©Sheri Liegh Adams

If you are reading this, chances are you have heard of mental illness or you deal  with mental illness, either you or someone you know. I, myself, have mental  health issues. If you have never had to deal with mental illness then this short  opinion or essay is for you. I want the general population out there to understand  what it is like to be a patient of mental health – at least in Canada.

I am currently 43 years old and have been dealing with mental health issues since  my early 20’s. At first, it was just flashbacks of abuse that were my problem, but  over time, new mental illnesses were diagnosed and treated.

On top of mental health issues in my life, I also have physical disabilities which  prevent me from working. Those are the ones I can handle and that people rarely  judge you. But when it comes to mental health, as many of you likely already  know, there is a stigma attached to it.  Altogether, I have 35 medical conditions.

It was not long ago that people who had mental illnesses no matter how small or  advanced, were institutionalized and mistreated greatly. Fortunately, for those of  us who have mental health issues today, technology has taught us a few things  and we are rarely mistreated.

At this point, I would like to clarify some things about mental health. What it is  and what it is not. Mental health problems such as Schizophrenia, Borderline  Personality Disorder, Manic Depressive Illness and all the other diagnosis that can  be made, are not in anyway contagious. You will not catch mental illness from  being in the same room with a person, making physical contact with the person or  being in the room when they sneeze. Mental illness is not a contagious disease  like the flu or bronchitis.

Mental illness is not a person looking for attention. Many, if not most, of the  people you would speak to who have mental illnesses would rather not even have  them, let alone have to deal with them on a daily basis. The last thing a person  who has mental illnesses wants is too much attention. Too much attention only  increases the tension in the person with the illness, contributing to more severe  attacks of whatever their diagnosis.

Mental health patients are not stupid. Yes, there are rare occasions when people  with mental health issues are developmentally handicapped, but by enlarge, many  people who have a mental illness are brilliant people, highly talented and  intellectual. I know people with Schizophrenia who paint awesome pictures that  just amaze the mind when you look at them, or write amazing poems and stories.  Stupid and mental health should not even be in the same sentence when speaking  of mental illnesses.

Mental health patients have feelings too. To say that a person is crazy, psycho or  cuckoo only makes the hurt worse. The majority of mental health patients are well  controlled by medications and seeing therapists and doctors. Imagine if you had a  cold or the flu and somebody told you that you were psycho or crazy because you  were sick. First of all, it makes no sense, and secondly, it hurts emotionally. So  watch your words when you speak of the mental health patients.

Mental health patients are violent or dangerous. Very rarely true, there is more of  a chance of a “normal” person committing a crime than a mentally ill person. In  fact, the person with the mental illness is more likely to be the victim of a crime  rather than commit the crime.

So by now you are likely wondering just what mental health and mental illness is.  Mental illnesses by far, are mainly chemical imbalances in the brain. In the same  way that a person who has epilepsy has a seizure because there are too many  electrical charges in the brain going off at the same time, a person with mental  illness has chemical imbalances, most of which can be treated and controlled by  medication.

Mental illnesses are just like physical illnesses but for one factor. Physical  illnesses such as arthritis and asthma, deal with various body parts, whereas  mental illnesses almost always deal with problems in the brain. The problem is  that people still consider people with mental illness to be crazy, stupid or just  looking for attention. Both mental and physical illnesses can be treated in most  cases with medications which control the problems arising from the illness. In  most cases, people can live normal daily lives, but have the odd bad day just like  the rest of the human race.

Also like physical illnesses, when treated properly with therapy, medicine and  support, many mental health issues can be overcome and people live complete  and fulfilled lives, working, having a family and a home.

People with mental illness usually struggle the most with emotions/feelings, clear  thinking and a strong inability to relate to others (mostly feeling inferior to them).  The emotional struggles or problems with feelings is what comes from the  chemical imbalances in the brain, in most cases. The trouble of thinking clearly  comes also from the imbalance in the brain. When you are struggling with  emotional issues, it is often hard to be logical. I’ve heard it said that you cannot  be emotional and logical at the same time. This is very true for mental health  patients. And the last thing mental health patients struggle with are  relationships. Often times they are unstable, the attachment occurs very quickly  and the person being attached to feels overwhelmed and then leaves the  relationship because they cannot handle the intensity of it.

I know from my own experience, I have trouble with intense and unstable  relationships. I want somebody to be my friend and when they do, I am always  wanting to be with them which pushes them away. I know this now and I am  learning to not do that, but it is not easy. And also from my own experience, I  have felt the stigma of mental illness first hand – especially from family members.  They often say I am just looking for attention. If I was looking for attention, I  would get a loud speaker and shout it out for all to hear. Even in the hospitals  and clinics, the medical staff show the signs of not understanding and without  asking questions first, they make a judgment and you are labelled as being needy,  wanting attention and taking up valuable time that could be better spent on  people with more serious problems.

People tend to think that you can just get over mental illnesses. That is not so. It  is true that some people outgrow their issues, but for the most part, if you have a  mental illness, the chances are more likely that you will have it for the rest of  your life.

So what can you do to help? Watch what you say to or in front of people who have  a mental illness. Don’t tell them they are just looking for attention. The fact is,  they have too much attention already because of the negative stigma associated  with it. Offer your support, if you are able, to just listen when they need to talk.  Don’t tell them to just get over it. Just as a person with Diabetes does not just  get over it, so a person with a mental illness cannot just get over it as it too  stems from inside the body. We do not choose to have mental illness. Read up on  the various resources that are widely available now. Become an informed member  of society and stand up for those who are mistreated because of their illness. If  you have a friend or loved one who has a mental health issue, get some  counselling yourself so you can better understand when your loved one is  struggling and you can, cannot do, and should and should not do. Seek help for  yourself so you have an outlet when you get overwhelmed.

Mental illnesses can affect anybody at any age at any time, but there are some  very valid reasons why some people are more prone to them than others. Some of  these include, but are not limited to: heredity, trauma such as rape or war, brain  damage, and abuse of drugs and other illegal substances. And there are also the  unexplainable; those for which doctors cannot come up with a reason as to why  someone is mentally ill.
According to wikipedia.com, mental illness is defined as: a disorder of the brain  that results in a disruption in a person's thinking, feeling/mood, ability to relate to  others and the ability to work. Mental illness is distinct from the legal concepts of  sanity and insanity.
Emotional disability, mental hygiene, behavioral health, and mental wellness are  terms used to describe aspects of mental illness and mental health.
There are multiple causes of mental illness. Each disorder is likely to have its own  etiology and most mental disorders are proving to be caused by differences in  functional brain structure as well as neurochemistry (dopamine, norepinephrine,  serotonin and so on). Treatment options include psychiatric medication,  psychotherapy, lifestyle adjustments, other supportive measures or a combination  of these.
Many mental disorders now appear to be caused by physiological causes, although  these physiological causes cannot yet be used for diagnosis. Diagnosis still  remains a subjective, but increasingly evidence-based and scientific, art that  includes a detailed and careful history and assessment of current and past  symptoms. The diagnostic process is by no means straight-forward and requires  the careful skills of a gifted medical detective.
Regarding the major psychiatric disorders (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major  depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADHD and so on) the nature versus  nurture debate, for the most part, has been settled. The answer is "both" with a  significant emphasis on nature. The major psychiatric disorders all show strong  evidence of heritability. Using identical twins, one or both of whom had mental  illness and who were reared apart (to control for environment), psychiatric  researchers have shown high rates of heritability (significantly higher than for the  population at large) for most mental illnesses, with bipolar disorder showing the  highest inheritance and therefore strongest biological component. Most psychiatric  illness are studied by both basic and clinical researchers who specialize in a  disorder or group of related disorders.
Some of the more common mental illnesses include: Schizophrenia, Bi-polar  disorder aka manic depressive disorder, phobias, anxiety disorders, Borderline  Personality Disorder and eating disorders. You can find out more about mental  illness by searching the web. A few good places to start would include the  following sites:

http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/
factsheets/14.cfm
http://www.cmha.ca/bins/inde
x.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/Mental_illness
http://www.spcsb.org/article
s/mental_illness.html
http://www.mentalhealth.com/

There are many more sites – too many to list. But these are good places to start.

I hope I have helped those who are afraid of mental illness to understand that  there is nothing to be afraid of. You cannot catch it the way you can a cold. The  majority of mental health patients are not violent and can carry on with full-time  work, family life and so on. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. The best  remedy is education. And for those of you who do have a mental illness or more  than one, take the initiative and help your friends, families, co-workers and so on,  to better understand what it is you have. Alleviate t heir fears by giving them  pamphlets or other materials or by sharing with them your experience with mental  illness. Most people will accept you if they understand you and know there is  nothing to fear. And part of the responsibility of removing the negative stigma  associated with mental health lies in the patients themselves. They are the ones  with access to various forms of media that can educate and better help others  understand what it is all about.

When people learn to learn about what they do not know about instead of jumping  the gun and making rash judgments, we will have a more peaceful society and a  more friendly and less fearful world. If the person you know is worth it, it will only  take a minute of your time to check it out and separate the myths from the facts.

UPDATE:
My entire immediate family are now all on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety  medications. Yet they still do not understand me and sometimes expect too much  or criticize etc. Hopefully others will learn if they do not.

For my 3 kitties in Heaven who helped me immensely through my hard times. They  now rest peacefully with the Lord.   And for my kitty, Sweetie, who is with me now, who gave me 5 beautiful kittens - a gift I could not give myself.  I cannot have children and she gave me the best gift I could ever have been given...to watch a live birth, to help raise the kittens and help her out and for her to trust me with her babies...who are now over a year old and happily adopted out to good homes.  Sweetie was a stray who blesses me daily :)