Understanding Mental Illness

About one in four adults over the age of 18 suffer from one or more than one mental illness in the United States. In addition, mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada for ages 15-44. Unfortunately, people with these illnesses are often very misunderstood. This article will educate you on mental illness so that you may better understand it.

How does the mind work? No one knows really but we do know a bit about the mind. Our anger, our sadness, our happiness, our arousal and all of our feelings are controlled by our mind. But our mind also controls what we see and hear. Our mind has more to do with those things than our eyes and ears.

What we see, what we hear, and how we feel are physical manifestations of what is going on in our mind. Here's how it works.

When you experience a sad moment like the death of a loved one. Most of us cry. How does that happen? What happens before the tears come? Let's think about that. You feel that tightening in your chest. The feeling moves up your neck and then the tears come and we often make sounds. What's happening there is that the event of your loved one's death triggered a chemical reaction in your brain that caused you to cry.

You mind can control your body. Don't believe me? Guys, think of a sexual thought or look at a picture of a beautiful nude woman. Chances are good that you will get an erection. It's OK, I certainly do. It's normal. That erection happened with absolutely NO CONTACT with your penis. Have you guys ever ejaculated while dreaming? (a "wet" dream). That's an orgasm controlled and activated completely by your MIND.

Let's talk about dreams. During the dream whatever you're dreaming about is 100% REAL to you. The things you see, hear and even smell are REAL during a dream. You wake from a nightmare in a cold sweat, heart pounding through your chest, and panting. In the dream you were scared and running. What happens when you are scared and running in real life? You're pulse goes up, your breathing goes up, and you sweat.

Let's talk about Depression. She cries for no reason. You ask her what's wrong and she replies, "I don't know" as she cries. She may not really know. Just because she has no reason to cry does not mean that her brain isn't firing off the chemical mixture to create emotion and tears.

Let's talk about Bi-Polar or Manic Depression. She's manic. She is yelling and flipping out about something that really isn't that bad. Something that she used to look at as just a pain in the rear and nothing more. Then later, she is crying herself to sleep in her bed. She might be manic and clean the house spotless and be depressed and just not have any energy and be sleepy. Chemical reactions in her brain are making her manic and making her depressed. Just because the house isn't dirty doesn't mean she can't release this energy she has by cleaning the house. Just because she has nothing to be mad about doesn't mean she can't be mad. Just because she makes $200,000 a year, all her bills are paid, she has a great husband and kids and is blessed beyond what she ever expected doesn't mean she can't cry.

Let's talk about Schizophrenia. They see and hear things and that may or may not be accompanied by paranoia. When we look at a person, our eye captures that image, sends it to our brain that activates a chemical response to process what we see. When we hear things, the sound goes in our ear and vibrates our ear drum. A signal is sent to the brain to activate a chemical response to process what it is that we hear. When we have a warrant for our arrest and a police car is behind us driving down the road, a chemical reaction is activated in our brain and we get nervous or paranoid. Just because we don't have warrants doesn't mean that the chemical reaction in our brain that causes paranoia can't go off. Just because there's no one there, doesn't mean that a chemical reaction in our brain isn't processing a sight. Same applies to hearing.

Mentally ill people are not retarded or slow. On the contrary, about 75% of those with mental illness have an above average IQ. I took care of a civil engineer who was mentally ill. I took care of an actual psychiatrist who was mentally ill. Don't tell me that these two individuals were anything but brilliant and very intelligent people.

Mental illness needs to be treated as seriously as diabetes. Mental illness is just as much a physical illness as diabetes. It's the SYMTOMS that are mental. Hopefully, this article educated you to the point that it may educate you and give you a better understanding of mental illness.