Common Myths About Mental Health

In order to understand why policies are in place for mental health issues, we must not overlook and address the myths present in mental health issues including how commonplace mental health issues are in the United States, that these issues promote violence, and are caused by individuals’ incapabilities to handle daily life stressors (e.g. jobs). According to the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), “millions of people in the U.S are affected by mental illness each year,” and these numbers are collected in the 2021 data alone. The most common mental health illnesses range from depression and anxiety to attention and behavior disorders. Given the unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic era that we have since entered, many individuals experiencing these symptoms are more prone to be left untreated due to an increasing need for mental health care workers and not enough of them to go around. In other words, many health care services are fully booked with clients as we speak.

Additionally, individuals experiencing mental health issues are no more than likely to be capable of violence and crime than the next person. In fact, “only 3%–5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness” (2017). As a capitalist society, we are subjected to not only daily life stressors, but also the pressures of a work culture that demands productivity. However, this does not mean that people dealing with mental health issues are any less capable of giving their all to their respective jobs. 

In fact, having a good work-life balance should be normalized and so should taking some time for the mind to rest is one of the keys that can help an individual’s mental health. If you are dealing with stressors in an unhealthy manner, you are more likely to go down the path of developing mental health issues.