#itaffectsme How and Why Does Mental Illness Affect Everyone
The #itaffectsme campaign goal is to help get rid of the stigma surrounding mental health. Mental disorders affect everyone directly or indirectly. We need to make a change and talk more about it.
Did you know stress, which everyone experiences, has also been linked to mental disorders such as mood disorders, anxiety, and depression (Maldonado, 2014). This is why having life balance is very important, not only for adults but children and teens also. Most conditions go undiagnosed, especially those related to stress, because people are not aware of the long term affects stress can have on their brain and body. Chronic stress, starts to adversely affect the physical and mental health of a person. The body’s stress response was not made to be continuously engaged. Many people encounter stress from multiple sources, including work; money, health, and relationship worries; and media overload. With so many demands, and with the American culture of work hard, you only live once, and success is key attitude it is difficult to find time to relax and disengage the brain, leading to an overload response. This is why stress is one of the biggest health problems facing people today. Chronic stress increases the risk of developing health problems including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and a weakened immune system. Chronic stress also affects a person’s mental health. Many studies show a correlation between stress and the development of mood disorders such as anxiety disorders and depression. According to the American Psychological Association’s latest stress survey, 66 percent of people regularly experience physical symptoms of stress, and 63 percent experience psychological symptoms.
When hearing about Mental Health, please do not turn away or think it does not affect you. You or someone you know most likely have or are experiencing some sort of symptom from stress, life experiences, or genetic predisposition and do not even know it.
Here are some stats mental health stats:
Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year.
Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%.
Mood disorders, including major depression, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder, are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for both youth and adults aged 18–44.16
Among the 20.2 million adults in the U.S. who experienced a substance use disorder, 50.5%—10.2 million adults—had a co-occurring mental illness.8
70% of youth in juvenile justice systems have at least one mental health condition and at least 20% live with a serious mental illness.11
African Americans and Hispanic Americans used mental health services at about one-half the rate of Caucasian Americans in the past year and Asian Americans at about one-third the rate.13
Half of all chronic mental illness begins by age 14; three-quarters by age 24. Despite effective treatment, there are long delays—sometimes decades—between the first appearance of symptoms and when people get help.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.,20 the 3rd leading cause of death for people aged 10–2421 and the 2nd leading cause of death for people aged 15–24.
More than 90% of children who die by suicide have a mental health condition.
Each day an estimate of 18-22 veterans die by suicide.
To learn more about how I can help you take the next steps to finding balance and peace in your life visit my company site at www.havefaithhopelove.com
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Laura Rivera is the Owner and Transformation Coach for Self Dynamics LLC. Partnering with people for empowerment and encouragement by walking alongside them for a season of their life and help coach them through their needs of self-growth. She also partners with organizations for their many organizational needs by coaching them through their time of transformation. From Business Leadership Development, HR Consulting, Parenting/ Family Coaching, Achieving personal life goals, to Spiritual growth and formation, she focuses on the growth and well-being of everyone from all backgrounds and walks of life.
Self Dynamics: Enhance your Spirit, Enhance your Life
www.havefaithhopelove.com
References
Any Mental Illness (AMI) Among Adults. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2016, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-mental-illness-ami-among-adults.shtml
Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Among Adults. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2016, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/serious-mental-illness-smi-among-us-adults.shtml
Any Disorder Among Children. (n.d.) Retrieved January 21, 2016, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-disorder-among-children.shtml
Maldonado, M. (2014) How stress affects mental health. Retrieved January 21, 2016 from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/02/25/how-stress-affects-mental-health/
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