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29% of Americans mentally ill?

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I think that 29% is actually low.

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Worldwide, Many Are Mentally Ill, but Few Treated
Thu May 8, 2003 10:31 AM ET
By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Up to 29 percent of people living in the U.S. and other parts of the developed world are mentally ill, many of whom seriously so, new research show. However, between one- and two-thirds of people diagnosed with a serious form of mental illness are not getting treatment for their disorder, the authors note.

The findings are based on interviews conducted with more than 23,000 residents of Canada, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States.

People were diagnosed with a mental illness based on their responses to questions contained in the interview, designed by the World Health Organization.

The rate of mental illness ranged from 17 percent in Chile to 29 percent in the U.S.

'Nobody every expected to see numbers this big,' study author Dr. Ronald C. Kessler of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts told Reuters Health.

Although most of the mentally ill appeared to have a mild or moderate case, Kessler estimated that between three and eight percent of the population in these countries 'has a really serious disorder.'

Serious forms of mental illness would include people who are so depressed they have devised a plan to commit suicide, he said, or so anxious that their career choices have been strongly influenced by their fears.

Despite the debilitating nature of mental illness, between one-third and two-thirds of people with a serious case of mental illness said they received no professional treatment during the past year, according to the report, published this week in the journal Health Affairs.

In terms of why people don't often seek out help for serious mental illness, Kessler said that, in many cases, the condition may consist of severe forms of emotions that most people face, and some people with an illness may be unable to distinguish between what they are feeling and what are normal concerns.

Furthermore, those who have been dealing with the problem since their youth may simply get used to it, he said, and no longer see it as a problem needing treatment. If they were overly frightened as a child, for instance, they would not be surprised to carry those feelings into adulthood. 'That's just life,' he said.

Some people may also be embarrassed to seek help, or may not have access to the treatment they need, Kessler added.

People were least likely to receive treatment in the U.S., where only one-third of seriously mentally ill patients are being treated for their conditions.

Kessler said that the U.S. is the one country included in the study that did not have a system of universal health care, and being in treatment depended more strongly on resources than need in America than in other countries.

For instance, a middle-class person with a mild form of mental illness is more likely to be treated in the U.S. than a poor person with a severe form of illness, Kessler said. 'In America, severity is not as important as resources,' he noted. 'And that's not the way things should be.'

Kessler added that it is in the nation's best interest to help people with mental illness, for untreated mental illness will affect many aspects of people's lives, including their productivity in the workplace. 'We just can't afford, as a society, to waste this much human capital,' he said. 'Something has to change.'

i dont think they'd classify what is metally ill as i do.

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Originally posted by The_Dude
i dont think they'd classify what is metally ill as i do.

Why, do you fall in their category? :confused:

29% only starts to explain the Jerry Springer show.

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Originally posted by sixate
Why, do you fall in their category? :confused:

doubt it!

Agree my ex is apart of the 29%.

I would say that they're including conditions like depression, ADHD, epilepsy and so on under the blanket term of "mental illness".
The numbers on this kind of article are always surprising when you hear them for the first time, but the general global statistic is that one in five people suffer from some form of mental illness.

If it's that high they probably included ADD, infrequent depression, and stuff like that.

in all honesty, I seriously doubt that the US citizens number 29%... i would think it to be higher.

the biggest thing is, a lot of people have mental health problems and refuse to get help.... even now in 2003, most people are petrified by such problems and are absolutely terrified that they may have problems themselves... which is awful and sad.

of ocurse our asylum history doesn't help.. but some day we have to look past the scary past and move forward.

i hope and pray more people will accept it and let studying begin so we can help our coming generations instead of the usuasl policy we have. most americans only see black and white: a guy is mental and completely whacky or just has a problem or two... there are many levels... and the governmants views on it has always been 'we will not fund money for mental health unless they go shitcrazy and commit crimes'.

for example: I've had gobs and gobs and gobs of money help with my life (thank God) to keep my life going and equipment needed. when i almost lost my mind in 1999 i had to pay 100% of all mental health fees. (I had to seek help)

its stupid.... we need discussions on this kind of thing much more often...

Well said. Mental health is every bit as important as physical health, but no one ever wants to talk about it.

Every one is crazy in their own subtle way, it's just it's more on the surface of some more than others.

I use the analogy of surgical instruments. Surgeons used to use butchers knives to operate on people. Barber and surgeon used to even be the same profession. Over a few hundred years they started to use fine scalpels and now they're beginning to use lasers.

For mental health though, they only stopped taking the butcher's knife approach a few decades ago. Hell, only now are people beginning to consider that maybe mental illness isn't some devilish possession or moral weakness. The "scalpels" we use even today are crude and blunt. They've still got a long way to go before they can treat mental illness with any precision

These days its almost fashionable to suffer from one mental disorder or the other. The more "severe" your condition the higher your status http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/laugh.gif

Wal-Mart... No Maxim... Plenty of Guns... No shit.

Welcome to America... we make our killers celebrities.

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Originally posted by World's King

Welcome to America... we make our killers celebrities.

WK, that is definitely one of the most profound things I have heard in a very long time. The sad thing is, it is true. Look at Scott Petersen, his case is a perfect example. Thank you for brining this to my attention, and making a really great quote at the same time!

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Originally posted by Easytiger
I would say that they're including conditions like depression, ADHD, epilepsy and so on under the blanket term of "mental illness".

I agree with part of this, Easytiger, but my educated (as mental health counselor) guess is that they are classifying as mentally ill, people that fit the criteria based on the DSM- a manual published by the American Psychiatric Assoc., which defines all the recognized mental/emotional illnesses. This is considered the *bible* of the mental health community. As a aside, it it wasn't until the 1970's that they declassified homosexuality as a mental illness. Everything is in there, from post-traumatic stress syndrome to transvestic fetishism, sexual dysfunction to cannabis & alchohol abuse, and a whole menu of depressive disorders. It's one of my favorite books.

Mental illness is a real hot button phrase. Many of us think one must be a drooling, hallucinating, schizophrenic to be mentally ill but in truth there are very average mental illnesses, hence this 29% figure could be accurate.

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They've still got a long way to go before they can treat mental illness with any precision

I believe this is true. I'm not even going to get into psychiatric drugs and medication.

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These days its almost fashionable to suffer from one mental disorder or the other. The more "severe" your condition the higher your status

I often internalize things to the point where I'm pretty sure something will happen in the next 10 minutes that will greatly change my life for the worse because I'm afraid of being seen as some "dorky ass teenager who listens to korn and likes to revel in his own twisted, demeneted, world of blah blah blah".

Even the threat of prison doesn't phaze me in the apex of a psychotic episode. When I come down I realize just how fucking serious this problem is, but I can't get legal, affordable, acceptable treatment for it. There is just no fucking way for me to find relief aside from using drugs (it may be textbook, but it keeps me alive and it may even keep your or your mother alive, should one of you catch me on a bad day and give me a look I don't like). But really, talking about it is embarassing. I'm told everyone has problems and teens and kids into their 20s are fucked up and blah blah and that its just a normal thing. It's either that or I go back into the fucking hospital where I'm not allowed to hang out with friends, get high, look at porn, have sex, and where my most extensive therapy consists of countless hours of watching TV, coloring, and a daily one hour session with some asshole in a tweed jacket I met only days prior.

God fucking damn it. Please someone make this world a better place with one felt blow.

mental illness is just another way to force people into the "cookie cutter" mold of what we're told to be.
If you are unique........you are mentally ill
if you see the world differently than others........you are mentally ill
if you don't fit the mold........you are mentally ill

lawyers use mental illness to get their clients off
doctors use mental illness to make more money
goverments use mental illness to dis-credit many who speak out

being "mentally ill" is being human.
being "sane" is being robot

29% huh? Well that's about 1 out of every 3.

So look at the person to your left. Then to your right.

If they seem ok, guess what?

"being "mentally ill" is being human.
being "sane" is being robot"

Well, alpha phi, that's very subjective...

Many, if not most, of these people are typically miserable and very unhappy. I'd say there is, in fact, such a thing as mental illness. And it is rampant in human populations.

it certainly explains a lot :)

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Originally posted by ARTelevision
"

Well, alpha phi, that's very subjective...

I suppose it is.........
I tend to see the world in very black N white terms.
possably part of my own mental illness.
As for being unhappy, or miserable we're told we should be,
because we don't "fit in"
I instead embrace my differences, rather than sedate them.
It's what makes me........ME!
I'm happy with my life!
I know many other people with mental illnesses
(birds of a feather)
some go to a shrink, get drugged, and are miserable
others learn to accept themselves and are very happy.

I admit, it took me a long time, and a lot of self exploration to get to my present state of mind. I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it all over!

It would be interesting to see the breakdown of that 29% and see what categories they fall into.

79% seems more accurate. Maybe mentally retarded is 29%.

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Originally posted by impirius7
WK, that is definitely one of the most profound things I have heard in a very long time. The sad thing is, it is true. Look at Scott Petersen, his case is a perfect example. Thank you for brining this to my attention, and making a really great quote at the same time!

what you didn't see Natural Born Killers???? Oliver Stone was showing the absurdity of it all.

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Originally posted by Easytiger I would say that they're including conditions like depression, ADHD, epilepsy and so on under the blanket term of "mental illness". The numbers on this kind of article are always surprising when you hear them for the first time, but the general global statistic is that one in five people suffer from some form of mental illness.

I'm not sure on the exact stats, but completely agree with you that "mental illness" includes many illnesses including [from DSM-IV], but not limited to, 296.2x Major Depressive Disorder (depression), 314.xx ADHD, 295.xx Schizophrenia, 305.00 Alcohol Abuse, et. al. Even disorders like Amnesia (300.12) are considered mental disorders.