Seeking emotional stability and peace of mind is a passion of our society today. Billions of dollars are spent on books, workshops, retreats, education and therapy annually. Many claim to have the path to contentment or the method by which to achieve happiness. A common problem is that not everyone has the same definition of contentment or happiness. This could be the result of the fact that mental health is defined differently based upon individual differences of opinion.
What then is an appropriate definition of mental health? Mental health can be most appropriately viewed as a continuum from “normal, healthy individuals” to “individuals suffering from severe mental illness,” such as bipolar disorder, (formerly referred to as maniac/depressive disorder), schizophrenia and other psychological disorders. Mental health is something that everyone possesses, just as everyone possesses physical health. Much like physical health, where individuals can suffer from long-term illnesses such as high blood pressure or diabetes or short-term illnesses such as the common cold or flu, individuals can suffer from long-term mental illness such as bipolar disorder or short-term mental illness such as a panic attack.
Why then is there a stigma or negative perception associated with seeking help for mental illness? This question is more complex than it appears. The reason for this is that historically mental illness has been viewed with fear and pity. For centuries, individuals that would probably be diagnosed with a severe mental illness today were either set apart from the rest of society by placing them in an asylum or hospital or by killing them. Unfortunately, modern popular culture hasn’t done much to change the image of individuals with mental illnesses. When most people think of individuals with mental illness they think of images from movies such as “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Silence of the Lambs,” or “As Good As It Gets.” These movies only portray stereotypical examples of more severe forms of mental illness. In fact, it is far more common for individuals to experience mood disorders such as depression or anxiety disorders such as phobias than extreme mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
One commonly asked question is how does a person get a mental illness? This is another straightforward question that is more complex than it appears. There is no one place that mental illness can be said to have originated. Most mental illnesses have a genetic component, meaning that they can be passed from parents to children much the same way that diabetes or high blood pressure can be passed from parents to children. Just because an individual inherits the genetic tendency to have a mental illness does not mean that the individual will exhibit the symptoms of the illness. The reason for this is because the genetic tendencies need to be “activated” by environmental factors. Thus, mental illness results from a combination of genetic tendencies and environmental factors such as childhood experiences, traumatic events, social interactions, etc.
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Individuals Who Have Lived — www.mentalhealthministries.org |
Experiencing a mental illness can cause an individual difficulty and discomfort but it does not have to result in the individual losing his or her ability to be a happy and productive member of society. In fact, a large number of people who have suffered from one type of mental illness or another continue to live making significant contributions to society.
Consider these examples of individuals who have experienced some form of mental illness. It is undeniable what the 16th President of the United States of America accomplished in his life. After all, how many people can claim that they played a major role in keeping a country intact through a period of civil war? One thing that is not reported in most history books is that Abraham Lincoln suffered from what would now be diagnosed as depression for large portions of his life and in fact had experienced thoughts of suicide. Diana, Princess of Wales, was a major advocate for banning the use of landmines throughout the world. She also was known to cut herself in a poor attempt to ease her inner pain with outer pain. Can someone suffering from schizophrenia actually win a Nobel Prize? The movie “A Beautiful Mind,” based on the life of John F. Nash, shows the suffering that this brilliant man was able to persist through. These are but a few examples of individuals that were able to function through mental illness. Hopefully, this will provide evidence that mental illness is not an ending to normal life but another trial that is presented to humans that they can get through.
As can be seen by the aforementioned examples, stigmas in mental health tend to cause more problems than they eliminate. The potential that exists within a human is not decreased simply based on whether or not that individual suffers from a mental illness. In fact, experiencing a mental illness can open an individual to new perspectives on life that may not be otherwise accessible. It also provides an individual with sensitivity to others’ pain that can only be achieved by “coming out the other side” of a difficulty, similar to how going through the grieving process allows one to better sympathize with others as they grieve. There is no shame in allowing a “guide” to help you navigate through mental illness. Only truly healthy and mature individuals are willing to admit that they need help, be it from a mental health professional, support group or spiritual support system.
— John Wenger, psychologist and owner of Anderson Psychiatric Clinic, Anderson, Ind., and Adam Wenger, master’s student in Clinical Psychology, Ball State University