Overview of mental illness

[Tracie Lynn]

Mental health (psychiatric or psychologic) disorders involve disturbances in thinking, emotion, and/or behavior. Small disturbances in these aspects of life are common, but when such disturbances cause significant distress to the person and/or interfere with daily life, they are considered mental illness or a mental health disorder. The effects of mental illness may be long-lasting or temporary.
Nearly 50% of adults experience a mental illness at some point in their lives. More than half of these people experience moderate to severe symptoms. In fact, 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability among people aged 5 and older are mental health disorders, with depression being the number one cause of all illnesses that cause disability. Despite this high prevalence of mental illness, only about 20% of people who have a mental illness receive professional help.
Although tremendous advances have been made in the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses, the stigma surrounding them persists. For example, people with mental illness may be blamed for their illness or viewed as lazy or irresponsible. Mental illness may be seen as less real or less legitimate than physical illness, leading to reluctance on the part of policy makers and insurance companies to pay for treatment. However, the growing realization of how much mental illness affects health care costs and the number of lost work days is changing this trend.