Sunday, October 08, 2006
On A More Serious Note.....
I’d like to take time out from the usual topic of this blog to discuss something substantially more serious, namely the subject of mental illness.
Last week was Mental Illness Awareness Week. It was proclaimed so by Congress in 2003, to help bring awareness to the realities of mental illness, and dispel the myths. Entirely too many people put mental illness into two categories: either the psychopathic loonies who abound in movie and television thrillers, or insecure whinings of those with too much money and too little to do. Alas, neither of these examples paint an accurate picture of the affliction. In fact, these two examples make up virtually zero percent of the mentally ill.
Additionally, mental illness is not caused by parents who are too strict or too lenient. It is not even caused by abuse or neglect. While there appears to be a environmental component, mental illness is a physical illness of the brain. The very complex parts of the brain that control mood and thought are not working correctly. The primary cause of mental illness appears to be genetic. According to Dr. E. Fuller Torrey in his book, Surviving Schizophrenia, a child who has one parent who suffers from a form of depression has a 20-25% chance of getting major depression or a bipolar disorder. If one parent has schizophrenia, their offspring have a 13% chance if being schizophrenic. Even if no parent has a mental illness, there is as much as a 5% chance that their children will contract one.
Lest I be misunderstood, when I say “mental illness,” I’m actually talking about a serious, debilitation illness. I am not referring to someone with ADHD, dysthymia, or problems with anger management. I’m not talking about being “bummed out” for a while. I am talking about symptoms like auditory hallucinations (“hearing voices”), visual hallucinations (“seeing things”), catatonia, mania to the point of being unable to sleep or literally having no fear, inability to even get out of bed. People with these symptoms cannot get better by getting out of bed and taking a shower, or by thinking positively. For someone with severe depression or bipolar disorder, they may, at times, be literally incapable of thinking positively.
Mental illness leading to suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death of teens in the U.S., behind only accidents and homicide. Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in adults. Mental illness costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion every year in lost productivity. Approximately 20% of adult jail and prison inmates have a serious mental illness. Perhaps as many as 50% of those in juvenile detention centers have a serious mental illness. At least half of these people receive no treatment at all! Half or more of those arrested on drug offenses have a serious mental illness.
And yet, mental illness is treatable. Medication can relieve many symptoms, and newer meds are showing to be more effective with fewer side effects. With proper support, those with a mental illness can return to independent living and can return to work. But “treatment” does not mean “cure,” and it can take a decade or more before the person can begin to function independently even part of the time.
I could go on, but I simply don’t have enough space or time. I would like you, my loyal readers, to take just a few minutes from the time you may spend reading or writing about spanking, and visit some of the excellent web sites pertaining to mental illness. A good place to start is www.nami.org, run by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). A Google search with terms such as “mental illness,” “depression,” or “schizophrenia” will return a wealth of resources on the topic.
And, last but not least, if you think that you may suffer from a mental illness, or know someone who does, remember that you (or they) are not alone! Help is available. NAMI offers support groups in every state. Doctors are becoming more skilled at recognizing symptoms. And for goodness sakes, don’t treat someone with a mental illness as a freak! A person with a mental illness is as “normal” as you or I (okay, maybe not “I” because “I” don’t actually exist), they just have a chronic illness like diabetes or epilepsy.
As NAMI likes to state at every appropriate opportunity, recovery is possible. But only if sufferers have access to treatment and support. While you may not be able to provide treatment, you can certainly provide support, simply by becoming more informed about mental illness. I ask again: Please take just a few minutes to do a little reading. I’m sure that you will find this use of your time rather fantastic.
Last week was Mental Illness Awareness Week. It was proclaimed so by Congress in 2003, to help bring awareness to the realities of mental illness, and dispel the myths. Entirely too many people put mental illness into two categories: either the psychopathic loonies who abound in movie and television thrillers, or insecure whinings of those with too much money and too little to do. Alas, neither of these examples paint an accurate picture of the affliction. In fact, these two examples make up virtually zero percent of the mentally ill.
Additionally, mental illness is not caused by parents who are too strict or too lenient. It is not even caused by abuse or neglect. While there appears to be a environmental component, mental illness is a physical illness of the brain. The very complex parts of the brain that control mood and thought are not working correctly. The primary cause of mental illness appears to be genetic. According to Dr. E. Fuller Torrey in his book, Surviving Schizophrenia, a child who has one parent who suffers from a form of depression has a 20-25% chance of getting major depression or a bipolar disorder. If one parent has schizophrenia, their offspring have a 13% chance if being schizophrenic. Even if no parent has a mental illness, there is as much as a 5% chance that their children will contract one.
Lest I be misunderstood, when I say “mental illness,” I’m actually talking about a serious, debilitation illness. I am not referring to someone with ADHD, dysthymia, or problems with anger management. I’m not talking about being “bummed out” for a while. I am talking about symptoms like auditory hallucinations (“hearing voices”), visual hallucinations (“seeing things”), catatonia, mania to the point of being unable to sleep or literally having no fear, inability to even get out of bed. People with these symptoms cannot get better by getting out of bed and taking a shower, or by thinking positively. For someone with severe depression or bipolar disorder, they may, at times, be literally incapable of thinking positively.
Mental illness leading to suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death of teens in the U.S., behind only accidents and homicide. Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in adults. Mental illness costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion every year in lost productivity. Approximately 20% of adult jail and prison inmates have a serious mental illness. Perhaps as many as 50% of those in juvenile detention centers have a serious mental illness. At least half of these people receive no treatment at all! Half or more of those arrested on drug offenses have a serious mental illness.
And yet, mental illness is treatable. Medication can relieve many symptoms, and newer meds are showing to be more effective with fewer side effects. With proper support, those with a mental illness can return to independent living and can return to work. But “treatment” does not mean “cure,” and it can take a decade or more before the person can begin to function independently even part of the time.
I could go on, but I simply don’t have enough space or time. I would like you, my loyal readers, to take just a few minutes from the time you may spend reading or writing about spanking, and visit some of the excellent web sites pertaining to mental illness. A good place to start is www.nami.org, run by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). A Google search with terms such as “mental illness,” “depression,” or “schizophrenia” will return a wealth of resources on the topic.
And, last but not least, if you think that you may suffer from a mental illness, or know someone who does, remember that you (or they) are not alone! Help is available. NAMI offers support groups in every state. Doctors are becoming more skilled at recognizing symptoms. And for goodness sakes, don’t treat someone with a mental illness as a freak! A person with a mental illness is as “normal” as you or I (okay, maybe not “I” because “I” don’t actually exist), they just have a chronic illness like diabetes or epilepsy.
As NAMI likes to state at every appropriate opportunity, recovery is possible. But only if sufferers have access to treatment and support. While you may not be able to provide treatment, you can certainly provide support, simply by becoming more informed about mental illness. I ask again: Please take just a few minutes to do a little reading. I’m sure that you will find this use of your time rather fantastic.
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Hey, I just found your blog from a link from the Spanking blog, and I'm enjoying it very much. This was an interesting side trip in your posts, my daughter suffers from mental illness, and I appreciate every positive voice. Thanks!
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# posted by 
: October 22, 2006 12:30 PM
: October 22, 2006 12:30 PM << Home
