MENTAL ILLNESS: Just The Facts, Ma'am...

Mental Illness: Myths & Facts


Mental illness: is it an intellectual disability or brain damage?

NO. It is an illness just like any other: heart disease, diabetes, asthma.

Is it incurable and lifelong?

NO. With effective, on-going treatment, an individual may lead an everyday life

Are people born with a mental illness?

The causes are unclear. A predisposition to some mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, can run in families. Many other factors can contribute to the onset of a mental illness in people with a predisposition such as stress, bereavement, relationship breakdown, child abuse, unemployment, social isolation and times of accidents and life-threatening illness. Studies show one in five Americans will develop a mental illness during their lifetime. And, using the expression ‘nervous breakdown’ is far preferable to being identified ‘mentally ill’.

Are people with a mental illness dangerous?

NO. In fact, this false perception underlies some of the most damaging stereotypes. People with a mental illness are seldom dangerous. Even people with the most severe mental illness are rarely dangerous when receiving appropriate treatment.

Should people with a mental illness be isolated from the community?

NO. Most people with a mental illness recover quickly and do not need hospital care, or have only brief admissions. Treatment discoveries of recent decades have removed the need for isolation and confinement as was common in the past. A small number of people with a mental illness - one in a thousand - need hospital care, sometimes against their will. It is important to recognise that this is not the situation for the vast majority of those who might have an episode of illness.

The attitudes of family, friends and the community towards people with a mental illness play a critical part in determining their quality of life.

One of the biggest hurdles for people trying to get well is confronting the attitudes that their family, friends, employers and neighbours hold towards them because of their illness.

Sadly, this often means that people with a mental illness face isolation and discrimination just for having an illness