On Monday June 3rd 2013, President Barack Obama hosted a White House conference on mental health. Participants in the conference included celebrities, veterans groups, mental health advocates and psychologists. At that conference the President announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs would conduct their own nationwide mental health summit conferences from July 1st through September 15th 2013 to focus on support for our veterans and their families as well as increasing awareness about mental health programs that are currently available.
In that conference, President Obama called for an end to the stigma that has been associated with mental health issues in our country. What does stigma mean? Consider the following definitions.
Stigma. Defined by dictionary.com as:
1. a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation.
2. medicine
a mental or physical mark that is characteristic of a defect or disease.
Stigma. Defined by the World English Dictionary as:
a. distinguishing mark of social disgrace
b. any sign of a mental deficiency or emotional upset
Stigma. Defined by the American Heritage Medical Dictionary as:
a. mark of shame or discredit.
Noted 20th Century Sociologist Erving Goffman offered this definition of stigma:
“The phenomenon whereby an individual with an attribute is deeply discredited by his/her society is rejected as a result of the attribute. Stigma is a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity.”
These are the kinds of terms and words used to describe a kind of collective attitude many of us have held towards those afflicted with mental illness. Our jaundiced and arms-length view of mental illness has been this way for centuries. We fear what we don’t understand. It is way beyond time for a change in how we view those in our society who suffer from a mental illness or disease.
Diseases such as Leprosy and AIDs were once looked upon in this fashion until the bright spotlight of education and empowerment along with improvements in treatable medications turned discrimination and devaluation into compassion and understanding.
A quick visit to the newly launched web site of the US Dept. of Health & Human Services, mentalhealth.gov, revealed the following statistics:
√ In 2011 one in five American adults experienced a mental health issue.
√ One in ten young people experienced a period of major depression.
√ One in twenty Americans lived with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression.
√ Disorders such as schizophrenia and manic-depression cannot be ‘caught.’ They are genetic diseases that run in families.
√ Half of all mental health disorders show first signs before a person turns 14 years old, and three quarters of mental health disorders begin before age 24.
The above noted statistics referenced from mentalhealth.gov regarding mental health issues among our younger population members was sobering to contemplate.
As an active caregiver for the past nine years of aging parents, two of whom have passed away as a result of Alzheimer’s disease, I thought I had become used to a number of frightening stats as they pertained to AD. My own firsthand experience as a caregiver for three of four aging parents who were stricken with dementia taught me a profound lesson in compassion, patience and nonjudgmental interaction with each of them. I have now come to view others who are afflicted with mental diseases that are different from Alzheimer’s with the same compassionate, non judging mindset.
An old saying, “people are down on what they are not up on,” comes to mind here. Now is the time to educate ourselves more about mental illnesses, many of which are quite treatable and controllable, and to learn of just how many people can then lead successful lives in spite of living with an underlying disorder.
In preparing this article, each of the following web sites were visited.
mentalhealth.gov
This is a newly created federal government level web site resource. It offers a wide variety of in-depth material including education, wellness and prevention, and what to look for signs in many of the anxiety, eating, mood, personality, psychotic, and substance use disorders.
BringChange2Mind.org
This is the site that award winning actress Glenn Close launched in an effort to bring education and empowerment to those families who have members among them struggling with a mental health challenge.
www.FoundationHouse.com
This is a web page for the renowned Foundation House Extended Care Sober Living Facilities in Portland, Maine. Their specialty is treatment of the diseases of alcohol and drug addiction.
TheBalancedMindFoundation.org
A web site dedicated to families of children and teens with mood disorders. It offers an educational library, forums and blogs for parents, support groups, and professional resources.
EachMindMatters.org
Developed by the California Mental Health Movement, this web site is substantial, featuring a blog page and a get-help-now page link. It also features links to these other related and helpful web sites:
1. SuicideisPreventable.org
A resource web site for help with desperate folks contemplating suicide or merely exhibiting the early signs of this mindset.
2. ReachOut.com
A web site designed for young folks in mind with links and information pertaining to anxieties, eating issues, loss and grief, drugs and alcohol addiction, depression and self harm.
3. SpeakOurMinds.org.
A resource that features a statewide speakers bureau that can provide speakers to your business, school or organization.
Make the decision today to empower yourself with straightforward knowledge about mental health. Get the facts instead of walking about harboring ignorance and fear.
Jeff Dodson
June 29th 2013
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