Is Mental Illness Real?

Article 2: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/therapy-it-s-more-just-talk/201501/when-mental-illness-enters-the-family

- Families are often the first to notice when a child, spouse, sibling or parent begins to be different from the person they have known. - They see a loved one isolates him(or her)self from family and friends; show persistent changes in sleep, eating and hygiene; behave oddly, ; be moody, irritable ; or use or abuse alcohol and drugs. - The first is how to understand and navigate a broken, confusing and too often exasperating mental health system. - The second is to find ways they can help a love one who - because of guilt, shame or illness - won't help themselves. - If families are to do what they want more than anything, namely to help their loved one get the care that will make a difference in their lives and that of their families. - FIRST - Don't go it alone. There are people and places to turn to. - SECOND - Don't get into fights. There are alternatives that work better. - THIRD - Learn the rules of how the mental health care system works and how to bend those rules. - FOURTH - Appreciate that you are on more of a marathon than a sprint. Which means never, ever, giving up.

Article 5: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201505/why-your-boss-should-be-concerned-your-mental-health

- The office setting either promotes good mental health or contributes to poor emotional well-being. - Employers certainly can't prevent all mental health problems. - Genetics and past traumatic experiences are just a couple of the factors that can influence a person's mental health. The Cost of Mental Health Problems to Employers: - Nearly one in five people experienced a diagnosable mental health problem in the last year, and many other people are at risk, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. - The vast majority of people struggling with issues like depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses suffer in silence. - Employees with untreated mental illness cost employers billions of dollars each year. - An estimated 217 million days of work are lost annually due to productivity decline related to mental illness and substance, according to the Center for Prevention and Health Services. - Additionally, mental illness and substance use disorders are the fifth leading cause of short-term disability and the third leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Employees are Stressed Out - A 2014 survey by Buck Consultants at Xerox found that 84 percent of employers report believing they have a high responsibility to provide a working environment that promotes mental well-being. - The survey found that employee performance is the most important reason organizations want to address work-related stress and poor mental well-being. - Despite employers' good intentions to promote mental well-being, the survey found that 53 percent of U.S. respondents rate their stress levels as above average, with 33 percent saying that stress has increased in their organizations over the last five years. - Stress is a major factor that can influence a person's mental health and can contribute to problems such as depression and anxiety. Treatment for Mental Health Problems - When people are diagnosed with physical health problems—like diabetes or heart disease—they don't wait to seek treatment in hopes their illness will disappear on its own. - Yet, most mental health problems go untreated for years. - Unfortunately, without treatment, mental health problems may get worse, making them more difficult to treat. - The good news is that most mental health problems are very treatable. - The bad news is that there are several barriers that prevent people from getting treatment. - Many people fail to recognize the warning signs and symptoms of a mental health problem. - There's also still a stigma associated with seeking treatment for mental health problems. - And for many people, treatment simply isn't affordable. Mental Health Awareness Month is an Opportunity - People aren't either mentally healthy or mentally ill. - Mental health is a continuum. - An organization's culture and policies can greatly influence where employees fall on the continuum. - Providing a healthy work environment assists people in being at their best. - Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportune time for employers to consider what steps they want to take to promote mental well-being in the workplace. - Implementing resilience-building and stress awareness programs are just a few of the ways companies can promote positive well-being in the workplace.

Article 3: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201705/13-things-parents-should-know-about-13-reasons-why

- The program, which is about the 13 reasons a teenager killed herself, sends unhealthy messages about suicide. 1. It romanticizes suicide. - When teens consider suicide, they often fantasize about the aftermath. They envision who will attend their funeral or who will regret not having been kinder to them while they were alive. - Unfortunately, 13 Reasons Why fuels that fantasy. The entire series centers on people listening to the audiotapes the deceased character, Hannah Baker, left behind to explain why she killed herself. 2. The show doesn't address mental illness. - Studies estimate that 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a mental illness. Yet the show doesn't talk about mental illness at all. In fact, Hannah is often portrayed as one of only a few healthy individuals in a world filled with cruel, heartless people. - The show isn't sparking conversations about teen mental health or the fact that mental illness is treatable. Viewers may not recognize that thoughts of suicide are a sign of mental illness. 3. It makes suicide look like a good solution. - The show makes suicide look like a good option. In the audiotapes she leaves behind, Hannah says her decision to kill herself was well-planned. She decided suicide was the best way to end her suffering. 4. It sends the message that there aren't any good people in the world. - People considering suicide often believe that the world is a dark place filled with bad people. Sadly, this show reinforces that message. Almost all of Hannah's friends, family, and acquaintances betray her at one time or another. 5. Suicide is portrayed as a good way to get revenge. - 13 Reasons Why reinforces the idea that suicide is an act of revenge that will leave people feeling sorry. This may fuel a teen's fantasy that suicide is a good way to get even when they've been wronged. 6. It sends the message that people are helpless. - Hannah endures a series of horrific events, ranging from rape and betrayal to sexual harassment. But the show portrays her as completely helpless. She isn't able to do anything to improve her situation, keep herself safe, or address the trauma she endured. 7. The show depicts adults as incompetent. - Most of the adults are portrayed as clueless. And those who do know what is going on don't care. In fact, when Hannah tells her guidance counselor she was raped, he brushes her off and encourages her to move on. - This is a dangerous message that could prevent teens from seeking help from a trusted adult. 8. Suicide is portrayed as a way to teach other people a 'lesson.' - Hannah wants people to take her pain seriously. - She thinks her suicide and the tapes she leaves behind will transform them. - This way of thinking may encourage teens to think suicide is the best way to capture other people's attention and prove their actions were hurtful. 9. Other people are said to be responsible for Hannah's death. - Hannah requests that specific people listen to her audiotapes so they'll understand the role they played in her decision to kill herself. - She doesn't take responsibility for her decision to end her life. - Unfortunately, this may reinforce a victim mentality in teens who blame others for their problems. 10. Netflix has issued warnings about the show. - While the series itself offered a few warnings about the graphic nature of the program, Netflix has added more. - Following criticism, Netflix has said it will add more warnings for viewers, especially prior to the first episode of the series. - It will also provide more resources for people about mental health and suicide. 11. Teen suicide is contagious. - While suicide can be contagious among all age groups, teens between the ages of 15 and 19 are especially susceptible, according to a study from Columbia University. - And the teens don't necessarily even have to know the victim personally to follow suit. A TV show could be enough to encourage teens who are already thinking about suicide to go through with it. 12. Many parents don't know their kids are watching. - Since the series is on Netflix, many teens are watching on their tablets, smartphones, or laptops in the privacy of their bedrooms. - So, sadly, many parents aren't aware their children are watching the show. - And many parents aren't talking to kids about the messages they're taking away from the program. - And the kids who may need those conversations the most may be the least likely to have adults who will talk to them about the facts on suicide. 13. Some school departments caution against letting kids watch it. - The National Association of School Psychologists issued a statement for parents and educators that cautions against allowing vulnerable youth, especially those who may have thoughts of suicide, from watching the show. - Many school systems have sent the letter to parents to warn them of the dangers.

Article 1: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/supersurvivors/201705/is-mental-illness-real

- The question is whether it makes sense to refer to these experiences as "illnesses" in the same way we think about HIV, cancer, or even the flu. - If a patient has these symptoms and they impair functioning, he or she generally will get the diagnosis. - Because mental disorders are generally identified on the basis of their symptoms, a mental illness diagnosis doesn't necessarily explain a person's symptoms, it only describes them. - If your psychotherapist diagnoses you with Major Depression Disorder, this doesn't provide an explanation for your mood symptoms. The label "Major Depression" is simply a shorthand summary of the symptoms you probably already know you have. - When mental health professionals began diagnosing mental illness about a hundred years ago, it was on the basis of the causes or etiologies of those illnesses, just like for physical diseases. - The psychoanalysts believed that mental illnesses were often caused by unconscious sexual issues stemming from childhood. - Behavior therapists believed that many disorders were primarily dysfunctional behaviors learned as a result of inconsistent reinforcement and punishment in the home. - Cognitive therapists later hypothesized that mental illnesses were often due to particular negative views of the self, known as schemas. - As a result of all of this disagreement, diagnosis was unreliable. If you went to three mental health providers complaining of the exact same problem, you would likely receive three different diagnoses. - First, it helps direct the therapist toward what treatments work for that disorder. - As such, diagnostic labels facilitate an evidence-based approach to treatment. - Second, a diagnosis can help to unlock access to care. - For better or worse, healthcare organizations sometimes require a person to qualify for a mental disorder diagnosis in order to receive certain kinds of treatment. - So, are mental illnesses real? Yes. But we need to understand their limitations. - They're generally not external invaders of the body like viruses or bacteria, and they don't necessarily absolve people of responsibility for their actions. - But they are useful descriptions of the very real suffering that people can experience. - Even given its limitations, the concept of mental illness has helped to structure the mental health field for decades, helps connect people to the care they need, and is unlikely to go away any time soon.

Article 7: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/women-who-stray/201503/stop-using-fear-promote-treatment-mental-illness

- Today, the fear of the moment is the risk of violence from the mentally ill. - "They walk among us," unseen, unnoticed, until they finally snap, and crash a plane, get out a gun, or drive a car through a crowd. - Tragedies abound in our media, and sadly, many can be linked to mental illness. Particularly untreated mental illness. - Because the mental illness system has been ignored, neglected and fragmented in much of our country. - But when the actions of those untreated persons with mental illness threaten us? Then we want mandatory screenings, mandatory psychological evaluations of pilots, gun owners, bus drivers and politicians. - Mental health is a continuum, and we are all on it. - A huge majority of people WILL experience some form of mental illness in their life, usually depression or anxiety. - Many people today are in jobs where their livelihood is threatened by any hint of a lack of emotional stability. - Military, law enforcement, those who hold top secret clearances, pilots, teachers and even therapists themselves. - All face the loss of their jobs, if it becomes public that they are struggling to manage their emotions and behaviors. - They seek treatment paid in cash, or under their spouse's insurance. - They seek informal counseling, from a friend or colleague, provided over coffee or a beer. - As mental health professionals, we must confront this fear, in our patients, in ourselves, and in the media. - We must stop saying that "We need more funding for mental health treatment or tragedies will keep happening." - When we discuss mental illness and violence in the media, we must constantly remind everyone that the overwhelming majority of persons with mental illness are never violent, and never a risk to others. - We must repeat, over and over again, that effective responses to mental illness cannot be reactionary, but like any form of preventive health, must be widely, freely available, with no shame or fear attached. - We must remind everyone that chances are very good that they, one day, will need these supports for mental health, and that they don't want to have to wait until it's a crisis before they are allowed to have them. - Fearing those with mental illness merely breeds more emotional and mental disorders.

Article 11: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-gender-ourselves/201601/why-do-we-fear-mental-illness

This week, thanks in part to a $15 million appropriation from Congress, the National Council for Behavioral Health launched a campaign aimed at training a million people in recognizing when someone, be it a stranger or a person they know, is experiencing a mental health or substance abuse emergency -- and then what to do about it. Think of it as CPR training for mental distress. This initiative is important, and necessary, because when it comes to mental illness, helping is, unfortunately, not our natural response. Instead, according to the NCBH, most people shy away from or avoid someone experiencing a mental health emergency. They think whatever the person is going through is "personal," or that "it's a family matter." Often, they're afraid to intervene or get too close. And so they don't. And yet it's hard to imagine this same sort of reaction in other health contexts: witnessing someone slip and fall while crossing a busy street, for instance, or seeing someone have a heart attack or faint in a bookstore and passing by without stopping to help or make sure he or she is okay. "Family matter" or not, the same instinct to avoid the topic of mental illness in fact also prevents many families whose lives have been impacted by it from talking about it, as if it were shameful and not genetically unavoidable. Maybe it's a teenage daughter with an eating disorder or the suicide of a parent. The less we talk about mental illness, though, the more "other" it becomes. And the less we're able or willing to offer those in the midst of it. Our fear increases. Certainly, the conversation surrounding gun control and mental illness, in which certain right-leaning politicians place the blame for incidents of gun violence on the mentally ill, has not helped encourage people to talk about their own mental illness or to lend a hand to those in emotional crisis. Donald Trump's recent "Meet the Press" declaration that gun violence is "....a mental illness problem.... You have people that are mentally ill and they're going to come through the cracks and they're going to do things that people will not even believe are possible" squarely, irresponsibly, placed nearly all the blame for gun violence on the mentally ill. And yet, this argument is not only flawed -- it's been widely reported that the vast majority of gun violence is, in fact, committed by people who are not mentally ill -- but also part of the problem. No wonder people are afraid. What's more, stigmatizing mental illness in such a way -- making it something dangerous, something to fear -- will continue to isolate those suffering and prevent them from getting the help they need. A 2013 study out of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health confirmed this, saying that efforts to imply that all, or even most, incidents of gun violence are at the hands of the mentally ill only serves to increase the stigma directed towards those who suffer. The NCBH's "Be 1 in a Million" campaign is aiming to lessen the stigma, for one thing, while also calling on citizens to step in where a lack of resources has left many without adequate attention or care. The campaign expands on the organization's Mental Health First Aid program that has already trained 500,000 people, including First Lady Michelle Obama, in learning to recognize and respond to the signs of mental distress, using tools that include assessment, listening, reassuring, encouraging, and supporting to intervene when someone who is actively suicidal, in the midst of a panic attack, or experiencing symptoms of PTSD. It aims to help people recognize signs of addiction or depression or disordered eating in others, and then how and when to encourage those suffering to get help. Most of all, it aims to help people overcome their fear of getting involved. These are steps that can and will save lives -- of the mentally ill, but also, likely, of many others. As a NCBH rep told the Washington Post, "The truth of the matter is that you are more likely to encounter someone who is experiencing a behavioral health condition or crisis" than someone facing a physical emergency. It's true: Every year, one in four Americans will suffer from a mental illness or addiction. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in this country. And far too many people suffer in silence: Of the nearly 62 million Americans who suffer from mental illness in any given year, just over a third had been to see a mental health professional within the previous year. The underreported side of the story is that there's much hope available to those who suffer. We know that, although often debilitating, mental illness needn't be a lifetime disability. Many, many people suffering from mental illness, including those who have experienced psychosis and hallucinations or who have lived through suicidal moments or even attempts, go on to live successful, productive lives. All we need to do is let them. Because it's not helping the mentally ill that we should fear. It's what happens if we don't. Peggy Drexler, Ph.D. is a research psychologist, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Weill Medical College, Cornell University and author of two books about modern families and the children they produce. Follow Peggy on Twitter and Facebook and learn more about Peggy at www.peggydrexler.com

Article 13: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mood-swings/201212/suicide-homicide-accepting-the-reality-mental-illness

A mentally ill young male kills innocents. He had struggled with - fill in the blank mental illness (autism, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia) - and did not receive treatment, or did not agree to treatment, or did not respond to treatment. He and his family tried to get help, but failed, and eventually his family gave up. The young man became a loner, living quietly on the margins of society, until, one day, he had enough and decided to kill himself. There is the phenomenon of suicide-by-cop; there can also be suicide-by-homicide. The young man decided to kill himself by killing others, thereby ensuring that police would kill him, and, if not, he could always kill himself at the end. It might be in a movie theater, or a subway station, or at a mall where a politician would speak. it might even be in an innocent elementary school. He had access to guns, yes, but it was an insane mind that pulled the triggers, a mind, often, with a treatable disease. Not infrequently, we know the disease, we know how to treat it, we have the treatments. It is sometimes the case that it is not lack of knowledge which leads to tragedy; it is the inability to implement what we know. This is not a problem of ignorance; it's a problem of will. And the blame for not being able to implement what we know lays with us, with many members of our liberal American society, who will defend to the death their personal liberties, their civil rights. One cannot force outpatient treatment for mental illness in most states. Many will even deny that these mental illnesses are "real." The blogs, including many on this Psychology Today website, are full of critics of psychiatry and drugs and the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession. It's all made up, they say. These are "socially constructed" illnesses, whereby the psychiatric profession can exert its power-hunger and the pharmaceutical industry will profit. If these are fictional conditions, then some very real innocent lives have been lost because of those fictions. We must finally put aside all the discrimination against mental illnesses, which reaches the point of denying their existence, and admit what any civilized, educated society would do: these are real illnesses, often characterized by the refusal of those who have them to accept treatment. Sometimes, society has rights which overrule extreme individual civil liberties. Besides strict gun laws, we need more laws allowing for outpatient commitment to treatment for severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. This doesnt mean that we can cure all mental illnesses easily and that all of our treatments are just fine. But we can treat some illnesses, and we can manage to control some extreme behaviors. I have known many persons with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, who could have had at least moderate benefit from treatments, but who refused to accept those treatments. And their parents could not force adult children to be treated. And judges could not change the laws. Extreme tragedies are rare, but small tragedies happen on a daily basis, because of insufficient legal ability to treat some of our most treatable mental illnesses in the outpatient setting. We don't need to lock people up; we just need to give parents of adults with mental illnesses more legal tools to try to get their children treatment. Such interventions may not have prevented this tragedy, or they might have; we cannot know. But I think it is highly probable that in a society with very strict access to guns, and with much wider ability to treat mental illness in the community, such tragedies would be much less common than they are in these United States. The radical libertarian right will hate it, but so will the radical left, who can't accept the idea of mental illnesses being real rather than social fictions. And many liberals, who have no problem with forcing people to pay money in higher taxes, will refuse to force people to get their diseases treated. When both extremes oppose an idea, it tends to be right.

Article 8:https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culture-in-mind/201605/no-stigma-no-shame-breaking-the-silence-mental-illness

Despite the increased awareness of mental illness and the reduction of stigma against people like me who live with a mental illness, it is still difficult to be open about what it is like to live with a mental illness. Brain disorders have a stigma that other illnesses do not have and yet there is no health without mental health. Surviving and Recovery For those who have had cancer, there is the label 'cancer survivor', and people who have made it through the other side can be proud about being cancer free, and people share with them in the relief that brings. For those who have won the battle with addiction, being sober gets counted in days and years and being sober gets 'awarded' with kudos and supported for doing the work necessary to stay drug or alcohol free. For those of us with mental illness, we have not yet been given 'permission' to own our survival or to claim our days, weeks or years that we have been symptom-free because we too are working our 'recovery'. Risk and Resistance Thus it was when Amy Keller Laird, Editor-in-Chief of Woman's Health, decided to write about her own obsessive compulsive disorder and profile other women at the magazine in a feature on mental health for their May cover story related to Mental Health Awareness Month, the lawyers and HR people at the magazine resisted. They felt that the reputation of the magazine may be at risk. Then the veteran reporter they hired to write the story backed out because she could not find many women who wanted to be featured in a national magazine. I ended up being one of those women who were featured and I cannot say it was an easy decision. Although I have written about my challenges with having a severe, chronic mental illness like bipolar disorder, being 'the face' of bipolar disorder in a magazine with such a huge readership was something I struggled with because I also wanted to focus on my health and not my illness. Out and About But I also knew from the response I have gotten from other public 'outings' about my illness, that there needs to be a 'counter-image' to what most people think of when they think of bipolar disorder; the image of the 'crazy person' who goes 'nuts' because they were not taking their medications or because they had a psychotic break. People need to know that people with mental illness can thrive and succeed. It is also good for people to know that we also are 'survivors', that we also have 'days of recovery'; that we are not always 'ill'. That our symptoms can be managed like the symptoms of many other chronic illnesses. My story is like the story of many other people with mental illness: we have families and careers and live lives we love.

Article 6: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/theory-and-psychopathology/201602/combating-stigma-associated-mental-illness

Group Therapy: - Group therapy and support groups for the chronically mentally ill and the psychotic mentally ill will allow like-minded individuals to compare their circumstances not only in terms of dealing with mental illness - It allows these people to speak about various hardships. - These include efforts to care for children, how to afford rent and groceries, the importance of persevering in terms of medication compliance, how to get a job - All of these activities will bolster not only mentally ill individuals' personal efficacy, they will improve social skills as manifested by them, as well. - Assertiveness training is efficacious in educating people how to speak to others. - - When the accusatory element is removed from communication, communication becomes more successful. - Moreover, assertiveness training has a paradoxical component. - It works for both socially timid people as well as socially aggressive people. - It normalizes communication, and it allows for communication without a harsh, strident or accusatory elements. Manners and Social Etiquette: - Cultivation of manners and social etiquette is a crucial aspect of fighting stigma—even though these may seem to be superficial qualities and even though an emphasis on their expression may seem shallow. - They are important. - There is a reason why manners equate with "rules" of etiquette: these are rules involved in social interactions that that make violating them a reason for other non-mentally ill people to think the mentally ill behave in an inappropriate, shameful and even repulsive manner. - The stigmatizing results of social rule violation by the mentally ill is hurtful to the mentally ill and psychotic individuals, in particular. - Nevertheless, it is important to realize that manners are not morals, and some people tend to treat rules of etiquette as ethics. Improving Personal Hyegiene: - Improving one's personal hygiene and wearing appropriate clothing are crucial to success within social arenas sometimes occupied by the mentally ill. - Perhaps nothing is less as opposed to more stigmatizing than the cultivation of improved appearance. - Even when the mentally ill and psychotic individuals in particular have little money to buy clothing, they can and do visit thrift stores that have a variety of appropriate clothes for people with little funds. - This will allow them to improve their appearance. This writer also knows of a wellness center for the mentally ill that allows individuals to take showers at their facility, and this center out clothing at their facility. - The avenues to combatting stigma by cultivating an improved appearance are more accessible than it might be thought. - It is clear that verbal and visual appropriate behavior in the social arenas occupied by both mentally ill and other non-mentally ill people is crucial to success in a way that combats stigma. - Many mentally ill people seem to rage against the reality that perhaps they should combat stigma by their own efforts as opposed insisting that other non-mentally ill people should change.

Article 12: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/broadcast-thought/201310/why-is-mental-illness-scary

Halloween has it's origins in All Hallows' Eve—the evening before All Saints' Day—a somber time to honor the saints and the dead. Despite its religious roots, Halloween today is a secular season of scares, filled with costume parties, jack-o'-lanterns, haunted houses, pranks, and of course, horror movies. Given that Americans will spend an estimated $6.9 billion on Halloween this year, we certainly seem to love being scared. Halloween allows us to face our fears in a safe way. We're wired to experience a "fight-or-flight" response to threats, causing intense emotional and physical reactions. Halloween horror gives us this adrenaline rush and allows us to vicariously explore the forbidden, dark, and sinister without truly being exposed to danger. And in some small way, Halloween lets us expose ourselves to our fears and take steps toward gaining mastery over them. article continues after advertisement But what taps into our most primal fears? The dangerous, the supernatural, and the unexplainable—the things that often scare us the most —are incorporated into iconic horror characters. But along with vampires, witches, and ghosts, mental illnesses have inspired some of the most popular—and profitable—horror characters. Some of the most popular horror fiction link mental illness with evil. Take, for example, the trope of the homicidal escaped psychiatric patient, like Michael Myers in the slasher classic Halloween. Haunted house lore often starts with a suicide within the home. Psychiatric hospitals themselves become the backdrop for spooky carnage, as seen in American Horror Story: Asylum. Indeed, mental illness has become such a common horror trope that it's even reflected in popular Halloween costumes. You can complete the serial killer look with a straitjacket, an orange jumpsuit, and a "biter mask." If that's not your style, you can always go as a "mad" scientist or a "deranged" ax murderer. So how did mental illness get lumped in with ghouls and goblins? Part of the answer may lie in negative stereotypes of people with mental illnesses as dangerous and unpredictably violent, thus making them "scary." Our brain's natural tendency to confirm negative stereotypes ingrains this myth in our minds. Another potential explanation involves our incomplete knowledge of neuroscience. While psychiatric knowledge and treatments have advanced considerably in the past century, there is still much to be learned, furthering the stereotype of mental illness as a mysterious or unexplainable entity. Such mystique fosters fear of the unknown and allows supernatural explanations to be linked to mental illness, much like demonic possession was once linked to epilepsy. The thought that many of us could develop a mental illness may be scary in itself, causing us to subconsciously separate ourselves from "them." Drawing on mental illness as a Halloween horror theme may seem like another "safe" way to delve into our fears, but is it potentially problematic? Reinforcing and perpetuating negative stereotypes of people with mental illnesses as dangerous and unstable can cause real-life harm. People with mental illnesses are often discriminated against when it comes to housing, school, and employment opportunities. They may face bullying and harassment and are sometimes ostracized by others who fail to understand their conditions and treatment. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General identified stigma against mental illness as a major barrier to our public health, causing many to needlessly suffer in silence rather than seek care. Some are taking a stand against this stigmatizing Halloween trope. Two British retailers came under scrutiny recently for selling a costume labeled "Mental Patient," complete with meat cleaver and blood stained white coat, and a costume called "Psycho Ward," including an orange jump suit, syringe, and Hannibal Lecter-type mask. Following public outcry, both companies issued formal apologies and removed the costumes from shelves. Likewise, in the U.S., activists protested haunted houses that have "haunted asylum" themes and depict psychiatric patients as violent monsters. Is the horror genre forever linked with mental illness? Not necessarily. Just this month, a 48-hour game jam dubbed "Asylum Jam" aimed to show "that you can still create a great horror experience without using inaccurate stereotypes." There is also hope that Hollywood can incorporate more accurate and less stigmatizing mental health depictions, while at the same time creating more compelling characters and nuanced stories. Television shows outside of the horror genre—Homeland, for example—have done this with critical success. Perhaps the evolution of dramatic mental health depictions will blaze a trail for much-needed updates to depictions of mental illnesses in the horror genre. *This blog entry was co-written by Broadcast Thought and Holly Peek, M.D., M.P.H.

Article 10: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/healing-trauma-s-wounds/201605/the-perception-mental-illness-stigma-or-reality

Mental illness is an issue that effects millions of people! One in five Americans struggle with mental health related issues. One in 20 Americans live with serious mental illness including schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, or recurrent major depression. When we focus on a person's mental health, we look at the ways in which it impacts their thoughts, emotions, moods, ability to relate to others, efficacy at work and school, and their behavioral choices. In essence, when their mental health is compromised, it impacts all arenas of their life as well as the lives of their loved ones. The World Health Organization has crystallized some troubling facts about mental disorders and they warrant our attention: 800,000 people commit suicide every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year olds. For every completed suicide there are 20 others that are attempted. Mental disorders double after trauma such as participating in or being victimized by war or being a victim of a natural disaster. The leading cause of disability in the United States is the combination of substance abuse and mental disorders. There is a very high correlation between mental disorders and an increased risk of getting sick from other diseases including HIV, diabetes, self-harm, and unintentional injury. Despite the fact that we are able to talk more openly about mental health, tragically, people continue to avoid seeking treatment due to stigma and discrimination. Our culture still perpetuates the belief that people suffering from mental illnesses are not intelligent, extremely violent, or incapable of making decisions that profoundly impact their lives. Many countries are still guilty of violating the human rights of patients with mental illness by supporting the use of restraints, the denial of privacy, and the use of seclusion. These insensitive, and in some countries, inhumane acts, are rationalized as legitimate and necessary treatment modalities. One of the biggest barriers to mental health resources is the poor distribution of social workers, nurses, psychiatrists, and psychologists in low and middle-income countries. Low income countries have .05 psychiatrists available per 100,000 people. Whether we approach these issues as mental health professionals, the loved ones of friends or family members who struggle, or someone who has been diagnosed with a mental disorder, we all need to speak up to challenge the stigma and prejudices associated with mental illness. We have a social and ethical responsibility to advocate for their right to receive appropriate treatment and to be given equal rights in the workplace. Living with mental illness can be extremely challenging, and we need to acknowledge the courage and resiliency that exists in people who are working so hard to lead productive and meaningful lives. With the conclusion of Mental Health Awareness Month, lets challenge ourselves, as professionals, to make a difference and change the world's perception of mental illness.

Article 9: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/talking-about-men/201709/dating-mental-illness-what-is-it

Romance, dating, and sexuality are core aspects of the human experience. Indeed, the vast majority of people strive for a meaningful and satisfying romantic relationship. Every day, millions of people use dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, and Plenty of Fish in a strenuous effort to find 'the one'. But do people with mental illness face specific barriers or issues when searching for romance? This is a question myself and my graduate student, Marie-Eve Boucher, set out to answer during a recently completed research study published in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. In this study, we interviewed a range of people with mental illnesses, such as major depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, to learn more about their dating and romantic experience. What did we find? Only 15 percent of participants were currently involved in a romantic relationship. The rest almost unanimously stated that they strongly desired a satisfying and rewarding romantic relationship. Many craved the affection and attention which comes with successful romance and often opined that this was a glaring hole in their lives. Indeed, we frequently heard statements such as 'it would be good to have a girlfriend' or 'I am tired of being alone' during the research. But participants noted numerous barriers to a successful dating or romantic life. Barriers to Dating and Romance Stigma associated with mental illness was a core barrier to successful dating and romance. Many participants poignantly reported instances where dating and romance had gone wrong when their date learned they had a mental illness. For example, one stated that she had started dating someone, and it was going well. Then he found her medications, and she never heard from him again. Others stated that if they wanted a quick exit during an awkward date, they would casually mention they had a mental illness. Quick enough, their date would leave. Many noted structural barriers to dating. This was especially so for those with more severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, who tended to receive low-income or welfare. Some lived in supported housing, such as group homes with strict guest regulations. This meant they had little money to go dating and were often unable to host romantic interests at home. Dating for them was frequently a non-starter. Some of these issues are explored in the poignant video below about Jennifer, a young woman with mental illness who found love, despite barriers including stigma, homelessness, and unemployment.

Article 4: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/feeling-our-way/201411/we-shouldn-t-treat-mental-illness-physical-illness

The latest confusion about mental illness is this meme that demonstrates the absurdity that would ensue if we reacted to physical illness the way we do to mental illness—telling someone with a gunshot wound that they're just not trying hard enough, for example. The implication is that we should treat, say, depression the way we do a gunshot wound, something like, "Of course you didn't do the dishes, you poor dear; you have depression." The first confusion is the way we lump primarily biological illnesses in with primarily behavioral problems. Almost all schizophrenias, an unknown but probably high percentage of bipolar disorders, and about 10% of depressions and maybe a similar percentage of anxiety disorders are biologically based to the point where they might be called illnesses. Schizophrenia used to be different, closer to 90-10, but new definitions of the term have all but eliminated the behavioral ones. Of course, all psychopathology or disadvantageous behavior has a biological base, since it is all expressed by a body, but there is a difference between a behavioral response to a peculiar learning history and a behavioral response to a broken biological system. These biological disorders often resemble in public the condition of being partially deaf. A woman who is deaf in one ear is repeatedly treated as if she is rude, because she doesn't respond to what people say to her. It's fine to ask the public to treat every non-responsive person as if they are deaf, but you might as well ask the public to become Buddha or Jesus. Instead, the person with an invisible disability is likely to find more peace by making her disability visible. It's simple to say, I can't hear out of that ear; it's more complicated to know what to say about schizophrenia or autism. Maybe, "My brain is wired so that I don't always react emotionally." And that would be fine for under-reacting, but nothing is going to make people welcome histrionics, prolixity, or violence. Even a gunshot victim can be annoying if he screams long enough. But most so-called mental illnesses are not of this type. Personality disorders and most depressions and anxieties are learned. The normally operative reinforcers are ineffective, and the person behaves accordingly, seeking (instead of affection, approval, intimacy, and achievement) admiration, chaos, clarity, destruction, or sexual validation (among others) at other people's expense. Or the person has given up on reinforcement after a history of failure. Or the person doesn't know what to do and over-reacts to mistakes. Calling these behavioral repertoires "mental illness" allows for payment by insurers, which would be a good thing except that it also allows for them to be treated chemically, and insurers prefer the cheaper chemicals (even though psychotherapy may be cheaper in the long run).