Mental health matters

A famous researcher in psychology is quoted as saying, “The absence of stress is death.” True enough. We all have stress in our lives and sometimes we simply push ahead with the hope that things will be better tomorrow. It helps us keep going.

It is also true that everyone knows someone with mental illness. While stress may make symptoms of mental illness worse, having a mental illness does not mean that you simply have to suffer. But, in order to reduce the suffering, we have to pay attention. We have to value good mental health in our own homes and communities.

Any way you look at it, mental health matters. On a broad level, simply look at the economic costs. The economic cost of any illness is measured by adding the days, months, or years of productivity lost due to an illness.

So, for example, if you don’t go to work for a few days because you are severely depressed or suffer repeated panic attacks, the economy loses the work you could have done on those days. Or, more tragically, if someone commits suicide at age 21, the economic cost of their death is what they would have done the rest of their life.

The economic impact of depression in developed countries is devastating. By 2020, depression is expected to rank 2nd in its impact to the worlds’ economy. Only cardiac illness will cost the world more.

Statistics and dollar figures may be interesting, but they probably will not cause us to think and act differently. Mental illness needs attention in our homes, in our families, and in our communities.

The true emotional impact of mental illness is felt when our co-workers are found in their office in tears; when our family holiday gathering explodes due to a drunken shouting match; when a talented student’s future is robbed because she hears voices and locks herself in her room; or when a child tells his parents that he has no friends because he is different from everyone else.

Mental health matters because it affects us all. Listening to our friends and family who have a mental illness can reduce stigma and at the same time offer help. Don’t be afraid to ask, “How is it going?”

Nobody has all the answers. But, asking the question shows that you care. Or, we can lead by example. Taking care of your own mental health sends a clear message to those around you.

One way to take care of yourself and others in your life is to be educated about mental health issues. In the mental healthcare we have learned a lot about what causes mental illness, what helps prevent mental illness, and how to treat mental illness.

Beginning this month, The Acadia Hospital will initiate an educational campaign titled “Because Your Mental Health Matters.” The hospital is allowing me the opportunity to share facts and my own thoughts on issues that may affect your mental well-being, and I am excited to begin. In coming weeks, look for my monthly column in The Weekly or posted on Acadia’s Web site, www.acadiahospital.org. Listen for me on WKSQ FM and WVOM FM, and watch for me on WABI TV 5.

Sometimes the topic will be a specific mental illness; at other times I will address aspects of our lives that may affect our mental health. The first topic I have chosen is, appropriately enough, about making and keeping resolutions. Other topics will follow on a monthly basis.

The campaign will provide one way of increasing awareness about mental illness and mental health in an effort to encourage people to be more understanding of these types of disorders and the people who live with them.

We can’t afford to ignore these issues any longer; the cost is simply too great.

David Prescott, Ph.D., is director of psychology services and clinical research at The Acadia Hospital.