Mental Health Help

Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders that can profoundly disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, moods, ability to relate to others and capacity for coping with the demands of life. Mental illnesses include disorders such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.

Mental disorders affect one-quarter of all Americans. On any given day one out of every four people you pass may be experiencing a mental illness. By this count more than two million of Ohio’s 11 million citizens experience some form of mental disorder, including 200,000 children.

Source: Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities, http://www.oacbha.org/faq.php, retrieved June 2014

StarkMHAR Care Network This local directory of qualified service providers, within the StarkMHAR Care Network, address mental health and addiction treatment. The directory includes a brief description of each provider’s services, programs and contact information. StarkMHAR Care Network »

Top Warning Signs of People Struggling with Mental Health

1. Marked personality change
2. Inability to cope with problems and daily activities
3. Strange or grandiose ideas
4. Excessive fears, worries and anxieties
5. Prolonged depression, apathy, sadness or irritability
6. Feelings of extreme highs and lows
7. Dramatic changes in eating or sleeping habits
8. Excessive anger, hostility or violent behavior
9. Abuse of alcohol or drugs
10. And thinking or talking about suicide

Source: Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities, http://www.oacbha.org/faq.php, retrieved June 2014

Frequently Asked Questions About Mental Health

1. What is Mental Health?
Mental Health is how you feel about yourself, others, your life and how you are able to meet and handle the demands of life. Mental health is not the absence of problems. Rather, it describes the ability of the person to be flexible and resilient and able to address the problems with appropriate coping skills.

2. What is a Mental Illness?
Mental illnesses are biologically based brain disorders that can profoundly disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, moods, ability to relate to others, and capacity for coping with the demands of life. Mental illnesses include disorders such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder.

3. Who is Susceptible to Mental Illness?
Anyone may be susceptible to a mental illness. Psychiatric problems affect people of all ages, all income groups, all ethnic groups, all religious groups, urban and rural, male and female. No one is immune to a mental illness.

4. Isn’t Mental Illness a Rare Disorder?
Mental Disorders affect one-quarter of all Americans. On any given day one out of every 4 people you pass may be experiencing a mental illness. By this count more than 2 million of Ohio’s 11 Million citizens experience some form of mental disorder including 200,000 children.

5. What Causes Mental Illness?
Evidence indicates that mental illnesses are biological based diseases of the brain. Genetics can play a part, but people can develop a mental illness with no family history of mental illness. Others may be emotional or psychological reactions to environmental or social situations. Some of these disorders may be temporary, caused by extreme stress or life change.

6. Do People Recover From a Mental Illness?
Yes, Treatment Works…People Recover! Advancements in medications are continually improving the recovery rate of individuals with a mental illness. Additionally in the past two decades the recovery movement has blossomed, while treatment and support services for mental illness have improved significantly. More and more people are receiving treatments that allow them to recover and lead healthy, successful, and independent lives.

7. What is Recovery?
The National Technical Assistance Center’s Mental Health Recovery: What Helps and What Hinders? report defines recovery as, “an ongoing dynamic interactional process that occurs between a person’s strengths, vulnerabilities, resources and the environment. It involves a personal journey of actively self-managing a psychiatric disorder while reclaiming, gaining, and maintaining a positive sense of self, roles and life beyond the mental health system, in spite of the challenge of a psychiatric disability. Recovery involves learning to approach each day’s challenges, to overcome disabilities, to live independently and to contribute to society. Recovery is supported by a foundation based on hope, belief, personal power, respect, connections and self-determination”.

8. What are the Recovery Rates With Treatment?
Condition – Recovery Rate
Bipolar Disorder – 80%
Major Depression – 70%
Panic Disorder – 70%
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – 70%
Schizophrenia – 60%

Additional Resources

Active Minds » Empowers students to change the perception about mental health on college campuses

Best Practices in Schizophrenia Treatment (BeST) Center » Their mission: Promote recovery and improve the lives of as many people with schizophrenia as possible by accelerating the adoption of evidence-based and promising practices

BringChange2Mind.org » Working to end the stigma and discrimination of mental illness

Early Childhood Mental Health » from Ohio Mental Health & Addiction Services

Mental Health America » Community-based network dedicated to helping all Americans achieve wellness by living mentally healthier lives

Mental Health.gov » Encourages conversation about brain disorders; Resources accessible in Spanish

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) » Resource rich site with easy-to-understand information about mental disorders, education programs and support groups

NAMI Stark County » Building hope for recovery through education, support and advocacy for Stark County residents

National Institute of Mental Health » Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses

Ohio Mental Health & Addiction Services » Promoting wellness and recovery