One in four adults in America will experience a mental health disorder in any given year – and nearly half will experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime?
People are often reluctant to talk about this common issue, but on May 23, SSM Behavioral Health Service teams put on their green and took the message out to the patients, visitors and staff of SSM St. Mary's to help "Kick the Stigma" about mental illness. The team wore green socks and shirts that encouraged people to know the facts about mental illness, which include:
- One in four adults experience mental illness in a given year.
- Mental illness is more common than cancer, diabetes or heart disease.
- Every year, as many as 8 million Americans who have serious mental illnesses do not receive adequate treatment.
- Serious mental illness costs America $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year.
- Mood disorders such as depression are the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S.
- More than 2/3 of Americans who have a mental illness live in the community and lead productive lives.
- Between 70 and 90 percent of people with mental illnesses experience reduction in symptoms and an improved quality of life with proper care and treatment.