Mental illness needs our attention. As young adults, mental illness especially needs our attention. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), suicide remains the second-leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults between the ages of 10 to 24. It results in 4,800 lives lost each year. Ninety percent of those who die from suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. Unfortunately, those mental disorders are frequently undiagnosed, under-treated or untreated.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), one-in-five Americans have experienced mental illness in the past year. Take a look around you right now. One out of the closest five people around you experienced mental illness.
Think about the five dearest people to you in your life. One-in-five is affected by mental illness.
Who do you know who is not talking about it?
Who do you know who is not aware that they have a mental illness?
Who do you know who will not obtain help before it is too late? And why?
Why is there so much stigma surrounding mental illness?
Mental illness is a disease like any other and it should be treated as such. It is like cancer of the mind. It attacks the mind just as cancer attacks the body. So why are we embarrassed to talk about mental illness?
Why do we blame ourselves when we have a mental illness?
Would we blame ourselves for having cancer? Certainly not.
There is still much that we do not know about mental illness. I contend that this is in large part because of the stigma shrouding mental illness.
We do not think of it like other illnesses, which have discoverable cures. We see it as a problem of those who are in some way mentally inferior. "Oh, it won't affect me," we think. The reality is that it can, and it will. Mental illness will at least affect one out of the five nearest and dearest to you, that is, unless more resources are invested in research and prevention.
According to a report released by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), states have cut more than $1.6 billion in general funds from their state mental health agency budgets for mental health services since FY2009, a period during which demand for such services increased significantly. These cuts translate into the loss of vital services, such as access to psychiatric medications and crisis services. The impacts are felt throughout society as people go without the treatment they need.
Luckily, there is something you can do about it. If you have a few moments to spare you can write or call your Georgia U.S. Senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, asking them to support the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (GLSMA) (S.116), an important mental health bill that is currently up for reauthorization in the Senate. This bill is pertinent to mental illness on college campuses such as Emory. The GLSMA currently supports active youth suicide prevention grants in 40 states and 85 institutions of higher education.
The reauthorization would enhance grants in mental health and substance use disorder services and outreach on campuses across the nation.
It would enable colleges and universities to prevent suicide by authorizing educational and outreach activities on suicide prevention, the development and implementation of evidence-based and emerging best practices and the provision of mental health and substance use disorder services (including prevention, promotion of mental health and voluntary screening). For more information about GLSMA you can go to www.afsp.org.
In the meantime, you can start thinking of and talking about mental illness as a disease just like any other.
If more people talk about mental illness (in all of its manifestations) as an illness the same as any other illness, some of the stigma will dissipate and people will be more inclined to seek the help they need. The reality is that mental illness is the second leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults like you and me.
The reality is stunning.
Who do you know who is too ashamed to talk?
Which one of your friends or roommates or acquaintances on campus might be affected?
Who do you know who might need help before it is too late?
Meghan Duffy is a first-year Masters in Public Health student at the Rollins School of Public Health from Ingleside, Il.
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