Fast Facts About Mental Illness
Fast Facts About Mental Illness
This article is a quick and easy read, but it’s full of hard facts and statistics. Here it is: www.arrowpassage.com/mental-illness-facts
Mental illness is a serious medical condition that can affect a person’s ability to function in their daily life. Suffering from mental illness means navigating the world differently than a person who doesn’t.
There are millions of Americans who navigate life with a mental health diagnosis, yet many are still going untreated due to the stigma connected to mental illness.
What Are the Most Common Mental Illnesses?
Most Common Mental Illnesses
Anxiety Disorders:
An estimated 18.1 percent of Americans have anxiety disorders. This includes conditions such as social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, and separation anxiety disorder, along with obsessive compulsive disorder and a few others. A person can experience more than one anxiety disorder at a time. Symptoms associated with anxiety include:
- Nervousness
- Restlessness
- Sweating
- Weakness
- Difficulty controlling one’s worries
Major Depression:
An estimated 6.9 percent of Americans live with major depression. This is equal to 16 million people. While it may not be the most prevalent disorder, depression is responsible for being the leading disability cause worldwide. Major depression causes symptoms that include: 2:
- Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or helplessness
- Difficulty sleeping
- Appetite changes
- Suicidal thoughts
Schizophrenia:
An estimated 1.1 percent of Americans (2.4 million people) have schizophrenia. This condition is a chronic and serious mental health condition that can result in symptoms of losing touch with reality as well as experiencing hallucinations and delusions.
Some people may also experience symptoms associated with the condition that can keep a person from speaking or expressing emotions. This can dramatically affect a person’s ability to navigate the world, and they may require significant care.
Borderline Personality Disorder:
About 1.6% of the U.S. population suffers from borderline personality disorder. Common signs and symptoms include:
- Fear of abandonment
- Unstable relationships
- Impulsive, self-destructing behaviors
- Extreme emotional swings
Dementia:
5.8 Million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s and that number is expected to rise. Early signs and symptoms include:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty with familiar tasks
- Problems with language
- Disorientation to time and place
- Poor or decreased judgement
- Problems keeping track of things
- Misplacing items
- Changes in mood or behavior
- Personality changes
Dual Diagnosis
Of those who live with mental illness in the United States, many experience a co-occurring mental health disorder. This is when a person experiences a substance abuse disorder as well as a mental illness. 5 An estimated 10.2 million adult Americans have a co-occurring mental illness (also called a dual diagnosis). This represents 50.5 percent of Americans with a substance abuse disorder.
Having a co-occurring mental health disorder can make treating a mental illness more difficult. 5 It’s not uncommon to see multiple health co-morbidities or turning to drugs and alcohol as a means to self-medicate unaddressed issues. Learning how to live a life free from drugs and alcohol as well as medication management can help overcome mental illness with time and considerable medical support. Healing is possible with time and treatment.
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