mental illness

so i was thinking about my last post where i commented on the book, Darkness is My Only Companion by Kathryn Greene-McCreight. in thinking about it, i got to wondering how many people would just ignore that post, or skim it, or not pay much attention simply because of the fact that most people - especially within the church - don't see the need to enter into a conversation about mental illness. i think books such as the one by Greene-McCreight are necessary within the church, but i fear the fact that topics like this are ignored.

so i thought it may be helpful to put things in perspective. according to the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), here's a little info on mental illness in the u.s.:

• about 1 in 4 (26.2%, or approximately 57.7 million adults in the u.s.) adults suffer from a diagnosable mental illness in a given year
• mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the u.s. for ages 15-44
• 45% with any mental disorder meet the criteria for two or more disorders at the same time
• mental illness accounts for over 15% of the burden of disease in the u.s. (more than the burden caused by all cancers)
• nearly 10% of adults suffer from a mood disorder (i.e. depression, bipolar disorder, etc.) in a given year
• more than 90% of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder, and over 32,000 people committed suicide in 2004
• 40 million american adults have anxiety disorders in a given year

i'm not saying that this means everyone has to read this particular book. i just think that with statistics like these, where a quarter of the adult population (mind you, none of these numbers included children) is suffering from mental illness, that we can't just ignore it all.

these numbers mean that every one of us, whether we know it or not, comes into contact with someone who is mentally ill on a daily basis. these numbers mean that a quarter of the people in our churches may be suffering from a mental illness.

for some, this may sound scary. the words "mental illness" conjure up thoughts of scenes from one flew over the cuckoo's nest or something. this fear is based on the stigma that still surrounds mental illness. but these numbers include mood and anxiety disorders, and other things that are very common, like adhd. these aren't numbers to scare us away from the mentally ill, but ones that will hopefully move us away from the stigma and into conversation and healing.

whether the diagnosis is depression or schizophrenia, there is still a great amount of suffering for the patient, their family and others in their support system. and i know there are those who don't really believe in the reality of mental illness, they think that they are all caused by a person's sin, or that people should just be able to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and be okay or something. but those beliefs just aren't true.

maybe i'll take some time in future posts to talk about the reality of mental illness, or how to spot when someone may be struggling, or ways to help or something. but for now, i just wanted to begin the conversation with simply some numbers that may help people think twice before ignoring the reality of the amount of people suffering.

(*statistics taken from NIMH)