By Tess Lampe
WARNING: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE
A study held in 2017 showed that about 13% of the global population (12.6% males & 13.3% females), which at the time was 970 million people, suffer from a mental disorder. More specifically, about 44 million people living in America have some type of mental disorder.
Mental health consists of three major categories: emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Contributors to mental health issues and illnesses can be biological, can come from life experiences, or family history (which often relates to genes or shared behaviors.) Some mental health disorders include clinical depression, anxiety, bipolar, dementia, schizophrenia, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), autism, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These are only a few conditions out of the 200+ mental disorders existing. From the 970 million people in the world who suffer from a mental illness, the United States shares about 17.34% of those people. Australia has 18.38%, Russia with 11.74%, Iran with 17.73%, and so on. Continuing with this data from the 2017 study, anxiety disorder makes up about 3.76% of the affected population, depression with 3.44%, alcohol and drug use disorders with 1.4% and 0.94%, bipolar with 0.6%, schizophrenia with 0.25%, and eating disorders with 0.21%. Even though these percentages seem small, 3.4% of the population is about 264 million people.
As many other important topics, the subject matter of mental health has an awareness month. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Much of the reason for this month is to aid in the fight against the stigma or shame surrounding mental illness, to give support to those suffering with mental issues, and to educate those with and without mental health problems. Movements and organizations like Why Care? and NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) help to do exactly what Mental Health Awareness Month is for. Why Care? Holds the main purpose to help those suffering and to present them with ways of recovery and treatment. NAMI is a large organization that does the same thing. They raise awareness for the mentally ill, they support those who suffer from it, and they educate on how to help and cope.
As mentioned previously, many things can contribute to having a mental health disorder. Therefore, many things can affect those living with them, which can lead to very unfortunate events. In 2018, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. with about 44,965 deaths per year. It is the 2nd leading cause of death for people ages 15-24. Suicide is known to be most common amongst those who misuse alcohol or drugs (which can be or contribute to a mental health condition) and those who are associated with other mental health disorders like severe depression and anxiety. Further, according to healthline.com, “Almost 500,000 people are treated in emergency rooms each year for self-inflicted injuries.
Over the past 20 years, is has been found that the suicide rate has increased more than 30%, some states in the U.S. even reaching as high as a 58% increase. The American Association for Suicidology concluded from their estimations that someone attempts suicide every 28 seconds. It was also found in 2015 that girls attempted suicide at about two times the rate of boys. Further, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, etc. teenagers were and still are at risk that makes them five times more likely to attempt suicide than those who are heterosexual and or cisgender. The transgender suicide rate is about nine times higher than the population as a whole. Things that contribute to this include having an unaccepting family, having extremely low self-esteem and self-worth, rejection from society & friends, and not having full access to trans-specific healthcare.
However, American Indian and Alaskan Natives are at the highest suicide rate of about 32 out of every 100,000 men and 10 out of every 100,000 women. This is unfortunately because of the rural areas they tend to live in not having available health care that is accessible to them. Social stigma is often added onto that struggle as well. Additionally, “Men are more likely to face stigma when discussing their mental health, and thus are less likely to seek out support when struggling.” This is exactly why about every 40 out of 100,000 men have died via suicide, which is compared to 9/100,000 women. This statistic further shows that for every female suicide, there are about 3.4 male deaths.
There are many symptoms that accompany certain mental illnesses in adults, young adults, and adolescents. Some of those symptoms are as follows: withdrawal from society, long depressive state, substance use, suicidal thoughts, strong feelings of anger or sadness, changes in eating or sleeping habits, having “extreme highs and lows,” hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t actually there), delusions (a strange belief or thoughts of an altered reality), struggling with coping mechanisms, strong fear, self-harm, negative/pessimistic mood, loss of interest and enjoyment, always tired, feeling of uselessness/guilt, low self-esteem, doubtful, struggling to move on with work, school, socializing, and much more.
Because anxiety is a very known mental disorder, symptoms of it include some of those previously stated and the following: apprehension, extreme worry, difficulty concentrating, fidgeting, headaches, dizziness, sweating, discomfort, overthinking of small situations, low-zero energy, intense nervousness, tension, etc.
Healthy ways to cope with many mental disorders one may have include acknowledging and accepting your feelings and disorder(s), learning to control/handle intense emotion and behavior, seeking support from friends and family, going to a therapist, talking to a counselor, and taking time for yourself. There are always many more coping mechanisms, so if you are struggling, make sure to reach out to others or even yourself in a healthy way.
Those who live without mental disorders can do many things for those who do as well. You can actively support and check in on your friends and family, you can participate in activities that help those with mental illness, be calm and patient when in conversation with someone with a mental health issue, listen to them, express genuine concern towards them and their interests, and keep in mind that certain people can’t “just be happy” or “stop being so negative.” To gain more information on how you can be of help, go to nami.org.
“Sometimes the worst place you can be is in your own head.” However, “Health does not come from medicine. Most of the time, it comes from peace of mind, peace in the heart, peace in the soul. It comes from laughter and love.”
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
https://www.healthyplace.com/insight/quotes/quotes-on-mental-health-and-mental-illness
https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/NAMI-FaithNet/Tips-For-How-to-Help-a-Person-with-Mental-Illness
https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health
https://www.mhanational.org/recognizing-warning-signs
https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health
https://www.nami.org/mentalhealthmonth
https://www.healthline.com/health/leading-causes-of-death#suicide
https://www.crisistextline.org/blog/change-the-stats
https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Why-Care
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