What do you think about mental health and mental health patients?!

I have a mental illness - bipolar disorder.

Mental health is something that people take for granted. You don't realise how important it is until it goes haywire and suddenly your whole life is destroyed. It's a destruction from the inside. Your house burns down, you're upset, you cope. You have your legs amputated, you're devastated, but still, you cope. You're still you.

If you have a mental illness then you lose track of what is you and what is your illness. You start to think that the only way to destroy the illness is to destroy yourself. You cannot separate the two in your mind, because they are both - your illness and yourself - in your mind.

Mental health patients are seriously misunderstood. The vast majority of mentally ill people are NOT dangerous to other people. A person with a mental illness is not someone to fear.

1 in 4 people experience some kind of mental illness in their lifetime. So the odds are very high that someone you know is suffering, right now. They're going about their everyday routine and they might not know if they're strong enough to come back again and do it tomorrow.

Mental illness is more common and more devastating than many people believe.Health Question & Answer

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mental health is vital for a satisfactory life.
those who are not raised in a nurturing environment suffer the effects, both physically and mentally and generally spend their entire lives dealing with the lack in their upbringing.
treatment modalities improve all the time... but, the patient is the one that has to be willing to put in the work, meds help, therapists guide, but the patient has to be willing to do all the work.Health Question & Answer

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I have a lot of experience about mental health, i currently work with people concerning mental health, my mum has had a mental illness for the past 8 years and i myself have recently been diagnosed with a mental illness. There is so much stigma surrounding people with mental health problems and i think it's bang out of order. There is always jokes made about psychiatric hospitals, patients ect. and i think it's shocking. You don't see people laughing and joking about people with cancer, do you .?.? I just wish people would look at the bigger picture...Health Question & Answer

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I have mental health issues, but I have a hard time dealing with other people's mental health issues. That may sound selfish, but sometimes they trigger my problems so I have to avoid those people.

After my breakdown, I went for help, but I felt no connection with the recommended therapist. I almost felt like she was mocking me so I never went back.

As a teenager, I went through two other therapists. One never said a word in our sessions so I didn't feel like I was getting any help. The other one blindly agreed with every opinion and thought I had...which didn't feel very helpful, either.

I like to read, listen to soothing music, and visualize 'happy places' so I've been humming along fine for five years now (since the breakdown) and that's how I plan to live my life.Health Question & Answer

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I'm in my 40's now. Saw the inside of my first psychiatric ward at the age of 11. Courtesy of my mother whom never stood still by the fact she was the one that really needed her head looking at instead of me. I have come to the conclusion that mental health is a patronizing 'business' with very little respect for the autonomy of the individual.
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I am a mental health sufferer and have had a breakdown and a long list of things. When i first got help it was for anxiety disorder and i was ashamed of that so kept things to myself but in time things got worse and i had my breakdown which was 4 months ago now. I am still getting help for it and because i am starting to understand what is going on with me i am not ashamed anymore. People often judge people who have mental health issues because they do not understand what is happening to that person and i was one of them. I always thought people were 'crazy' or 'making things up' but because i am going through it i understand and realise how difficult it can be and when i recover i want to train as a nurse so i can help others. Health Question & Answer

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As someone who has suffered from mental health problems for over 25 years, I can say they make life pretty hellish at times. People are often misunderstood and there are many stigmas attached to mental illness. It is debilitating and distressing and can make life very hard, both for the sufferer and those that care. Mental health is as important as physical - a fact which is often overlooked today.Health Question & Answer

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I am a therapist.

I have to say many people do not fully understand mental illnesses, even some diagnosed individuals. It really is no different that a general medical illness, but the area of concern is in the brain.

Many of my clients suffer from serious mental illnesses and have been committed to state mental hospitals, and the most common illnesses I treat are schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Prior to being committed, many of my clients have no idea how sick they have gotten. The illness has taken over. It

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