Mental Illness Awareness Week: October 7th-13th

HealthWatch for October 2007
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Established in 1990 by Congress, the first week of October is designated as “Mental Illness Awareness Week” (MIAW). According to National Institute of Mental Health, “an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.” Fortunately, if an early diagnosis is found, mental illness is treatable.

Just as diabetes and cancer often are genetic, so is mental illness. Mental illness comes in many forms, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and Alzheimer’s decease. These are all mental, behavioral and emotional disorders.

It’s important to watch for warning signs of mental illness—and to seek medical advice as soon as possible if any become apparent. Below are the different classes of mental illness:

Mood disorders. These include disorders that affect how you feel, such as persistent sadness or feelings of euphoria. They include major depression and bipolar disorder.
Anxiety disorders. Anxiety is an emotion characterized by the anticipation of future danger or misfortune accompanied by a feeling of being ill at ease. Examples include panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and specific phobias and generalized anxiety disorder.
Substance-related disorders. These include problems associated with the misuse of alcohol, nicotine, caffeine and illicit drugs.
Psychotic disorders. These disorders impair your sense of reality. The most notable example of this is schizophrenia, although other classes of disorders can be associated with psychosis at times.
Cognitive disorders. These disorders affect the ability to think and reason. They include delirium, dementia and memory problems. Perhaps the most well-known of these disorders is Alzheimer’s disease.
Developmental disorders. This category covers a wide range of problems that usually first begin to make themselves known in infancy, childhood or adolescence. They include autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities. But just because they’re all grouped in this category doesn’t necessarily mean they share a common cause or that there’s a relationship among the disorders.
Personality disorders. A personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that is dysfunctional and leads to distress or impairment. Examples include borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder.
Other disorders. These include disorders of impulse control, sleep, sexual functioning and eating. Also included are dissociative disorders, in which a person’s sense of self is disrupted, and somatoform disorders, in which there are physical symptoms in the absence of a clear physical cause, such as hypochondriasis.

Source: Ohio Health

Fore more information and resources:

State and Local Resources

The Cleveland Clinic: Choosing a Doctor and Therapist
NAMI: Ohio
NetWellness: Mental Illness Inheritance Risks
North East Ohio Health Services: Defining Mental Illness
Ohio Department of Mental Health: Where to Get Help?
Summit County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services: Mental
Health Agencies
University Hospitals Health Systems: Terms and Definitions

National Resources

NAMI: The Nation’s Voice on Mental Illness
National Mental Health Association
National Institute of Mental Health