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MENTAL ILLNESSES
Can Mental Illness be Prevented or Cured?
Myths . . . MYTH: People who have a mental illness should pull themselves together and think positively. FACT: Serious mental illnesses are brain disorders over which people have little or no control. MYTH: A person with schizophrenia has multiple or "split" personality. MYTH: Mental illness is caused by parental abuse or bad habits. FACT: Serious mental illness is not the product of "bad parenting" or other life problems. However, people often seek relief from their mental illness by abusing alcohol or illicit drugs. MYTH: People with mental illness are dangerous and violent. Mental illness is a term used for a group of brain disorders causing severe disturbances in thinking, feeling, and relating. They result in substantially diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life. Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly and they can occur in any family. Several million people in this country suffer from a serious, long-term mental illness brain disorder. The cost to society is high due to lost productivity and treatment expense. Patients with mental illness occupy more hospital beds than do persons with any other illness. Mental illness is not the same as mental retardation. The mentally retarded have a diminished intellectual capacity usually present since birth. Those with mental illnesses are usually of normal intelligence although they may have difficulty performing at a normal level due to their illness. The most prevalent mental illnesses are schizophrenia and a group of illnesses called "mood disorders", primarily, clinical depression and bipolar disorder . . . Schizophrenia is one of the most serious and disabling of the mental illness brain disorders. It affects approximately one person in a hundred. The disease affects men and women about equally. Its onset is usually in the late teens or early twenties. People with schizophrenia usually have several of the following symptoms:
Unfortunately there are many myths about schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia do not have a "split personality" and are not prone to criminal violence. Their illness is not caused by bad parenting and is not evidence of weakness of character. Their illness is due to a biochemical disturbance of the brain, like Parkinsons Disease, Alzheimers or epilepsy. Mood Disorders (primarily clinical depression, bipolar disorder) Mood (or affective) disorders are the most common of mental illness brain disorders. They are generally less persistently disabling than schizophrenia if the person finds and accepts treatment. The primary disturbance in these disorders is that of mood or affect. The two major mood disorders are manic-depressive illness (bipolar) in which the person swings between extreme high and low moods, and clinical depression (unipolar) in which the person suffers from persistent severe depression. About six per cent of the population suffers from an affective disorder a major cause of suicide. Persons diagnosed as having bipolar illness, who are in the manic phase, usually have several of the following characteristics:
People who have severe depression (or the depressive phase of bipolar disorder) may have several of the following characteristics:
Can Mental Illness be Prevented or Cured? Since the causes of long term mental illness brain disorders are not known, there is no effective prevention or cure at this time. However, there are treatments available which can substantially improve the function of persons with these disorders. An expanding range of medications is available. While medications do not cure these illnesses, they reduce symptoms markedly for most people, and are generally considered the first line of treatment for a severe mental illness. In addition, many people may profit from behavioral therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy and from community rehabilitation programs (if available) that build self-confidence and teach independent living skills. With well-developed programs and the right medications, some patients recover substantially and achieve a satisfactory life. Others may need some support for all or most of their lives. The goal is to help each achieve the highest degree of independence and productivity possible.
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