Mental health is human stuff

In the last few decades the explosion of information sharing has opened many eyes to the sheer regularity with which mental health issues enter a human life.  One out of every two Americans will have a diagnosable mental health condition in their lifetime.  Despite this prevalence, many people dismiss and minimize the impact of mental health conditions; including on themselves. Nearly 60% of those with a mental health condition received no services during the past year.

The good news is that this seems to be changing, and has already changed dramatically during my lifetime.  I am still a little taken aback when I meet people who casually tell me about their anxiety triggers or the course of their depression.  This was “not done” when I was a kid…and while there is such a thing as over-sharing, in general it’s better this way. This is human stuff.

But in the public eye, not all mental health conditions are created equal.  Depression and anxiety are coming out of the shadows. Schizophrenia and other thought disorders have a longer road to go before becoming normalized—which is ironic considering that these are among the most biologically based of mental disorders.

In this blog I will explore such issues as mental illness vs. wellness and normalcy vs. deviancy—all from the perspective of a clinical practitioner who is passionate about effective mental health in the midst of an inherently crazy world.

Sources:

Kessler RC, Angermeyer M, Anthony JC, et al. (2007) Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of mental disorders in the World Health Organization’s World Mental Health Survey Initiative. World Psychiatry, 6(3):168-176. As referenced by current Center For Disease Control website.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, (2015) Results from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings, NSDUH Series H-50, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 15-4927. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2015). Retrieved March 2, 2018 from http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2014/NSDUH-FRR1-2014.pdf