By Dr. Neill Neill, Registered Psychologist

Mental illness is not neatly categorized and explained, and that can be a bit scary.  The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV) gives descriptions of the many mental disorders affecting about 20 percent of the population. 

The three mental disorders we most often hear about are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder (clinical depression.)

I have been up close and personal with all three: family members, close friends, colleagues, pupils and clients.  I even did internships in big mental hospitals, back in the days before they closed their doors.

Here are the top 10 things I think everyone should know about mental illness and the mentally ill. If we all did, the lives of the mentally ill would be a lot better.

1. Schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder can be treated and controlled with medication, but as yet there are no medical cures.

2. All three mental disorders involve a physical dysfunction of the brain, just as surely as diabetes involves a physical dysfunction of the pancreas.

3. People suffering from any of these disorders exhibit irrational behavior linked to brain dysfunction. There may be extreme reality distortions; for example, hallucinations and delusions.  Recall the movie of a few years ago, "A Beautiful Mind," with Russell Crowe.  At the very least perceived reality for the mentally disordered is often different from what the rest of us perceive as reality.

4. The parents are traumatized by the realization that their son or daughter (whether child or young adult) is mentally ill. Their unresolved trauma shows up in denial, fear, anger, guilt, shame, blame, feelings of helplessness, and prolonged grieving. Their marriages are at risk.  They are also at risk of becoming estranged from their mentally-ill offspring through their well- intentioned efforts to help.

5. The parents desperately need to seek help for themselves, but instead they typically put all their emotional energy into their mentally ill children.

6. The mentally ill are first and foremost people, albeit people who may be severely traumatized.  Many have had huge developmental traumas before diagnosis—learning difficulties, labeled as weird or different, and judged as stupid. Then as they begin to understand that they have a mental illness, the trauma of the realization produces the denial, fear, anger, shame and blame. Some slip into victimhood. Some suicide. 

7. Those who have been diagnosed in early adulthood may experience prolonged grief over loss of hope, loss of the expectation of a productive future and the loss of the possibility of a marriage and children.

8. They badly need help with issues that are not part of their mental illnesses, but are the normal human aftermath of severe trauma.  Such issues are treatable, especially with some of the cutting-edge energy-psychology methods.

9. The mentally ill need to build and maintain self-esteem, just like the rest of us.  To maintain their personal dignity as adults they need to live as other adults do, independently of their parents and with as much self-responsibility as their condition will allow.

10. The mentally ill need to nurture their spiritual selves just as much as the rest of us do.

Let’s do our best to give the mentally ill the same chance as anyone else for some peace, self-acceptance, self love, connection and enjoyment of life.  Take a mentally-ill person to lunch. Advocate for housing – many are homeless. What will you do?

Copyright © Neill Neill. All rights reserved. Dr. Neill Neill maintains an active psychology practice on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. He writes regular newspaper and magazine columns on psychological healing and self help. His goal is to facilitate growth in human consciousness and increase the human store of hope, happiness and generosity of spirit. Enter your first name and email address above to subscribe to Dr. Neill’s Practical Psychology and receive his new original articles by email.

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