Let's Talk About It! by Dean Johnson, Vice President - Community Relations

Mental health can be a tough subject to talk about. Admittedly, it’s not usually in the top ten on the water cooler or cocktail party conversation menus. But it needs to be. Mental illness issues affect us all in some way, shape or form. National statistics say that about one in four adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Look around you – right now. See three other people? Get the picture?

Human experience tells us that when we don’t talk about something, we generally get it all wrong.

Misconceptions about mental illnesses are abundant. No, they are not character flaws. No, you can’t just make yourself feel better. Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not “just a mood thing.” And all the will power in the world isn’t going to make you better without professional help to go with it.

Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. They do to the mind what diabetes, heart disease and cancers can do to the body.

Remember a few years back when Tom Cruise said on national television that Brooke Shields – who had just gone public about her battle with post partum depression – should just take some vitamins and “get over it”? He claimed there was no such thing as depression. He was wrong.

Fortunately, Brooke sought treatment (and she did, actually, “get over it”, but not by her own will alone).

Not talking about something has another negative consequence – stigma. Research shows that the stigma associated with mental illnesses is the number one reason people don’t seek treatment. People are afraid – of judgment, of misunderstanding, of loss of friendships and loss of love. Just imagine the health of our country today if the same stigma and reluctance to seek treatment was associated with cancer or heart disease? What a tragedy we’ve created – because we do not talk about it.

Glenn Close, who has a sister with bi-polar disorder, has become an active stigma fighter lately. The actress says, “There is nothing to hide…We are all connected, and none of us should ever feel marginalized, stigmatized and alone.”

Mental illness is just an illness, although a serious one. It can be treated with therapy and, when needed, medication. So, let’s talk about it. Let’s be open about it. Let’s make it not just OK, but the expectation – that people with mental illnesses will be treated and they will recover.