National Day Without Stigma: 10 Important Mental Health Facts
Monday October 6 is National Day without Stigma, which is sponsored by Active Minds, a national organization whose goal is to decrease mental illness stigma on college campuses. Too many people who experience mental health problems have to face the stigma associated with having a mental illness. Stigma is often a result of a lack of knowledge surrounding mental health. In honor of National Day without Stigma, here are 10 important facts about mental health:
- Mental illness affects 1 in 4 people in the United States.
- Every 15 minutes, a person dies by suicide in the United States.
- Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among Americans ages 15 to 24 years.
- Approximately 42 million Americans live with an anxiety disorder.
- Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes or heart disease.
- Each year, up to 8 million Americans with a serious mental illness don’t receive adequate treatment.
- It is estimated that by the year 2020, major depression will be the leading cause of disability worldwide for women and children.
- Over 2/3 of Americans who have a diagnosed mental illness live productive lives in the community.
- Mental illnesses are treatable. Between 70-90% of people with a mental illness who receive proper treatment experience a reduction in symptoms and improved quality of life.
- Stigma around mental illness often prevents people from seeking the help they need.
If you are interested in helping to end stigma, you can join Active Minds at Conn, which meets every other Tuesday at 8:00 pm in the Windham common room. The next Active Minds meeting is on October 15th. Even if you don’t join Active Minds, you can be part of ending stigma simply by speaking up if you hear someone make a disparaging remark about mental illness.
You can also help end stigma by taking part in educational discussions around mental illness. Tonight, Professor Zakriski of the Psychology department is hosting a discussion around mental illness in the media in the wake of recent mass shootings. For more information, see here!
Sources:
http://www.nami.org/factsheets/mentalillness_factsheet.pdf
http://www.activeminds.org/
http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/mental_health/mental_health_facts/en/index5.html
http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-mental-health#
https://twitter.com/Active_Minds