American citizens. Mental illness varies greatly from person to person. The spectrum of mental illness includes many illnesses including, depression and anxiety as well as some more serious illnesses such as Down syndrome. All mental illness plays a role in how this person is going to function in society. These individuals have unique needs and individual strengths that need evaluated for proper care.
NAMI - The National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). NAMI. Retrieved February 24, 2014, from http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=by_illness&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=61191
In final analysis, mental illness is not being taken as seriously as an disease or a
"Prevalence of mood disorders in a national sample of young American adults." Soc Psychiatry. Psychiatr Epidemiol 38(11): 618-624. Lee, C. V., S. W. McDermott, et al. a. The '90s.
...y of international trends. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology , 45 (9), 889 - 897.
Mental illness is more common than one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road, to say the least.
Although about 450 million people in the world currently are suffering from a mental illness, many untreated, the topic still remains taboo in modern society (Mental Health). For years, people with mental illnesses have been shut away or institutionalized, and despite cultural progression in many areas, mental illnesses are still shamed and rarely brought to light outside of the psychiatric community. The many different forms in which mental illness can occur are incredibly prevalent in the world today, and there is a substantial debate about the way that they should be handled. Some people are of the opinion that mental illness is merely a variance in perception and that it either can be fixed through therapy or should not be treated at all, and that treatment can have negative side effects. Other groups of people believe that mental illness is a very serious affliction and should be treated as a disease through a combination of counselling and medication because people suffering from an untreated mental illness are a danger to themselves and society as a whole. This debate is a popular one, discussed everywhere from the medical field to the dinner table, and it is such because of the numerous lives it affects on the well-being of fellow members of society and the economy. People suffering from mental illnesses are afflicted with anything from delusions, to manic periods, to periods of deep emotional darkness due to experiences and brain chemistry (Johnson). Due to the negative effects untreated mental illness has been proven to have on the human well-being and society as a whole, medication should most certainly be seen as a valid and sometimes necessary way to treat those who suffer from mental illnesses.
Depression is an illness within itself that affects the “whole body”. (Staywell,1998) The body, feelings, thoughts, and behavior are all immensely altered when someone is depressed. It is not a sign of personal weakness, or a condition that can be wished or willed away. For some people depression is just temporary, but for others it can last for weeks, months and even years.
Clinical depression is very common. Over nine million Americans are diagnosed with clinical depression at some point in their lives. Many more people suffer from clinical depression because they do not seek treatment. They may feel that depression is a personal weakness, or try to cope with their symptoms alone. On the other hand, some people are comfortable with admitting their symptoms and seeking help. Such a discrepancy may account for the differences in reported cases of depression between men and women, which indicate that more than twice the numbers of women than men are clinically depressed. According to the numbers of reported cases of depression, 25% of women and 10% of men will have one or more episodes of clinical depression during their lifetimes.
US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS). (1999). Mental health: A report of the surgeon general. Rockville, MD: David Satcher.
McGrath, E. C., McGonagle, K.A., Zhao, S., Nelson, C.B., Hughes, M., Eshleman, S., Wittchen, H-U., & Kendler, K.S.(2007).Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 3-14.
Mental health issues affect people of every age all over the world, and there are so many complex disorders that people cope with. These issues and disorders include depression, anxiety disorders, and OCD (Fundamental facts about health, 2015). While many people suffer from mental illness, there is still a strong stigma surrounding the topic of mental health which makes it incredibly difficult for people, especially children and young adults, to talk about what they experience and to receive help. Many young people choose to suffer in silence than to be open about their challenges, however the statistics below confirm the issue of mental wellness is more common than people think.
Kessler, R., Chiu, W., Demler, O., & Walters, E. (2005, June). The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. Retrieved Febuary 13, 2011, from National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov
Mental illnesses are plaguing the world. Because mental illnesses are not seen, society often writes of depression and anxiety as something that is not real. Mental illnesses are complicated and take a while to understand and diagnose. Mental illnesses need to be recognized at a young age in order to be able to treat them. When someone is asked to go out but the person is sick, it is immediately ok and the person will understand. But when a person says they feel down or mentally unfit, they shake their head at them, claiming they just needed an excuse There is such a stigma surrounding mental disorders. People with depression and anxiety often won’t speak out because they are afraid of being judged. People don’t take mental illnesses seriously.
Kessler, Chiu . et. al."The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America."NIMH RSS. National Institute of Mental Health , n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.