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WHAT ARE MENTAL ILLNESSES?

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.

FACTS ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS

• Mental illnesses are serious medical illnesses. They cannot be overcome through "will power" and are not related to a person's "character" or intelligence. Mental illness falls along a continuum of severity. Even though mental illness is 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 live with a serious mental illness. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that One in four adults-approximately 57.7 million Americans-experience a mental health disorder in a given year
• The U.S. Surgeon General reports that 10 percent of children and adolescents in the United States suffer from serious emotional and mental disorders that cause significant functional impairment in their day-to-day lives at home, in school and with peers.
• 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 illness 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.

There are over 33,000 adults with serious and persistent mental illness in Vermont. While our mental health system has emerged from the dark ages of institutional warehousing of individuals with mental illness, there is still a lot to do to promote adequate, appropriate and accessible services and housing. NAMI Vermont works actively with legislators and other key stakeholders to promote high quality care.  NAMI Vermont's strength comes from its members, so please join us in improving the lives of all people affected by mental illness.

The feelings, reactions, and responses to a loved one's mental illness vary from family to family and individual to individual, and may encompass -- among others -- guilt, anger, fear, fatigue, or denial. Families may feel:

• Confusion and disorientation.
• Distancing or denial: whatever it is that's happening, it can't be happening to me and my relative.
• Extreme fatigue, possibly accompanied by feelings that death would be better than this.
• Guilt based on a very-much-alive stereotype that the parents are 'to blame.'
• Fear for the safety of one's relative, the family, and society.
• Outrage over the injustice of such a horrendous occurrence in one's own relative and one's family.
• Anger over the lack of adequate services and facilities for proper treatment.
• Anger at some mental health professionals in particular, over the fact that parents, close relatives, or the patient are rarely listened to.
• Concern for the reactions of friends, relatives, and colleagues outside the immediate family circle.
• Exhaustion from being on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, without an end in sight.
• Exhaustion from working harder and urging the sick relative to work harder because 'there is no reason why they can't get better, or function better.'
• Desire to escape the nightmare, including thoughts of relocation to another part of the country or world.

The previously described feelings, reactions, and responses are by no means inclusive, nor are they necessarily shared by each individual, but they do suggest the range of concerns and discriminations families must deal with, in addition to coping with a family member who has manifested one of the most difficult and severe illnesses known today.

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