Next time you are in line at the grocery store or waiting at the bus stop, look around you. How many people do you see? 5 maybe 10? Research shows that two of ten people have or will have mental illness. Mental illness can affect anyone, anytime.
What Is Mental Health?
Most of us have heard the terms mental illness or mental disorder. These terms are used ro describe a wide range of different conditions but what they have in common is that they affect a person's emotions, thoughts and behaviours, how they see themselves, see the world around them and how they interact in that world.
Althought there are many types of mental illnesses, we will be looking at 8 different mental illnesses commonly associated with youth.
Types of Mental Illnesses?
1) Mood Disorders
2) Anxiety Disorders
3) Eating Disorders
4) Substance Use Disorders
5) Self Harm/Self-Injury
6) Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity Disorder)
7) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
8) Autism
**Note: Each week for the next 8 weeks, we will be looking at each one of these mental health disorders in greater detail. We will also be discussing simple ways to practice mental health fitness as well as dealing with misconceptions and stereotypes related to mental illness.
Please provide post your comments regarding any of the information presented.
Facts About Mental Illness
1) By 2020, The World Health Organization predicts that Depression will become the number two cause worldwide of years lost due to disability.
2) The number of suicides in Canada is around 400 people a year. For people aged 15-24, suicide is the number two cause of death.
3) Mental illness is the number one leading cause of disability in the world.
4) Mental illness costs the Canadian economy 51billion dollars a year
5)Mental illness is the number one cause of disability in Canada
6)The unemployment rate among people with serious mental illness is between 70-90%
Source: Canadian Mental Health Association
