What is mental health?
Mental and behavioral health issues describe a broad range of mental and emotional conditions. Blocks to mental and behavioral health can significantly interfere with the performance of major life activities, such as learning, thinking, communicating, and sleeping, among others.
Mental health-related issues include anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders and other mental disorders.
How do mental health issues affect the body and brain?
These disorders can profoundly disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, moods, ability to relate to others and capacity for coping with the demands of life. Problems with mental health can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income. Mental health-related illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character, or poor upbringing.
Mental health-related illnesses are treatable. Most people with serious illness need medication to help control symptoms, but also rely on supportive counseling, self-help groups, assistance with housing, vocational rehabilitation, income assistance and other community services in order to achieve their highest level of recovery.
Here are some important facts about mental health and recovery:
- Mental health-related illnesses are biologically based brain disorders.
- Behavioral disorders fall along a continuum of severity and are the leading cause of disability (lost years of productive life) in North America, Europe and, increasingly, in the world.
- Mental health issues can strike individuals in the prime of their lives, often during adolescence and young adulthood.
- Without treatment the consequences of mental health-related illnesses for the individual and society are staggering: Unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide and wasted lives.
- The best treatments for serious mental and behavioral health-related 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;
- Stigma erodes confidence that behavioral and mental disorders are real, treatable health conditions. We have allowed stigma and a now unwarranted sense of hopelessness to put up emotional and financial barriers to effective treatment and recovery. It is time to take these barriers down.
Help! I have a loved one that needs help with his or her mental health.
Learn about our Intervention Services for more information on mental health related crisis interventions -Email or call our National Call Center 800-561-8158.
Learn more about:
Alcoholism
Drug Addiction
Eating Disorders
Sex Addictions
Gambling Addictions
