Mental illness over the years has changed quite a bit and many have their own sight on the topic. This is a topic involving emotional and mental characteristics that can do much to a person through thinking and behavior. It can affect socialization, education, emotions and relationships of a person. This also can do much harm on how a person sees and feels about themselves while also damaging their self-esteem and self-confidence along with damaging/toxic relationships with others. 

    Many factors play a role in a person developing a particular mental illness such as genetics, an event or the environment someone is in. A couple examples of this include depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder most commonly known as ADHD, and disorders caused by trauma, substance/physical/emotional abuse. Mental illnesses can impact a person’s daily life just as much as a physical disability. Especially over the years, mental health has become a serious situation when left alone. There are signs to discover if someone is experiencing low mental health and some are listed on www.mentalhealth.gov. According to this site, some signs include low to no energy often, lack of self confidence or worth, unbalanced sleeping and/or eating, hearing negative internal voices that speak untruthfully, unusual timed emotions, or pulling away from people and usual activities. 

    It should be noted that being an introvert is not a mental disorder but more of a preference to not be the center of attention and to be in a more solitude environment. According to vantagepointrecovery.com, introverts tend to keep away from a ton of social interaction that can be draining; they prefer to have a tight circle of close friends and they tend to be quiet. Not all introverts are the same, but these behaviors are not to be confused with signs of bad mental health. 

    According to www.nami.org,  anxiety is the most common mental illness and affects over 48 million (19.1%) U.S adults alone. This disorder makes a person three to six times more likely to visit the doctor or be hospitalized; yet only 43.2 percent of patients get treated. Along with this, globally, depression and anxiety have cost up to one-trillion dollars in loss of productivity with depression being the leading cause of disability. The average delay of treatment from the time of symptoms is eleven years. The average percentage of suicidal thoughts within groups caused by these types of illnesses are 11% of ages 15-24, 17.2% of high school students and 47.7% of heterosexual and bisexual high schoolers. Alongside the same research, 75 percent of suicides are found to be males, heterosexual and bisexual people being 4 times more at risk and transgender being 12 times more likely. 

    According to trib.com “suicides in Wyoming have increased 40% since 2016 from 22.2 for every 100,000 to 31.1, nearly triple the national rate placing Wyoming the second worst rate in America and 33rd in women and children’s health.” Wyoming has the highest rate among the age group of 35-44 with 38 deaths for every 100,000 people. Also in Wyoming only 68.7% of people have “adequate” health insurance, one of the lowest percentages in America. 

    There are several risk factors that cause or increase the chances of suicide, CDR.org points out both risks and protection factors of suicide such as family or local history of previous homicides, history of or current poor mental health or substance abuse, negative self- outlook, mental or physical abuse, bullying and trauma. Another large factor is fearing help, rejecting or being denied help. There are ways of getting efficient help such as clinical care for mental/physical help, family and/or community support, relationships that help and support in caring for one or both’s mental health, and  cultural or religious beliefs that encourages self-preservations to discuorage suicide. 

    Not one person is going through this alone, many people around the world have lost family and friends to suicide. There are ways to get efficient help that can make a change to one’s life without a need to take it. There is a number for the suicide prevention line that can be called to get help to anyone that is suffering with suicidal thoughts below.

1-800-273-8255