What is good mental health?
Mental health is how a person thinks, feels and acts when faced with life’s situations and problems. Mental health can be considered a continuum between feeling healthy and ill. For most individuals, good mental health can be maintained through proper diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management. Many people find that at some point in their lives, therapy and/or medication is needed to maintain mental health.
How common is mental illness?
20% of children 9 to 17 years old experience a mental or addictive disorder each year—approximately 4 children in a classroom of 20! It has been estimated that each year 11% of children have significant social/emotional impairment due to a mental or addictive disorder.
What causes mental illness?
Can a person with mental illness still be productive?
In the last few years, the stigma and shame around having a mental illness has been reduced by courageous celebrities who have shared their stories and struggle with recovery from mental illness. These people include Catherine Zeta Jones, Mel Gibson, Brooke Shields, Carrie Fisher, Emma Thompson, Elton John and Craig Ferguson.
No less courageous are the staff, volunteers, members and friends of Mental Health America of the Heartland who dedicate time and support to helping others to understanding and recovery, and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who live with those illnesses every day.
Once a person becomes mentally ill, can they recover?
Why don’t people who have mental illness get treatment?
Additionally, spending for mental health services is very low. Despite statistics that show that untreated mental illness is the greatest cause of disability worldwide 66% of countries surveyed by the World Health Organization devote less than 1% of their budget to the treatment of mental illness!
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- How do I find treatment, including affordable treatment?
- How to I find a good, reliable provider?
- How do I pick a therapist?
- How do I find a support group in my community?
- What can I do if I’m dissatisfied with my mental health therapy services/treatment?
- How can I get more information about medications?
- How can I get help paying for my prescriptions?
- How do I find inpatient or residential treatment?
- How do I find out about clinical trials?