About 25 percent of U.S. adults have a mental illness, according to the CDC

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.chron.com/business/press-releases/article/July-is-National-Minority-Mental-Health-Awareness-3686529.php

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
PRWeb
Published 10:00 p.m., Thursday, July 5, 2012

Belleville, IL (PRWEB) July 05, 2012

About 25 percent of U.S. adults have a mental illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost two-thirds of those adults with a diagnosable mental illness do not seek treatment, and racial and ethnic minorities are even less likely to get help, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) representation, is offering a free poster download to promote awareness and help dispel stigma associated with mental illness.

According to NAMI’s Multicultural Action Center, in many racially and ethnically diverse communities, there is a stigma surrounding mental illness, often caused by cultural differences and lack of information. This not only can lead to the avoidance of mental health treatment, but often results in a lack of knowledge regarding financial options, such as Social Security disability benefits.

[NeverEnuff]

1. Huh?

I thought the percentage of registered Republicans was higher, or isn't delusional still considered a mental illness?

[Odin2005]

2. What a horrible post.

Equating being a Republican asshole with having a mental illness is offensive.

[kooljerk666]

3. ???????????????

I guess it is mean to equate people suffering & not of their own choosing, with people who choose to be sociopathic dog turds.

[ananda]

10. I do think that many Reeps have an empathy and affect disorder.

nt

[pnwmom]

29. It's a joke, kinda. And the target is Republicans. I think that's generally acceptable here. nt

[Sirveri]

24. Well if only 50% vote, and around half are Repubs, then that's 25% of the populace.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. If one looks at all the various diagnosis’s listed in the DSM – IV, It would likely be conservative

to estimate about one fourth of the population might suffer from one or more of these conditions

http://allpsych.com/disorders/disorders_alpha.html

http://allpsych.com/disorders/disorders_dsmIVcodes.html

[scheming daemons]

5. How do you explain the other half of the GOP?

[HIlton Brackett]

16. Their just Racists and intellectually challenged

[kimbutgar]

6. Is that why so many people vote against their best interests...?

I am beginning to believe that Fox news and the right wing media contribute to the delusions of mentally ill people. I just don't get people on social security and medicare saying they are against government welfare. There is a mental disconnect and they have been lied to by the right wing echo chamber.

Also all those graphics on Fox give me a headache when I watch it for over 2 minutes. The words are bad enough but the graphics are worst. A little subliminal programming that leads to mental illness.

[tru]

7. what a bunch of cr*p

Next up, due to counting the common cold, 100% of Americans ravaged by illness.

[tpsbmam]

11. It's not crap at all --

With depression of various severities, anxieties of many different varieties, personality disorders, a few of the more serious sexual disorders (which can, indeed, interfere with peoples ability to function) and then the psychotic disorders (bipolar, schizophrenia, etc)......I suspect 25% is an underestimate. There are MANY people who go through life with serious psychological disorders (e.g., borderline personality disorder) and are never diagnosed or treated.

[Ghost of Huey Long]

14. 50% of the country is on anti-depressants, and there are side affects to those!

We definitely have a collective mental disorder, look at the people we are allowing to run the country, the world!

People say this is not related to politics, how can we not notice that the top 1% are sociopaths and greedy hoarders and they are causing the deaths and destruction of millions of people's lives in their insatiable need for more more more.

The economic 'leaders', the people with vast amounts of wealth who gain their happiness by watching other's suffer CLEARLY have a mental illness which is harming everyone and I question the sanity of millions of people that allow that kind of mentally deranged evil manipulative ill gotten power go unchecked.

They are throwing elderly handicapped people out of their homes with illegal foreclosure paperwork, employing child molesting priests at the TSA to grope your granny at the airport, threatening to cut off the social safety net having raided the trust fund for wars they lied about and tax cuts meanwhile lying/calling for more war....

...and Americans keep on accepting it. I mean if you look at the big picture, this whole country is one big Insane Asylum.

[sweetapogee]

23. OMG

..."50% of the country is on anti-depressants."!!!!!!

I don't know what to say. No wonder big pharma is so big, everyone should be getting this medication for free . Imagine if everyone were happier we could fix the economy. Why not have PSAs on all radio stations and TV telling everyone not on anti-depressants to be screened?

[caseymoz]

18. Not crap.

Consider one study found that without pesticide use, suicides would be cut drastically worldwide. Now also other chemicals in the environment, constant noise and light pollution, crowding and general angst about the future, we're not living in the healthiest mental environment.

If you are aware mental health treatment is still in the Stone Age (we give electro-convulsive therapy to depressed patients and only within the last two months got a scientifically valid hint as to why it worked) then the percent given becomes tenable. In the Neolithic Era, that was probably the percent of people who were physically sick.

Consider also this: one percent of all adults have schizophrenia. Three percent have bipolar disorder. Add to that number depressions, addictions, personality disorders, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, PTSD, OCD, Sleep Disorders . . . there's a lot more.

When you add in everything that can impair the mental functioning of a person in their lifetime, then be informed most of them or either incurable and/or require long-term treatment, then the number at least becomes tenable.

[teewrex]

8. Stupidity is not a mental illness - it can't be cured. Saying Repugs are mentally ill is an insult

to those of us who are truly mentally ill. Medical science cannot help the repugs.

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. Some people might take offense at the notion of sarcastic comments about mental illness

Many people regardless of their political persuasion or philosophy might genuinely suffer some form of an illness in which they have no more control over their situation than someone suffering from asthma or diabetes or muscular dystrophy and is just as real as any of those ailments and may likely cause just and much suffering and in some cases more. In fact it is quite likely that most mental illness has a strong biological and neurological component.

If one wants to call the Republicans crazy or insane. I personally don't see a problem with that. I think people understand what one means in that context. But to refer to Republicans as mentally ill or retarded or whatever can sound a bit insensitive to those who genuinely suffer very real conditions that are just as real as Asthma, COPD, or diabetes.

[a la izquierda]

12. I'm one of the 25%

There is a genetic predisposition in my family.
Thank goodness my health insurance covers counseling, or I'd be a total mess. It is often embarrassing for me to have to explain it to people, especially when I formulate new relationships. I appreciate those people around me who are understanding and caring about some of my more "eccentric" behaviors.

[Crowman1979]

13. Having two wars occurring in the past ten years does not help either.

[sweetapogee]

15. We

simply CANNOT allow this to continue.

[harmonicon]

17. Man... the replies in this thread just demonstrate how important it is to spread this information.

I'm sort of blown away about just how ignorant some people are about mental illness, and I'm a bit surprised that it still seems to be stigmatized around here.

If you or someone you know think you may suffer from a mental illness, please seek treatment. It could save your life and/or make it much better.

[Bradical79]

20. I'm not surprised

Lots of people on this forum use "mental illness" quips as a way to explain GOP irrationality. They've been doing it a long time.

I didn't get treatment until I was past 30, but it's still helped a lot.

[harmonicon]

22. I've noticed similar tropes, but not that one exactly.

A few years ago it seemed to become fashionable to label anyone - especially GOP - who was disliked as a sociopath. People who do so likely have never had close enough personal contact with a sociopath to really know what it means. Lots of people are giant assholes, but that doesn't mean they're sociopaths.

As for treatable mental illness, I don't see that given as an excuse very often - just in this thread, maybe. In any case, mocking mental illness is no different than mocking physical illness.

[Sirveri]

26. Not if the person you see thinks you're faking it.

I really wish people would focus more on screwing each other in fun ways and less in mean and nasty ways.

[chervilant]

19. For about the last 5 years,

I've wondered if our species is experiencing an epidemic of mental disorders, especially depression and anxiety disorders. Certainly, here in the US, we have an epidemic of taking drugs for these kinds of diseases.

We seldom acknowledge that we now live in exponential times. This temporally challenging new paradigm means that we are deluged with visual and auditory stimuli from the time we wake up until we pass out each night from sheer exhaustion. Virtually ALL of our social constructs—but most particularly our parenting strategies and our system of public education—do not reflect this ginormous socio-cultural change. We've had far more change and faster change in the last two decades than we've had in the last 5,000 years. Our species simply hasn't had enough time to adjust to this new reality.

Another factor, IMHO, is overpopulation. Calhoun's research with rats suggests that overpopulation results in mental disorders (and a plethora of bizarre, increasingly mortal behaviors). I wonder if we've even begun to adjust to our current population, given that we seldom discuss this reality.

The most important issue, to me, is finding ways to be supportive and compassionate with those whose lives are marred by mental disorders. It's far too easy for some of us to poke fun and make sarcastic or derisive remarks. This form of verbal bullying needs to stop.

[obamanut2012]

21. Do 25% of US adults have physical illnesses and issues?

Yes, right? probably more, right?

So, how is this any different? It isn't. It's just that we stigmatize mental illness and not physical illness, even though I hate those terms, because the two are often intertwined.

Not a big deal. So what? An illness is an illness. Americans need to quite stigmatizing "mental" illnesses.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

28. Among certain cultures it's hidden in shame

Especially ones that emphasize family lineage. The traditional ancestor worship of the Japanese is an example.

In some cases you don't want your g/f b/f to know about it because they might dump you out of fear you will have a kid that's not normal. Or that YOU are not normal because that's, "in your blood".

Remember the end of Arsenic and Old Lace"? "I'm not a Brewster! I'm the son of a sea cook!"

[HiPointDem]

25. reification

[Kablooie]

27. 28% of America are RW extremists. So only 3% of them are sane.