Did you know?
The stigma associated with mental health is called “sanism?” There is a lot of sanism and misconceptions surrounding mental illness within our society. People will hear anything “related” to mental health and automatically assume it is true without having any factual evidence.
In recent years, mental health has slowly lost its sanism but certain myths persist.
Here are five of the most common misconceptions associated with mental health.
People that have a mental illness cannot work
This is entirely false. It is accurate to say that someone living with a severe mental illness may not be able to carry out regular work. However, the vast majority of people with mental health are just as productive as other employees.
Children are not affected by mental health problems.
People believe that mental illness occurs at a certain age and that is inaccurate. An individual can be diagnosed with a mental illness at any age, even children in elementary school. Almost half of all mental health disorders show first signs in an individual before the age of fourteen .
The mental health problems that children experience are often clinically diagnosable, and can be product of the interaction of psychological, biological, and social factors. For a child it is even more important to address the problem before it interferes with other developmental needs. This is why I advocate the importance of receiving support for your mental health more earlier than later. I was in the 3rd grade when I received my initial diagnosis, and I was fortunate enough to have a support system that was able to provide me with the necessary help that I needed.
It is unfortunate because more than 80% of children and adolescents that are diagnosed with a mental health illness go without treatment.
People that have a mental illness are violent and unpredictable.
This is not accurate. Unfortunately, the entertainment industry has wrongly depicted individuals with a mental illness on numerous accounts. For example, in the movie “Split” the main character Kevin suffers from dissociative personality disorder and he abducts three teenage girls. This movie did not help to probably educate audiences on what it is truly like living with this disorder or to know someone who does.
Research even shows that only 3%-5% of violent acts can actually be attributed to an individual diagnosed with a mental illness. In fact, an individual diagnosed with a mental illness is more likely to be a victim of a crime than a perpetrator.
Mental illness are not treatable
Being diagnosed with a mental illness is not necessarily a “life sentence.” While mental illnesses are not curable they are treatable. Treatment for mental health varies depending on the individual and their diagnosis. Some options for treatment include psychotherapy, medication, support groups, and learning skills to manage symptoms.Learning more about your mental illness is another great place to start.
I also want to add that treatment is only effective if you want it to be.
Psychiatric medications are bad.
People have a tendency to believe that psychiatric medicine is harmful. Or they believe that meds are “an easy way out” for someone diagnosed with a mental illness. This is not true.
For many individuals with mental illness, medication is needed for survival. Medication can provide those with bipolar disorder, moderate depression, anxiety, or ADHD, the ability to function normally.
If you are prescribed medication, it is important to continue having regular therapy sessions.
Now that you have read about these five mental health misconceptions, you can now go out in the world and educate other people probably on mental health.
This post was written by Hana Hollenbeck, a psychology major at SUNY Cortland, and published by Convenient Counseling Services.
Live in New York and want to learn more about working with us? Check us out here!
Check out more content like this here.
