We've Passed Mental Illness Awareness Week

This month, Mental Illness Awareness Week was October 3-9. I know that it's passed, but I feel like I should give some facts from nami.org that I find interesting. I hope that you'll find them interesting, too. It's my part of educating you, hoping that maybe you'll understand me a little better.

As most of you know, I'm rocking my bipolar disorder. I'm taking my meds, keeping track of my moods, and checking in with myself constantly. I also have anxiety, which I've been keeping a handle on. Those are two of the disorders which NAMI tracks. Here are some stats (which NAMI actually called fun facts on their website):

Annual prevalence among U.S. adults, by condition:

  • Anxiety Disorders: 19.1% (estimated 48 million people)
  • Major Depressive Episode: 7.8% (19.4 million people)
  • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: 3.6% (estimated 9 million people)
  • Bipolar Disorder: 2.8% (estimated 7 million people)
  • Borderline Personality Disorder: 1.4% (estimated 3.5 million people)
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: 1.2% (estimated 3 million people)
  • Schizophrenia: <1% (estimated 1.5 million people)

I actually have four of these disorders, so that lets you know when they talk about the millions of people who have these disorders, we overlap. (Side note: I'm surprised the number of anxiety disorders isn't higher.)

Here are just three more facts I found interesting:

  • 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year
  • 1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year
  • 1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year

Now, it doesn't define what the difference is between a mental illness and a serious mental illness, but having been in the hospital a few times, I can imagine what a serious mental illness is. I'll let everyone make their own assumptions. If you're interested in reading more about Mental Illness Awareness Week, looking at more facts, or seeing videos on the disorders or reading blogs, go to https://nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Illness-Awareness-Week. NAMI is a great place for mental health information.

To end this week's blog, I'm going to leave a picture that Matthew drew on the white board during one of his appointments when he was incredibly bored:


Until next week's dirt...

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