schizophrenic[/caption]Marsha Hunt---According to the National Institute of Mental Health, (NIH) "Mental disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older (about one in four adults) suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Yet the stigma of mental illness remains a major barrier for folks to get help and be understood, and so some radio podcasts are changing that.
Mental disorders impact many people and are widespread, but the main burden of the illness is concentrated in about six percent of the population or one in 17 persons. Mental illness is the leading cause of disability in the United States and Canada, and many people have more than one mental illness at a time. Many receive no help and find many obstacles when they try to get attention to their illness. "Lack of access to treatment and resources, stigma against those with mental illness, and an uninformed society compounds the dearth of quality treatment professionals who offer affordable or sliding-scale payment options," a mental health professional states.
She was 38 when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. She was working as an associate of Salvador Dali, the great artist, as a sculptor. Her future looked bright as an artist, and she had many friends among the very educated and those who favored the arts. Her parents were wealthy Chinese who did not know how to manage a daughter with the illness, but offered money for her care. She first lived in a series of apartments until her attempts at suicide so frightened her family that she was placed in a care facility in a rural area where she had ample room and opportunity to be outside and not just locked away in a ward somewhere and could be involved with others in crafts and special activities. But it took many years and much effort for her to reach the attention of those who could really help her.
Journalist, Suzanne Marcus Fletcher, Anchor and Host of The Body Politic Radio show, on Blog Talk Radio and iTunes has put together a series that shines a light on the range of mental health problems. These can be downloaded or heard regularly over the Internet. It is a way to call attention to the great need and challenge of mental health problems and a way to support those who are trying to help the mentally ill receive kind support and attention.
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