Misconceptions of Mental Illness

Around the world, 450 million people are suffering from some sort of mental illness. America alone has made up 51.1 million people. This makes it one of the most common illnesses to date. But unlike other illnesses, mental illnesses are not seen or treated as seriously as other diseases. Many people like to say “you’re being dramatic” or “just get over it”. You would never tell someone who has a broken arm to just get over it. Mental health is just like a broken bone or other diseases. To start recovering from an illness you need to see doctors and receive support from those around you. Mental Illness should be treated as seriously as any other illness because of the effects it has on your body and the biological factors that cause it.
Depression and anxiety are two common mental disorders but there are a lot more. Each comes with its own set of challenges. They can be split into five categories: mood, anxiety, personality, trauma, and psychotic disorders. Mood disorder’s main symptoms are emotional ups and downs, extreme sadness, and mania. Anxiety disorder symptoms include extreme worrying, a sense of impending danger, and trouble thinking or concentrating. For personality disorders, there are three different types. Psychotic disorders cause hallucinations and delusions. Each of these mental illnesses affects your mind differently and requires different forms of treatment. A common serious consequence of the mental effects is suicide and self-harm. So contrary to popular belief mental illness is not a simple fix and deserves serious help.
Due to a common misconception of mental illness, there are many physical symptoms involved. One of the many problems that coexist with many mental illnesses is addiction. People with mental illnesses make up large percentages of addicts. Some common physical symptoms of addiction are heart conditions, liver problems, and brain damage. Another serious mental disorder that affects 28.8 million people are eating disorders. Some of the more serious physical effects of these diseases are heart problems, malnutrition, slowed brain function, and hypothermia. There are also more common illnesses that are caused by mental problems. Fatigue is a common thing that comes with many mental illnesses. Common symptoms include tiredness, headaches, and nausea. One of the stigmas is that they are just lazy. But as research shows they are facing real physical symptoms that contribute to them acting that way. A more serious illness that can be traced to mental illness is heart problems. For example, heart disease increases in people with depression or anxiety over the general population.
Mental illness and what causes them has been a question for decades. So when looking at the causes of mental illness many different biological factors contribute. The first being the neurological components. The main cause is the body’s inability to produce or regulate the neurotransmitters or chemicals in the brain. Genetic makeup is also a known reason why people get a certain illness. For example, anxiety and depression are 20–45% inherited, and other illnesses are up to 80%. But a misconception is that actual disease is inheritable when people inherit genes that make them more susceptible to mental illness. These contributing factors are environmental. Physical environmental factors include smoking, substance abuse, and exposure to toxins as a kid. Social environmental factors include social stigma, history of abuse, and parental neglect. These three factors are things that makeup diseases like cancer.
Mental Illness should be treated as seriously as any other illness because of the effects it has on your body and the biological factors that cause it. There needs to be a change in how we treat those suffering from mental illness. Although mental illness is taking steps to become more of a normalized and respected illness, it’s still far away from being fully accepted. Some people can say that you choose to be upset, whereas things like cancer aren’t. People believe that diseases like cancer are suffering while people with depression aren’t suffering as much. But these people didn’t choose to be this way. And how can you say someone’s suffering isn’t valid. Whether your mind is the cause of your suffering or your heart you are still in severe pain. In conclusion, the 450 million people who suffer from this can say it’s not just “in their heads’’.