It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week

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It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week

It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW), held during the first week of October and designed to spread awareness and understanding of mental illness across the country through support, education and advocacy.

We’ve certainly come a long way since the start of MIAW, which was established by Congress in 1990. Yet, with only about half of Americans receiving treatment for depression, there’s more work that needs to be done.

This year, NAMI has decided to focus on five mental health conditions in need of better public understanding and stigma-busting, including:

  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • Borderline personality disorder
  • Depression
  • Schizophrenia & psychosis
  • Dual diagnosis

Mental Illness and Addiction
Dual diagnosis (or co-occurring disorders) is a term for when someone experiences a mental illness and a substance use disorder simultaneously. Of the 21 million people in the U.S. with a substance use disorder, 8 million also live with a mental illness, so taking time out this week to highlight the importance of mental illness awareness is necessary and vital in the addiction community.

Some more facts about substance use disorders and mental illness, according to the NAMI:

  • Substance abuse is twice as prevalent among adults with mental illness because of the desire to self-medicate symptoms.
  • Alcohol and drugs can worsen the symptoms of mental illness.
  • Prolonged use of substances increases the underlying risk for mental illness.
  • Individuals with mental illness consume roughly 38% of all alcohol, 44% of all cocaine and over half of all opioid prescriptions in the U.S.
  • Only 7.4 percent of Americans receive treatment for both the addiction and the mental illness — and 55.8 percent receiving no treatment at all.
  • You can’t overcome mental illness through willpower nor does mental illness have anything to do with your intelligence, morals or character.

Minding Your Mental Health
Seabrook ™ is designed to provide exceptional mental health and addiction treatment through the healing of the body, mind, and spirit. To learn more, call Seabrook today: 856-455-7575.