What you Need To Know About Mental Illness You Did Not Know…

According to the Surgeon General, one in every five Americans experiences a mental disorder in any given year and half of all Americans have such disorders at some time in their lives.

  • These illnesses of the brain affect all of us, regardless of age, gender, economic status, or ethnicity.
  • About one in 17 lives with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression, or bipolar disorder
  • One in five U.S. service members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffers from major depression or combat stress (PTSD) 
  • One in ten children and youth has a serious mental illness condition
  • About half of students with a serious mental illness in special education drop out of high school – the highest dropout rate of any disability group
  • Fewer than one-third of adults and one-half of children who live with mental health needs receive any level of treatment in any one year
  • Only one in three adults who lives with a serious mental illness is employed, even though most want to work
  • 26% of the homeless population lives with a severe mental illness
  • One out of every five community hospital stays involve a primary or secondary diagnosis of mental illness
  • About 20-25% of jail and prison inmates and youth involved with juvenile justice live with a serious mental illness
  • We lose one life to suicide every 15.8 minutes. The suicide rate for older adults is 50% higher than the national rate as a whole

“People with mental problems are our neighbors.  They are members of our congregations, members of our families; they are everywhere in this country.  If we ignore their cries for help, we will be continuing to participate in the anguish from which those cries for help come.  A problem of this magnitude will not go away.  Because it will not go away, and because of our spiritual commitments, we are compelled to take action.   – Rosalyn Carter

International Survivors of Suicide – November 21 Gracious and loving God, for all the families who have lost a loved one to suicide, bring them comfort in trusting that your mercy and grace accept their loved one into the eternal bliss of heaven. We pray to the Lord.