It's Time To Break The Silence About Mental Health

Mental health is a huge issue in the United States and continues to grow worse with each passing month. Anxiety disorders (panic disorder, O.C.D., post-traumatic stress disorder, and phobias), depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, personality disorders, and psychotic disorders plague the lives of 1 in every 5 adults in America. Mental health disorders are mainly caused by biological factors (genes, physical illness, injury, or brain chemistry), life experiences, and family history of mental health problems.

1 in 100 (2.4 million) adults lives with schizophrenia. 2.6% (6.1 million) adults live with bipolar disorder. 6.9% (16 million) adults live with major depression. 18.1% (42 million) adults live with a form of an anxiety disorder. Approximately 10.2 million American adults have a re-occurring mental health disorder. Suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2017 alone 47,173 Americans committed suicide and 1,400,000 attempted to take their lives. That totals up to around 129 suicides per day. Of those who committed suicide, 50.6% used a firearm, 13.9% used a form of poisoning, 27.7% used suffocation, and 7.8% used a different form.

1 in every 5 women and 1 in every 7 men engage in some form of self-harm. Self-harm includes but is not limited to cutting, burning, interfering with wound healing, hitting or punching oneself or other objects, inserting objects into the skin (stabbing), purposefully breaking one's bones or bruising oneself, and hair-pulling. There are currently over 2 million cases of self-harm in the United States. 90% of people who engage in self-injury begin in their early teen years and 50% carry the habit into their 20s.

Close to 60% of adults in America with a mental illness and, nearly 50% of youth between the ages of 8-15, didn't receive mental health services the previous year.

Mental health is a very serious issue that is commonly overlooked and ignored when it is just as important as a physical injury. It is preventable but often goes untreated; the effects of which are deadly.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health disorder than we urge you to reach out for help. Forms of help with coping can include talking to a trusted friend, adult, or specialist, write down your feelings, reach out for help from a therapist, and if it is life-threatening contact the Suicide Hotline. Try to remember that there is always a reason to live and keep pushing forward and fighting. Together we can put an end to mental illness.