Mental health is equally as important as physical health. We are not just physical beings. Disorders in mental health are very common in our society. Yet, many people try to hide. It amazes me the contrast on how easy it is to convince a patient to see a cardiologist but when I suggest a psychiatrist they refuse. “I am not crazy”, they tell me. There are many mental health care stigmas out there and these are preventing people from getting proper medical care.
In the US, one out of every 5 adults, or 43.8 million people experience mental health illness in a given year. One in 25 adults experience a serious mental illness in a given year that interferes with or limits one or more life activities.1 Mental illness is far from rare. Millions of people are struggling with it.
Mental illness is not discoverable by any single diagnostic test, like diabetes. It is rather a diagnosis based on clinical history and excluding other disorders. Since people cannot see it, it is not so readily understandable, like a diabetic with a blood sugar over 300. Yet, people with mental illness have a disease the same way those with other medical diseases. It is not something that can be controlled and patients can’t just “snap out of it”.
Mental illness often interferes with relationships as well. People who never suffered from a mental illness do not understand what it is like going through one. Patients often feel along with their psychological pain and feel misunderstood.
Some people look at mental illness as a weakness. I hear many patients who are told to just “snap out of it”. But, patients have no more control over this than they do their blood pressure. A patient cannot just stop being anxious or depressed the same as they cannot just control their blood sugar or make their cancer go away.
People are made to feel like others think they are “crazy” if they seek psychiatric help. Nothing can be further from the truth. Millions of Americans would benefit from seeking this help. They have very real diseases and need very real medical treatment.
There is often a sense of shame attached with mental illness. Patients feel that they did something to bring it on. Yet, recent research shows there are strong genetic factors associated with many of these diseases. No one causes their disease and they should never be made to feel that they did. No one should have to feel shame at suffering a mental illness.
These illnesses are just as dangerous as other physical disorders. In the US, someone commits suicide on an average of every 13 minutes. In 2013, it was the 10th leading cause of death. There are many more non-fatal suicide attempts. 2
As a society, we should all work towards ending mental health stigmas. No one should be made to feel awkward for seeking help for very real diseases. Mental stigmas are harming people with mental illness. Isn’t it time we all stepped up and ended stigmas for good?
1-https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers
2-http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/suicide-datasheet-a.pdf
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