I’ll be the first person to commend and lionize the intentions and motivations behind Mental Illness Awareness Week. It’s an opportunity for much-needed conversations about the stigma surrounding mental illness. However, I do think some improvements could be made. Namely, I struggle with the notion that the most productive conversations are ones we can simply ‘jump’ into. I think a lot of people would agree that knowledge is the foundation of understanding. So, in the spirit of “knowledge is power”, some definitions…
Mental health — Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”
Mental health is therefore something that all individuals experience daily, good or bad.
Mental health problems — Mental health problems are those problems that arise as a result of or subsequent to stressors or traumas. Everyone is susceptible to mental health problems, whether due to stress, death of a loved one, or career setbacks.
And finally,
Mental disorders — also called “mental illnesses”; the Mayo Clinic says that “Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior.” Examples would include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, mood disorders, personality disorders, etc.
In short, it is mental illness that ultimately affects an individual’s ability to realize her or her potential, cope with stress, and contribute to his or her community. I say “ultimately” because compared to mental distress or problems, mental illness is often persistent, and sometimes chronic or resistant to treatment.
Mental Illness Awareness Week is a great initiative for getting the ball rolling in terms of a dialogue about mental health. The key to “mental illness literacy” however, is to make sure the focus remains on those core issues of mental health stigmatization that isolate, intimidate, and estrange us. Recent articles have pointed out that perhaps there needs to be more circulation of information on specific disorders, or on seeking treatment. Should we pass out pamphlets on schizophrenia (The World Health Organization has selected “living with schizophrenia” as the theme of 2014)? Should we increase the amount of articles, studies, and other facts we share on social media? The good news is all the information is out there! On blogs, in journals, articles, and health care databases. The question is: is it enough to simply have a Mental Illness Awareness Week/World Mental Health Day? Or should we be doing more with it? What do you think about a more “informative” approach to World Mental Illness Week?
Here are a few sources for your further perusal.
Inman, Susan. “How We Can Cure Our Mental Illness Illiteracy.”Huffington Post 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/susan-inman/mental-illness-illiteracy_b_5961182.html>.
“Mental Health.” WHO. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://www.who.int/topics/mental_health/en/>.
“Topics: Stigma.” Mental Health Commission of Canada. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/issues/stigma>.
“Schizophrenia.” Canadian Mental Health Association. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://www.cmha.ca/mental_health/facts-about-schizophrenia/#.VEFjENTF99l>.