If you have diabetes, would you treat it by a.) Taking medication designed specifically to improve your condition? or b.) Trying harder to make your body adequately regulate its insulin levels on your own?
Every so often, you experience sharp chest pains. Some attacks are worse then others, but you know your family has a history of heart attacks. Do you A.) Call a doctor and check it out — it might be heart disease, it might be something else, it might be nothing — but better safe then sorry? or B.) Ignore them. You've lived through the last ones, you don't have any now, and if they come back, you'll just do what you did last time — lie down, listen to the new Radiohead album, and wait for them to pass.
The answers to these questions are obvious. If you are diagnosed with an illness you take the proper steps to treat said illness. If you suspect your health might be in danger, you take the steps to prevent serious illness or injury. Taking insulin for your diabetes or getting a cardiogram for your heart problem does not, in any way, indicate a weakness on your part. It's just what you do.
This is the United States, damn it, home to some of the best medical care in the world. And we are Americans, the hardest working people in the world. Why should we feel bad if we don't have to? Why should we let illness hold us back when we have medication, treatment and doctors to help us feel our best? We don't. We make pharmaceutical companies and insurance providers lots of money demanding precise diagnoses, the best treatment possible and speedy recoveries.
And when we don't get those things, we make a lot of noise. But when it comes to treating mental health issues, the masses grow unsettlingly quiet.
According a study conducted by the World Health Organization in conjunction with Harvard University, mental illness accounts for "15 percent of the burden of disease in established market economies, such as the United States." This makes mental illness a bigger threat to Americans than cancer. And while we're getting better at recognizing it, we — as citizens, as sufferers, and as concerned friends — are still reluctant to acknowledge the effect mental illness has on our lives, and more importantly, the fact that we don't have to take it.
"Mental illness" is a catchall term used to describe a multitude of disorders and diseases that affect the brain. The Mental Heath Diagnostic and Statistical Directory IV has over 800 pages detailing different symptoms and classifications. Because this term covers such a vast array of illnesses, more common disorders, such as depression, which affects up to 18 million Americans at one time in their life, are thrown in with diseases such as schizophrenia. As a result, many people are uncomfortable labeling themselves as mentally ill. I'm not crazy, they say. I'm just sad/anxious/neurotic, which is fine. Everyone has those days, those quirks, those times when they're not 100 percent happy. But for some people, those days stretch into weeks, those quirks prevent them from doing the things they love, and those bad times seem to last just as long as the good. And that's not fine. That's unacceptable. No one should have to put his or her life on hold due to a treatable medical condition.
By describing these conditions as "mental," the term implies these issues are separate from "physical" health issues like Lyme disease, hypertension or sickle cell anemia. It implies control on the part of the afflicted. It's all mental, the rationalization goes. If I just try harder, I can overcome this.
Trying harder is not an option. And yet, both those who suffer from mental health problems and those who live with suffers often can't understand why someone with anxiety disorder can't just calm down or someone with Attention Deficit Disorder can't just pay attention.
Asking someone who suffers from depression to cheer up is like asking someone to be less black or less male. If it were that easy to snap out of what can turn into weeks of paralyzing sorrow, they'd do it.
It's not that easy. But it doesn't need to be as hard as many people make it. A study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health indicated that only about a third of those who suffer from mental health problems seek treatment.
The other 67 percent live their lives at a severe disadvantage. It prevents them from working to their fullest potential. It endangers their self-esteem, self-image and self worth. It can lead to self-inflicted injury and death.
If and when they do seek treatment, the treatment they receive is severely compromised. When the doctors have a skewed data pool, reluctance from patients to talk about their illnesses, and a lack of public support for their causes, it makes it difficult to provide the best treatment possible for those in need. Even today, despite much advancement, medication for mental health problems can cause sexual, social and physical discomfort for the user.
Medication is not the only option. Talk therapy in any form can be beneficial — if anything, to convince you that you're not crazy or abnormal and that you are suffering from a legitimate medical condition instead of a personal weakness. Light therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, herbal treatments can all alleviate symptoms of the illness and make people — surprise, surprise — feel better. But treatment is impossible if there's no diagnosis. And diagnosis cannot happen until someone actively decides to do something about what's making him or her feel so bad in the first place.
Mental health problems cannot be ignored. You can't just walk them off. You cannot control your genes — you can control the way they make you feel. If you or someone you love suffers from mental illness, please, please, please talk to a doctor. You may even decide not to pursue further treatment after you've gotten some facts.
But at least give yourself that choice.
