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MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS FREQUENCY
Staggering numbers have been released which show how common mental illness is in our society. And related research says, it starts at a very young age, and most of us don’t get treated…so the problems escalate into significant issues.
This was a survey of around 10,000 Americans. Big issues, like anxiety, start in the early teen years, and simply go unrecognized. This is why mental health experts are urging those who are hurting to forget the stigma, go get help!
“Avi!,” screams the young lady behind the desk at the health club. She is calling out to Avi Cooper.
Avi is a regular guy. He has friends, he’s liked by acquaintances; you wouldn’t know it at first glance that he’s had to battle a couple of problems in the shadows. “I used to get very upset very quickly. Sometimes I couldn’t even control myself,” says Avi.
Avi hated his quick temper. “It affects your work, it affects your relationships,” recalls Avi. “It puts a burden like you’re carrying around a weight on your back for the rest of your life.”
Finally, Avi said enough, .and went for help.
Now, while there are few so open about their psychological challenges, the latest statistics say Avi is in very good company. According to new research in the archives of general psychiatry, 31 percent of the population will have an anxiety disorder; 23 percent will deal with depression; 16 percent will battle substance abuse. 51 percent--more than half--will have at least one disorder over a lifetime. More than a quarter have at least two disorders in a lifetime.
Dr. Mark Olfesen, a psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute says, “Increasingly there are effective treatments available particularly for the most common kinds of problems which are anxiety disorders and mood disorders or depression and that advances have been made over the last several years both in psychotherapies and in medication treatments.”
In spite of medicines that work, and practitioners to see, just slightly more than one-third with symptoms of a serious mental disorder receive any treatment. And while the majority of patients like avi eventually seek help, there can be a huge delay, with anxiety it can be up to 23 years later!
“One of the things that really jumps out from the data, from this study, is that there is a long delay often between the time when people first experience these symptoms and that they eventually get treatment. And the delays are particularly long when the problems begin in childhood, so one of the things that this study makes clear in that we need to be doing more to help young people receive mental health care in a timely way,” says Dr. Olfsen.
Avi is getting the therapy and medicine he’s needed. “Doctor Faithhorn tested me for a lot of things. She figured there was a lot of tension and animosity which gave me a lot of anxiety. So she thought that ativan would help me out a great deal,” says Avi.
And now the gym weights are the only weights Avi is carrying around. “It changed my life. I’m amazed at the metamorphosis.”
Anxiety and impulse disorders start at around age 11. Substance abuse begins around age 20. Many cases begin with mild, easy-to-dismiss symptoms such as low-level anxiousness or persistent shyness, but left untreated, they can quickly escalate into severe depression, disabling phobias or clinical anxiety.
This data is why the authors are calling for more thought given to public health interventions involving children and adolescents, so that their path is one of mental health.
For more information, and to read the studies, go to:
http://www.archgenpsychiatry.com
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