9 Fascinating Facts About Mental Illness

There are so many misconceptions about mental illness that are just not true. I am here to clear up a few things.

1. Psychiatric disorders are true medical illnesses in/of the brain. Take your pick. There is a biological and genetic cause for psychiatric disorders. Some other causes of mental illness disorders listed below. Don't let anyone tell you different, or that it's your fault. It's not your fault. It's not like getting cootie's. It's not contagious.

• Birth Trauma
  
• Chemical imbalances in the brain
  
• Biological, environmental, social and cultural factors.

These psychiatric disorders can to be treated with the proper medications. Therapy is also a good option if you really want to go that way. Some people do get a lot out of therapy. Others go their whole life and accomplish very little. You get what you put into it. Meaning if you don't work your behind off you aren't going to get very far. Your always going to be mentally ill, so get it, accept it, and go with it. It isn't always a pleasant little ride. The medications suck, you have blood draws that hurt, you might gain weight from medications, other side effects that drive you crazy. But eventually you find some middle ground. And live a half way decent life.

2. You might have heard that people with mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia are violent and unpredictable. When in fact a great majority of people with mental illness are much more likely to be the victim of a crime. Believe me when I tell you this is 100% true. Crazy people get picked on just for looking crazy. I have seen it way to often. I have had my head bashed in for walking out of a crazy clinic. People are not nice. But they want you to believe WE are the ones who are violent and committing all the crimes. No that's just not true folks. There are a lot of regular mean people out there, as many of them are quite supportive too.

• There is a small portion of mentally ill people who are a risk to society and need to be imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital. That cannot be denied. I can name a few off hand but I won't. They are the ones who kill their children or ones who kill celebrities, or go off on a killing spree. They needed help long before we met them in the news. They didn't get it, or they didn't want it, or they are fakers trying to get off. Either way it doesn't and shouldn't define every mentally ill person in the world.

http://www.schizophrenia.com/news/crime1.html

3. You can't make a mental illness go away. As much as I and thousands of others have tried. Most people with mental illness recover well and are able to lead fulfilling lives in the community, when they receive appropriate ongoing treatment and support. Well that's a weird one isn't it? I think people who don't get mental illness have the assumption you can make it go bye bye. Like "Just cheer up". How many times have you heard that? I know me too.

It all depends on the treatment plan folks. The doctor, the therapist, the medications, everything. How well you cope, your job, if you even work, how you deal with life, and so it goes. You have to set a plan in motion and follow that plan if your going to become a normal person by your standards. Not by societies, because that isn't there anymore. You are a new you. Normal bipolar whatever you are. That's what you have to accept. You seek treatment how you see fit. Pretending doesn't make it go away. I tried that for a few years, that sucked, I kept thinking I could run corporations, get jobs I wasn't qualified for. Suicide attempts got messy. Eeeewww!

• There are more treatment services and community based support systems available.

• People with mental health issues can and do lead normal lives, with proper treatment plans.

• There is no reason a person with a mental illness should go without treatment. There are local and national services available to help those who need it. Here are a few links to get you started.

http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/

http://www.nami.org/

http://www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home

4.Mental Illness is not caused by bad parenting. I am sure from outsiders looking through their little looking glass they will make some judgments on how Paget got herself all googly eyed. Mom wasn't paying attention, dad was a meanie. They were drunks, they were always locking her in her room. But that might cause bad behavior, but it doesn't make Paget a true blue mentally ill patient. I am sure someone will argue this. But Paget has a lot of problems and not just because her parents were abusive trolls. Slapping Paget with a coat hanger didn't make a genetic imbalance. It made her hate coat hangers. Calling Paget an ugly know nothing didn't make her have manic mood swings.

• Schizophrenia seems to be caused by a combination of problems including genetic vulnerability and environmental factors that occur during a person's development.
• Bipolar is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.

5. Depression does not make you weak or lazy, it is caused by chemical changes in the brain. With treatment people are able to lead very productive lives. There have been many members of society who went on to have a successful career despite having a severe mental illness. I am sure they were called a lot of names along the way too. Weak and lazy isn't has bad as stupid and ugly. Check out these awesome people, they supposedly have been touched by madness of some sort. Besides I like being lazy sometimes. Especially when I don't feel like doing anything.

*Isaac Newton-Physicist, philosopher
*Charles Dickens-English Novelist
*Patty Duke-American Actress
*Linda Hamilton-American Actress
*Patricia Cornwell-American Author
*Vincent Van Gogh-Dutch Painter
*Winston Churchill-British Politician

6. Many people believe that schizophrenia is a split personality. It most certainly is not. It is an illness that affects people to not think clearly or logically. There is often a significant loss of contact with reality. They may see or hear things that don’t exist, speak in strange or confusing ways, believe that others are trying to harm them, or feel like they’re being constantly watched. I lived with a young man who was afflicted with this illness. He was tormented his entire life. He was a great artist as well. Our house was his canvas. Drawings of every imaginable creature, constant pacing, talking, voices kept him awake nearly always, he drew and drew no-stop, until one day he took an overdose and the light was now dark.

7. It is normal for the elderly to become depressed. Unfortunately it often goes unrecognized because it isn't reported most of the time. Elderly are sometimes isolated, so their depression is overlooked. Doctor's tend to ignore their mental complaints and concentrate on their physical ones. Seniors are not apt to talk about their depression, nor ask for help.

http://nihseniorhealth.gov/depression/aboutdepression/01.html

8. Children can and do develop mental illnesses. 1 in 10 children and teenagers are affected by a mental disorder. It too gets ignored as regular teenage angst, rebellion, and temper tantrums. Children and teens have other ways at expressing their symptoms. If you look hard enough you might get lucky and save your kid from a lot of misery. A lot of these symptoms could be bad behavior, so look closely. I mean your kid could just be a huge brat. But better to be safe than sorry right?

Common Symptoms of Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder

•Separation anxiety
•Explosive temper tantrums
•Marked irritability
•Frequent mood swings
•Distractibility
•Hyperactivity
•Impulsivity
•Fidgeting
•Silliness, goofiness
•Racing thoughts
•Aggressive behavior
•Carbohydrate cravings
•Lethargy
•Difficulty getting up in the morning
•Social anxiety
•Oversensitivity to emotional or environmental triggers

9. And so, we, the ones with mental illness's do get better, with medications, lots of therapy and a positive treatment plan. There may be relapses, because treatment is not a cure. It is an ongoing condition that needs to be treated properly. Having a supportive family, some friends, an online social network are always helpful. Because we cannot do it ourselves. Reaching out and asking for help is one step forward to getting better.