What is Mental Illness?
Let’s start with the basics,
In order to be receptive and graceful towards others struggling with their mental well-being. We first need to understand what mental illness is.
Mental illness encompasses a variety of conditions that affect one’s emotions, thinking, or behavior over an extended period of time. Oftentimes, people experience a combination of these but not always. Symptoms vary, but some examples include changes in mood; feeling anxious, depressed or more irritable than usual. A difference in sleep behavior, by sleeping too much, not enough or trouble staying asleep. Another symptom may be gaining a dependency on substance through drugs or alcohol use.
To self-disclose and get personal, when I’m feeling my mental health decline, I tend to withdraw from friends, family and activities I usually enjoy. Again, everyone is different. There is no one size fits all to mental illness, which is why if you suspect you may be struggling with your mental health to find yourself a certified counselor in person or online.
Let’s look at some numbers…
The National Institute of Mental Health reports “In 2021, there were an estimated 57.8 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with any mental illness (AMI). This number represented 22.8% of all U.S. adults.”
For perspective,
Poor attempts to normalize mental illness can oftentimes diminish the struggle one is experiencing and make them less likely to seek help from a professional. For example, if someone discloses they are depressed and a friend, family or co-worker responds with “you’ll be alright, everyone has bad days”. This oversimplifies the complexity of emotions someone may be feeling.
If someone close to you opens up about the state of their mental health, listen intently with empathy. Don’t try to fix the problem but let them know you care.
If there’s one thing you take away from this, understand that mental illness is not black and white. It is complex and different for everyone. If you’re worried about the safety of a loved one, there are resources available.
The SAM (Suicide Awareness Means) Foundation provides risk factors and warning signs amongst other data and resources directly associated with suicide awareness and prevention.
Until next time,
VR
