Mental illnesses are not fictional. Romanticizing these illnesses in movies and on television shows therefore, making them seem less than what they actually are, which is a true, overwhelming struggle. Contrary to popular belief, they are not only illnesses for hormonal, teenage girls. Men and women of all age groups suffer from mental illnesses. Experiencing a mental illness is not just a state of mind, therefore, a person can not just ¨feel better.¨ The concept of mental illnesses is concrete, not something that is fictitious. Getting the word out that there are more mental illnesses than those seen on social media is long overdue. Ordinarily, when people hear the words “mental illness” they automatically assume the diagnosis of depression. …show more content…
In the United States, in a given year, 1 in 5 adults are affected by mental illness. Approximately 20.9 millions individuals over the age of 18 suffer from a mood disorder such as depression or bipolar disorder. The highest rate of suicide in the United States is in white men over 85 years of age. Though women make more attempts, four times the number of men are successful in suicide attempts. Many people who have mental illnesses don’t even begin to show symptoms until after the age of 18 ,well after puberty and after raging, teenage hormones have settled into their appropriate places. The median age of early onset panic disorders such as OCD, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD is between the ages of 19 and 23. Unquestionably, the myth that only adolescent girls struggle with mental illnesses is completely inaccurate. People of different genders, ages, and ethnicities are all subject to have mental …show more content…
The common defense for those who do not believe that mental illnesses exist is that the person should simply “feel better.” Mental illnesses can be so severe that they can can completely change someone’s personality and they may not be able to complete daily tasks. Ultimately, neurotransmitters are what humans rely on to send various chemical messages and electrical pulses across the brain to be able to carry out different tasks. Serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate are neurotransmitters that deal with emotions. People with illnesses such as , but not limited to, depression, attention deficit disorder, and schizophrenia are known to have higher or lower levels of these neurotransmitters. An upset in the levels of these neurotransmitters hinder the way the brain is able to cope with emotions. Due to the imbalance of these certain neurotransmitters, people suffering with mental disorders are unable to “feel better.” All things considered, trying to feel certain way is challenging when the brain is working against any progress that could have been
In the United States, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide; 13.6% made a suicide plan; 8.0% attempted suicide; and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way suicide is handled in today’s society. In order to alleviate the devastating consequences of teenage suicide, it is important to get at the root of what causes it all: mental illness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (2013), mental illness is the imbalance of thinking, state of mind, and mood. Approximately 90% of all suicides are committed by people with mental illnesses (NAMI, n.d.). This shows that there is a correlation between mental illness and suicide. If mental illnesses are not treated, deadly consequences could occur. It would make sense that if there is a correlation between mental illness and suicide across all ages, the same should be thought for adolescents. Approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009). If mental illnesses are not found and treated in teenagers, some of them may pay the ultimate price.
Mental illness is a taboo subject in our society. It is something that too often gets overlooked because these types of ailments " do not bleed ". The negative stigma that surrounds mental illnesses prevents access to care for those in need because either themselves or those around them don’t want to believe that they have one. Mental illnesses are not seen in the same light as a common cold or the chicken pox. If someone have a mental illness, they are seen as broken and potentially unstable. Look at all of the horror movies that surround insane asylums, or people with schizophrenia who are cast as psychopathic murders. It 's no surprise that mental illness has become something that people are in denial for or want to be kept hidden. And its not just the media that is
We have come to a point where we are very susceptible to the things that we see in the media every day. We believe the things that are being told to us through media because we have been pushed to think this way. Social media has the ability to manipulate the way in which topics are viewed such as mental illness. We have come to a point where we are less likely to question the things that happen in films because we have become comfortable accepting the information we gather through media. However if you actually pay attention to the way things are portrayed in films, a lot of the time there is little truth behind it. For some reason it has become the norm to make mental illnesses more dramatic and seem way more dangerous than they actual are. Mental illness in films is very rarely accurately portrayed in films, a lot of the time they are made to be way more dramatic than they actually are solely for the purpose to make the film
In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide, 13.6% made a suicide plan, 8.0% attempted suicide, and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way mental illness is handled in today’s society. Also, approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009).
“A mental disorder (mental illness) is a psychological pattern that is generally associated with a defect or disease of the individual’s mind. It causes a disability that may affect an individual’s behavior patterns in ways that are not part of one’s normal development or culture. Mental disorders are common in the United States. Within any given year, nearly 25 percent of adults and slightly over 20 percent of children are diagnosable for one or more mental disorders. While mental disorder appears to be widespread among the population, the main burden (or threat) emanates from about 6 percent of those who suffer from a debilitating mental illness.” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2011)
It’s estimated that the onset of 50% of chronic mental illnesses occurs by the age of fourteen, and about 75% by the age of 24 (NAMI, 2015). The most common mental health diagnoses in the United States are mood disorders, which include the spectrums of anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Unfortunately, 60% of adults and 50% of youth did not receive medical services for their mental health conditions in the previous fiscal year (NAMI, 2015).
“Come find me when you decide to not have a broken arm.” “You don’t look like you have a terminal disease. You’re just saying that to get attention.” “Can’t you just try to not get sick?” Nobody would actually say these horrible things to someone with a physical disease, and yet we find it okay to say it to someone with a mental disease. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) every year, about 42.5 million American adults which is about 18.2% of the total adult population in the United States suffer from mental illness. 56% of these people never did not receive treatment for their mental illness, and suffered
Mental illnesses are very common in the United States, with one in five of adolescents having a diagnosed mental illness and in the last year less than half of these adolescents have received proper treatment. The most common mental disorders, anxiety and depression, can disrupt daily life and result in suicide, which is the third most frequent cause of death in teenagers (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Ten percent of adolescents did not have health insurance in 2013 and those who did, had a very limited amount of mental health care services provided to them (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). It has been proved that it is even less likely that adolescents who are poor, homeless, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender will receive the care that is necessary for their health and even life (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Mental disorders are not only an
Mental illnesses are not a thing of the past. They are also our present and future. John Q. Adams once said, “Who we are, is who we were.” That quote accurately describes mental illnesses and the mental health of humans everywhere. A mental illness can be defined as a health condition that changes a person 's thought process, emotions, behavior, and/or their body. Mental illness causes a person distress and difficulty in functioning and can lead to atrophy. They are ingrained in the wiring of many and they override safety precautions that the brain has set in place against viruses. Mental health issues affect society in many ways, such as identification, treatment, and overall understanding; as a result of this they have been mocked and dismissed for most of history.
I found a fascinating and informative article from The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post is an online news aggregator and blog that was founded in 2005. The article discusses how the media is perpetuating a dangerous myth about mental illness and there are several pieces of information incorporated in the article that are used to support this statement. The information is pulled from a study and news media portrayals in the form of television and print.
The media shows individuals as homeless, crying, dirty, and unintelligent and then puts the label of mental illness to it. Due to this portrayal of mental illness, many American’s have a negative picture in their minds about individuals who have a mental illness. The negative stigma may be because they have not known anyone with mental illness. Individuals may remember a time when mental illness was thought of as the person going insane which is a scary thought for some people. The speaker we had in class painted a picture of her neighbor in a padded room naked with a bucket (Patty S. 2016). This scenario is what comes to the mind of many who think of mental illness. Lack of information and education is the usual culprit for those who believe that mental illness only means insanity and unbearable life conditions.
The portrayal of people being sickly creatures has been used in Hollywood film for a very long time. This has been in the endeavor of putting the viewing public in the shoes of the patient and entertain them with over the top portrayals of disease. For patients that are women in particular this has been achieved by defining them along the lines of vague terms such as them being over emotional and unstable. Despite the advancement experienced by the society, women have not yet fully seen the goal of equality realize fruition. With the expansion of the psychiatric and psychological terminologies, there now additional ways via which mental illness can be ascribed as a weakness for men and women portrayed in Hollywood film. This is best
Mental health—and the stigma that comes along with it—is a very important issue, one of global importance. Shah and Beinecke explain that 450 to 500 million people suffer from mental illnesses (15). Just considering the amount of people who suffer from mental illness is enough to prove that this is a global issue. Despite the large amounts of people who are affected by mental illness, only one third of countries have some sort of program to help (15). This shows the lack of concern for those who suffer from mental illness. Stereotypes affect many people, and those with mental illness are no exception. Everyone has their own preconceived perspectives and notions of mental health, and many of them are uninformed and unjustified. It is up to us to start changing our viewpoints on mental health.
There are lists upon lists of mental disorders and illnesses, and a lot of them people are not aware of. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bulimia, anorexia, anxiety, schizophrenia, and depression are just a few of the most well-known and common mental illnesses. In America, about 18 million people are diagnosed with depression, 15 million with anxiety, 5 million with OCD, and 3 million with schizophrenia (Raley and Johnson 50). There are even more people
Mental illness is a disorder that is considered to be a type of interruption in a person’s emotions, thoughts, or behavior. Mental illness signifies to a wide variety of disorders which can range from mild distress to impairing a person’s ability to function in daily life. Signs and symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on the particular disorder, circumstances and other factors. Whether a behavior is considered normal or abnormal varies on the person’s situation surrounding their behavior. Throughout history there’ve been three overall beliefs for the causes of mental illness. These three theories are known as supernatural, somatogenic, and psychogenic. Each one of these stands for how one is viewed when seen as having a mental illness.