Do You Know the Truth About Mental Health?

Do you know the difference between a mental health myth and fact? Learn the truth about common mental health myths.

Myth: Mental illness will never affect me.

Mental health problems are actually extremely very common.  While not everyone will develop a diagnosable disorder, everyone experiences issues with mental health that are milder versions of a disorder either in duration or severity, subclinical symptoms of a disorder, or manifestations that closely resemble symptoms.  Everyone is equally predisposed to developing mental health issues and whether they do or not is largely dependent on what they encounter in their environment.  

The vulnerability to developing mental health difficulties the types of difficulties we may evidence, are reflections of what it is to be human.  We have feelings about other people and ourselves, perceptions about the world in which we live and the way it operates, individual characteristics that make us each unique such as personality, and ways of relating to those around us.  Each of these areas makes our lives richer but also provides room for problems to emerge.  

Facts: Statistics from 2014 show how common mental health problems are.

• One in five American adults experienced a mental health issue
• 18.1% of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder
• 7% of adults in the U.S. had at least one major depressive episode
• 17.2% experienced minor depression
• Globally, one in four people experienced a mental health problem
• One in 10 young people experienced a period of major depression
• One in 25 Americans lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression that significantly interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.
• One in 20 Americans experienced a substance use disorder or used substances to the degree that they interfered with at least one major life activity
• Among those who experienced a substance use disorder, 50.5% had a co-occurring mental illness
• Four percent of Americans experienced serious suicidal thoughts.
• There were 41,149 suicides in the United States, approximately 113 suicides each day or one every 13 minutes.