Facts About Mental Illness

Mental illness is a broad term used to describe dysfunctional behavior related to brain chemistry. Many mental illnesses respond to treatment with a combination of medical and social support, enabling people to live healthy, productive lives.  Most often, the adult clients of our Fairweather programs have symptoms that fall into one or more of the categories below.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a group of serious brain disorders in which reality is interpreted abnormally. Schizophrenia results in hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking and behavior. People with schizophrenia withdraw from the people and activities in the world around them, retreating into an inner world.

Contrary to popular belief, schizophrenia isn’t the same as a split personality or multiple personality. While the word “schizophrenia”: does mean “split-mind” it refers to a disruption of the usual balance of emotions and thinking. No laboratory test for schizophrenia currently exists.
Schizophrenia is a chronic condition, requiring lifelong treatment and support. But thanks to new medications, schizophrenia symptoms can often be successfully managed. The Fairweather Lodge model has been documented as the most consistently successful program helping people with schizophrenia lead productive, enjoyable lives.

Bi-Polar Disorder

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a severe mental illness involving episodes of serious mania and depression. A person suffering from bipolar disorder experiences wide mood swings with periods of normal mood in between. Manic episodes are characterized by heightened energy, sharpened and unusually creative thinking, irritability and self-confidence – alternated with depressive episodes, characterized by low energy, sadness, and hopelessness.
Bipolar disorder is one of the most treatable psychiatric disorders. Crucial to treating bipolar disorder, is recognizing the symptoms and making the correct diagnosis. In recent years there has been considerable progress for diagnosing bipolar disorder.

Major Depression

Major depression, also known as clinical depression, is a serious medical illness affecting 15 million American adults, or approximately 5 to 8 percent of the adult population in a given year. Unlike normal emotional experiences of sadness, loss, or passing mood states, major depression is persistent and can significantly interfere with an individual’s thoughts, behavior, mood, activity, and physical health. Among all medical illnesses, major depression is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and many other developed countries.

Depression occurs twice as frequently in women as in men, for reasons that are not fully understood. More than half of those who experience a single episode of depression will continue to have episodes that occur as frequently as once or even twice a year. Without treatment, the frequency of depressive illness as well as the severity of symptoms tends to increase over time. Left untreated, depression can lead to suicide.

For more information about mental illness, please visit one of these organizations.

• National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) – offers general information and classes about mental illness.
www.nami.org


• Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) – an organization dedicated to policy and awareness of mental illness.
www.samhsa.org