Mental Health Care in the United States

Mental illness is more common than you think. Due to the stigma attached to having issues with one’s mental health, many individuals keep their conditions in secret. Consequently, they suffer alone lead to unbecoming situations and poor choices, and never recover. Out of the 40 million adults in the United States that experience Anxiety Disorders, only one third of them seeks and receives treatment according to Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Anxiety Disorder is only one of the many mental illnesses, which in fact is treatable. But why does not every person who suffer from a mental health issue not get treatment? Are they aware of their condition? Do their loved ones know and support them? Where do they end up when not at medical facilities?

Mental health problems are characterized by habits, thoughts, experiences, and many others that are beyond the average people’s. That alone is challenging for most individuals to point out – if what they are experiencing is within normal range of emotions and actions or if it something to be concerned about. Especially in women, emotions can alter too quickly and in far ends of the spectrum throughout her menstrual cycle. While feelings of sadness, irritation, and desire to control things are normal, sometimes when it is too consistent and getting in the way of living a good life, then it is worth to have yourself taken a look at.

Different Mental Health Issues

Not all mental problems are the same. The problem with society is that they assume that there is only one mental disorder. The world may have come up with various slangs for an unhealthy mind but it is unable to tell the right mental illnesses apart. The truth is, mental disorders range from abnormalities in feelings of anxiety, sorrow, anger, obsession, fear, panic, trauma, eating habits, literal perception of things, focus, etc. To name a few, here are some of the most common mental health problems children and adults will both likely experience:

• Anxiety Disorders
• Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Avoidant Personality Disorder
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Social Phobia
• Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Eating Disorders i.e. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa
• Bipolar Disorder
• Depression
• Schizophrenia

Sometimes when a person is constantly irritable, his peers dismiss him as moody or maybe avoid him for being such an emotional vampire when in fact he may just be depressed and is manifesting some symptoms. Partners may complain about the other’s easily distracted attention leading to a problematic relationship when in fact, he or she may just be suffering from ADHD or ADD. Parents may label their child rebellious and impose rules and punishments that may just worsen his developing Antisocial Personality Disorder. Some issues in one’s characteristics should not be quickly passed as an attitude problem. More often than not, it has underlying issues which should be looked closely by professionals. This could lead to one less person with a mental illness and one less problematic relationship.

Where is the Mentally Ill?

There is about 4.1 percent of the U.S. adult population that has serious mental illnesses and 21.4 percent of children with severe disorders according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Clearly not every one of them are receiving treatment, so what happens to them when they are not on the process of recovery?

There are many possibilities that can fall to individuals with mental disorders. Some of them are:

• Community – yes they are just there, maybe with other people or maybe not. Some of them could be functioning and associating with other people, having families, and friends, and a job but endlessly battling their illness inside. They could also be those neighbors who live alone or live a very chaotic lifestyle.
• Substance abuse – when an individual does not even understand what is going on within him or feels that he has no control over his own mind and body, he could end up abusing over the counter products or taking other drugs as well as alcohol.
• Suicide – the rate of individuals with mental illnesses taking their own life is on the rise. As of 2007 according to National Institute of Mental Health, 11.26 percent of mentally ill individuals have taken the easy way out compared to only 10.46 percent on the year 1999.
• Jail – as cliché as it may sound but many individuals with mental illnesses are misunderstood. When in actuality their behavior could have been corrected or prevented from going haywire, they are pushed to doing activities that violate the law. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 15 percent of men and 30 percent of women that are imprisoned suffer from serious mental illness.

If you or a loved one is experiencing some form of mental illness, it is best that you take your problems to mental health professionals right away so to avoid further worsening of one mental condition and quality of life.