What Is A Mental Disorder?
[Disclaimer: Please note that this blog is solely for educational and informational purposes. If you feel you need a therapist or any kind of help please meet one in your area.]
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the definition of a mental disorder (on page 20) is as follows:
“A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, or sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above.”
The manual mentions that although no definition can capture all aspects of all disorders in the range contained in DSM-5, the above elements are required.
Well! I know that’s too much to read and understand!
Let’s make it a bit simple. :)
In simple words, mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). These are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.
Here are some of the important facts and figures from WHO that one should be aware of:
- Mental, neurological and substance use disorders make up 10% of the global burden of disease and 30% of non-fatal disease burden.
- Around 1 in 5 of the world’s children and adolescents have a mental disorder.
- Depression is one of the leading causes of disability, affecting 264 million people.
- About half of the mental disorders begin before the age of 14.
- Almost 800,000 people die by suicide every year; 1 person dies from suicide every 40 seconds. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in individuals aged 15–29 years.
- Around 1 in 9 people in settings affected by conflict have moderate or severe mental disorder.
- People with severe mental disorders die 10 to 20 years earlier than the general population.
- Rates of mental health workers vary from below 2 per 100,000 population in low-income countries to over 70 per 100,000 in high-income countries.
- Less than half of the 139 countries that have mental health policies and plans report having these aligned with human rights conventions.
- The global economy loses about 1 trillion USD per year in productivity due to depression and anxiety.
Source of the above information.
I am sure you would agree that these facts and figures are alarming! And, it’s high time we come together and break the stigma associated with mental illness.
Why is there even a stigma associated with it? Almost all of us suffer from stress and anxiety at some point in our lives, the difference being in the intensity and type, and we all must know that this is not something to be ashamed of. Rather we must all learn to empathise with people suffering from any type of mental illness and encourage them to seek help from a mental health professional if there are any signs or symptoms of any kind of mental illness.
I firmly believe that:
“Awareness has an immense potential to lighten up dead brains.”
You can also check out one of my blogs where I talk about how empathy is more important than sympathy when it comes to mental illness. (Link to blog)
References:
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)
- https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness
- https://www.who.int/news-room/facts-in-pictures/detail/mental-health
