Mental Health Disorders

Society tends to shy away from the discussion of mental health disorders. Sometimes, the moment you even say anything to do with mental health disorders, people begin to get visibly uncomfortable. You see them shuffle their feet or shift their eyes. Perhaps their tone of voice changes. It is a known fact that people fear what they do not understand. The majority of the human population does not understand too much about mental health disorders.

Statistics show that people with mental health disorders are more common than people think. There are so many different types of mental health disorders that almost 1 in every 3 individuals could be diagnosed with something. Many people hide it well. Others cannot hide their differences at all.

Types of Mental Health Disorder

Some mental health disorders are as harmless as someone needing to wash their hands more times a day than you might. Other disorders cause people to see things that do not exist and hear voices that no one else hears. Sometimes you can tell if a person is disturbed simply by glancing at them. Most people appear the same as the rest of society. It is incredibly sad that the general population is not more educated about mental health disorders. If people were more educated and understood this topic more, not as much fear and isolation would occur. People may not be so embarrassed to come forward and seek help. Most people who think that they may have something going on inside of them fight the need to seek assistance.

They are humiliated and feel inferior. The fact that they even feel this way is terribly sad. It causes isolation and depression. It can lead to suicide. It can even lead to aggressive behavior towards others. Mental health disorders affect people in so many ways. Society needs to become more educated.

Ask anyone to name as many mental health disorders as they can and most people will name the most dreaded ones: schizophrenia, bipolar, eating disorders and maybe even post-traumatic stress disorder. People don't always know that Attention Deficit Disorder and Depression are mental health disorders. They are terms we hear almost daily sometimes and they seem normal. Those disorders are not very scary to people. But, the moment you throw in some words that no one can define, they get uncomfortable.

Education of any and all mental health disorders needs to start at younger ages. Schools need to touch upon the issue. Parents need to talk to their children about how to deal with someone who may be different than them. My daughter was in elementary school with a child who had a mental health disorder. Many of the children made fun of this little girl. I caught my daughter joining in once and I addressed it immediately. I have absolutely no tolerance of anyone making fun of others. Don't be afraid of mental health disorders. Educate yourself. If you need assistance, ask for it. If someone is different than you, be accepting.

Article by J.D. Ericson an independent writer for Healthy Help Files on Mental Health Issues.

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