About Mental Illness
M ental illness is an illness that affects a persons brain. It may affect the way a person thinks, acts, and interacts with people. Each year in the United States, one in five adults is diagnosed with a mental illness.
Mental illness includes many disorders. Sometimes, they severely affect a person. Most people with mental illness do not look ill. However, some people may appear to be confused, upset, or withdrawn.
Mental illness does not mean a person is defective or weak. Often, a person's brain does not produce enough seratonin. Mental illness can also be caused by injuries to the brain, hardening of the arteries, or drug and alcohol abuse.
Medications and/or counseling are two of the most effective treatments for mental illnesses. In the past, many persons with severe mental illnesses were kept in institutions because they were are a danger to themselves or others, or they were disruptive and people were afraid of them. Today, most people can be treated effectively and lead full lives.
Some of the most common mental illnesses, also known as psychiatric disorders are depression, manic depression (also known as bipolar disorder), anxiety disorders (including phobias), schizophrenia and other delusional disorders, substance abuse and related disorders, delirium, dementia, eating disorders, sexual disorders, dissociative disorders, and antisocial disorders.