Facts About Mental Illness

Here are some facts from reliable sources such as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI):

• A brain disorder is like any other chronic health condition, with treatment options and hope for recovery.
  
  
• Mental illness is more common than cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
  
  
• Mental illnesses are manageable with the right combination of medication, treatment, and support.
  
  
• Stigma is one of the primary reasons that people choose to forego the mental health treatment they need, because they fear being treated differently if their diagnosis is known by their families, friends, and employers.
  
  
• A recent explosion of scientific evidence indicates that serious mental illnesses are neurobiological brain disorders, but stigma and demeaning stereotypes remain.
  
  
• Most people wouldn't think of joking about people disabled by other chronic health conditions, yet ignorance still pervades the public perception of mental illnesses.
  
  
• Mental illness is the leading cause of disability worldwide.
  
  
• Public awareness is growing about our need to address mental illness in our community. The public is wakening to the idea that criminalizing ill people and warehousing them in our jails is inhumane and does not solve the problem.
  
  
• Resources are not adequate to meet the needs existing in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo Counties. In Sacramento County alone it is estimated that 28% of the population, or as many as 381,775 people, may suffer from some form of mental illness.
  
  
• The consequences of untreated mental illness are truly staggering when you consider the unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, suicide and wasted lives.
  
  
• In order to truly transform public awareness and the mental health system in the Sacramento region, we need the full support of our business community.