Recovery Focus
About Mental Illness
It has been estimated that mental illness affects more than one in five of the population at any time. Many of us have at times experienced different degrees of this but may not have come into contact with anyone with the mental health profession.
The term “mental illness” tends to be a catch all phrase that covers a large range of distressing phenomena that affects individuals in a very unique and personal way. The distress often affects the way a person thinks, feels, behaves and interacts with other people. It therefore can affect negatively a person’s relationships, employability and quality of life.
An increasingly common way of thinking of this experience is to speak of it as emotional or mental distress. Only viewing it as an illness requiring medication as the preferred means of treatment can have its limitations, especially if this way of thinking inhibits a broader and more holistic approach. A wider perspective involving possible causes and effective ways of working with the distressing features of the experience presents a more balanced approach to what we call mental illness.
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