National Mental Health Month Starts May 1st
April 29th, 2011
One out of every four Americans suffers with a mental health condition. However, only about half of those people ever seek help due to the stigma associated with mental illness, the cost of treatment, or other social and economic factors. Because May is Mental Health Month, experts in this field are working hard to make people aware that they can live healthy lives with the right care. In a recent article, David Shern, Ph.D., president and CEO of Mental Health America, said, “We want everyone to know that while mental health and substance use conditions are common, they are extremely treatable and individuals go on to recover and lead full and productive lives.”
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Comments
I always try to pay attention to when this is coming up. I am so glad that you all promote so much positive attention toward mental health and well being. It is a blessing for so many who would otherwise have no other outlet or voice.
stigma is such a weird thing…come to think of it-if you have a physical health problem,people refer you to doctors that they now and offer you advice.but just hear of someone who has mental health issues and it completely changes…there are thousands,if not more,kinds of mental health problems and people having one of these is not a maniac!they deserve care and support just as someone with a physical health issue would find.
When I was younger no one ever talked about people with mental illnesses. They were treated as if something was so wrong with them that it should not even be talked about. I am so glad that now this is so much more out in the open. It gives a sense of relief that progress is being made, that there are some answers to things that we did not necessarily know in the past, and that this is something that for many people can now be overcome, or at least dealt with in a way that give a normal sense of life.
Sounds like a good time to advocate the use of mental health disorder treatment facilities and also substance abuse prevention.After all,a life brought out from addiction is a life saved.
I’ll be spending the month seeking out and correcting people’s misconceptions of mental illness. I can’t do anything about the stigma of it but I can make sure they get their facts right.
@Flame– Good for you! The stigma can often come from misunderstandings. Many picture a psychopath as an axe-wielding lunatic. That’s courtesy of how movie makers are so keen to portray them for example when in truth, psychopathy is absence of emotions.
@Bobby: I’ll be the first to correct you and say that psychopaths have a lack of empathy, not emotion. A lack of emotions is a completely different disorder altogether and is often trauma-related. Want to continue talking about misunderstanding, hmm?
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