Mental Health Fact Sheet

Information Provided by: The National Alliance on Mental Illness

http://www.nami.org

What is Mental Illness?

Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.

Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and borderline personality disorder. The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible.

Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are treatable. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan.

In addition to medication treatment, psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups, and other community services can also be components of a treatment plan and that assist with recovery. The availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends, and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery.

Here are some important facts about mental illness and recovery:

• Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders.  They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence.
• Mental disorders fall along a continuum of severity. Even though mental disorders are widespread in the population, the main burden of illness is concentrated in a much smaller proportion — about 6 percent, or 1 in 17 Americans — who suffer from a serious mental illness. It is estimated that mental illness affects 1 in 5 families in America.
• The World Health Organization has reported that four of the 10 leading causes of disability in the US and other developed countries are mental disorders. By 2020, Major Depressive illness will be the leading cause of disability in the world for women and children.  
• Mental illnesses usually strike individuals in the prime of their lives, often during adolescence and young adulthood. All ages are susceptible, but the young and the old are especially vulnerable.
• Without treatment the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering: unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide and wasted lives; The economic cost of untreated mental illness is more than 100 billion dollars each year in the United States.
• The best treatments for serious mental illnesses today are highly effective; between 70 and 90 percent of individuals have significant reduction of symptoms and improved quality of life with a combination of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments and supports.
• With appropriate effective medication and a wide range of services tailored to their needs, most people who live with serious mental illnesses can significantly reduce the impact of their illness and find a satisfying measure of achievement and independence. A key concept is to develop expertise in developing strategies to manage the illness process.
• Early identification and treatment is of vital importance; By ensuring access to the treatment and recovery supports that are proven effective, recovery is accelerated and the further harm related to the course of illness is minimized.
• Stigma erodes confidence that mental disorders are real, treatable health conditions. We have allowed stigma and a now unwarranted sense of hopelessness to erect attitudinal, structural and financial barriers to effective treatment and recovery. It is time to take these barriers down.

   

PACER Center
Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights

The following links are from the PACER Center Web site at

http://www.pacer.org/links/national/disability.htm#2

Emotional or Behavioral Disabilities

• About our Kids
  www.aboutourkids.org
  New York University Child Study Center, 550 First Ave, NY, NY 10016, 212-263-6622
• American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
  www.aacap.org
  3615 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20016, 202-966-7300, fax 202-966-2891
• American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Facts for Families
  www.aacap.org/info_families/index.htm
  3615 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20016, 202-966-7300, fax 202-966-2891
• Archives of General Psychiatry
  http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org
  515 N State St, Chicago, IL, 60610l, 312-464-2402, fax 212-464-5824
• Caring for Every Child's Mental Health Campaign, The Center for Mental Health Services
  www.mentalhealth.org/child/
  PO Box 42490 Washington, DC 20015, 800-789-2647, TTY 866-889-2647, fax 301-984-8796
• Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
  www.bpkids.org
  1187 Wilmette Ave PMB #331, Wilmette, IL 60091, 847-256-8525, Fax 847-920-9498
• Child, Adolescent & Family Branch Center for Mental Health Services (SAMHSA)
  www.samhsa.gov
  5600 Fishers Lane, Room 11C-16, Rockville, MD 20857, (301) 443-1333, (301) 443-3693 fax
• Childhood Anxiety Network
  www.childhoodanxietynetwork.org
  30 South J St, #3A, Lake Worth FL 33460
• Conduct Disorders.com
  www.conductdisorders.com
• Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association (DRADA)
  www.drada.org
  2330 W Joppa Rd #100, Lutherville, MD 21093, 410-583-2819, fax 410-583-2964
• Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health
  www.ffcmh.org
  1101 King St. #420, Alexandria, VA 22314,703-684-7710, fax 703-836-1040
• National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD)
  www.mhsource.com
  60 Cutter Mill Rd #404, Great Neck, NY 11021, 800-829-8289, 516-829-0091, fax 516-487-6930
• National Eating Disorders Association
  http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=337
  603 Stewart St #803, Seattle, WA 98101, 202-382-3587
• National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
  www.nami.org
  Colonial Place Three, 2107 Wilson Blvd. #300, Arlington, VA 22201, 800-950-6264, 703-524-7600, fax 703-524-9094
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
  www.nimh.nih.gov
  6001 Executive Blvd Room 8184 MSC 9663, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-443-4513, fax 301-443-4279, TTY 301-443-8431
• National Mental Health and Education Center
  www.naspcenter.org
  4340 East West Hwy #402, Bethesda, MD 20814, 301-657-0270, fax 301-657-0273
• National Mental Health Association
  www.nmha.org
  2001 N. Beauregard Street-12th Floor, Alexandria, VA 22311, (800) 969-6642, (703) 684-7722, TTY (800) 433-5959, fax (703) 684-5968
• Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation, Inc.
  www.ocfoundation.org
  337 Notch Hill Rd, North Branford, CT 06471, 203-315-2190, fax 203-315-2196
• PACER Center EBD Project
  www.pacer.org/ebd/
  8161 Normandale Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55437, 800-537-2237, 952-838-9000, TTY 952-838-0190, fax 952-838-0199
• Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illnesses Program (PAIMI)
  www.samhsa.gov
  5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15C-21, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-443-3667, fax 301-443-7926
• Reasonable Accommodations for People with Psychiatric Disabilities
  www.bu.edu/cpr/reasaccom/
  Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 940 Commonwealth Ave W, Boston, MA 02215, 617-353-3549, fax 617-353-7700
• Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health
  www.rtc.pdx.edu
  1912 SW 6th Ave., PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207, 503-725-4040, 503-725-4180