​Hover over each card to reveal the fact behind the myth. This interactive feature allows you to learn more about mental health in an engaging way. Simply move your cursor over the card to see the truth!

Mental illness affects people of all ages, races, and economic backgrounds, regardless of whether there is a history of mental illness. Possible causes include genetic history, chemical imbalances in the brain, and other biological and environmental triggers.

More than 54 million Americans have a mental disorder in any given year, although only one-third seek treatment.
Late-life depression affects about 6 million adults, but only 10 percent receive treatment.
At least 10 to 20 percent of widows and widowers develop clinically significant depression within one year of their spouse’s death. Older Americans are more likely to commit suicide than any other age group. Although they constitute only 13 percent of the U.S. population, individuals age 65 and older account for 20 percent of all suicides.

One in five children has a diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder. Up to one in 10 may suffer from a serious emotional disturbance. However, 70 percent of children do not receive mental health services.

Each year, 18 million Americans suffer from clinical depression. About 12 million women in the U.S. experience depression every year, roughly twice the rate of men. Depression is often misunderstood; it is not a passing mood or a personal weakness, but a major medical disorder.

It has been calculated that each year, the economy loses an estimated $44 billion because of clinical depression. More than $17 billion is in time lost from work. A RAND Corporation study found that patients with depressive symptoms spend more days in bed than those with diabetes, arthritis, back problems, lung problems, or gastrointestinal disorders.

Depression greatly increases the risk of developing heart disease. People with depression are four times more likely to have a heart attack than those with no history of depression. Anxiety disorders (phobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder) affect more than 28 million Americans. Symptoms can be totally disabling.

Schizophrenia, a brain disease characterized by impaired thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, is the most severe and disabling of the mental illnesses. More than 2.5 million people in the U.S. will be affected by schizophrenia, which is five times more common than many prevalent physical illnesses affecting Americans.

Up to one-half of all visits to primary care physicians are due to conditions that are caused or exacerbated by mental or emotional problems. However, mental disorders are highly treatable medical illnesses. Hope and help are available. Call your nearest Mental Health America location for resources.

Sources:

Mental Health America
National Institute of Mental Health
Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health