Kendra Donahue

Mrs. Granville

Period 5

11 November 2016

Mental Illnesses: Never a Choice

Not one person is born a carbon copy of someone else. Even though people wish

it to be true, everyone has their own mind, and no one else can control that mind. There is

something in society that is controlling the minds of many people without some knowing
it: mental illnesses. Mental health disorder have been causing issues all over the world

since the early 19th century, but have been kept quiet until the early 1900s, when it

started becoming an even bigger problem in the world. If the disorders are left untreated

or even unmentioned, a mental illness can cause major problems to those inflicted and

people around them, even in the society, and there is no known, successful treatment for

such a problem. Mental health disorders are not being addressed as a serious health

concern, and, in few cases, are seen as fake or for attention, thus causing individuals and

society as a whole to suffer with this real disease.

All around this country, and even on other continents, people are suffering with

some form of mental illness, and most people do not have the information to recognize

the illness. A few years ago, about 58 million people, many of these young adults can

be showing many different symptoms of a mental disorder and not even know that it

might be a real problem they will be facing (Mental illness). For example, many people

can go through very low points in daily life, which is a sign of depression, or can

immediately be afraid of something, and will do some extremely peculiar practice to calm

themselves down, which is a symptom of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD

(WebMD). Anyone can be diagnosed with a mental disorder, including a 78 year old

male, or even a 5 year old child. Mental illnesses are hard to find, especially in a child,

whereas every tenth child can be suffering (Wollheim). Many people believe that a
mental illness can depend on the person, or child, and how they live. However, despite

what many people think, a mental disorder can affect anyone, no matter what race,

gender, or even what a person may look like. In fact, many people have seen that more

guys have had problems dealing with personal issues compared to girls (Wexler). Even

with all of these facts, there is the problem of people not getting the treatment they need

in order to better themselves. People who were of a different nationality fall under this

problem, as many people in their homelands do not have access to medical treatment like

people do in more advanced countries (Wexler). Even though mental illness treatments
are hard to come by, there are still some areas moving forward with creating a treatment.

In fact, each year, mental disorders create over $150 billion in hospital bills and

admissions, and are one of the leading diseases for hospital admits (Mental illness). All

of the facts prove that the world needs to know how much of a serious issue mental

illnesses are, as well as the fact that they are most definitely not fake, created simply for

attention, because that is not the case.

Mental illnesses have stumped doctors of the modern era for centuries. One of

these reasons for this is that illnesses, not just psychological disorders, can affect a person

in different ways, and no diseases, no matter what it may be, is the same. Many mental

illness can form at the involvement of a traumatic event, such as the death of a loved one,

and some mental illnesses can be passed down through generations at a time (Nadelson,

6). Along the same lines, humans believe that a simple wrong word spoken can cause a

mental illness, or even a breakdown, but thats not always the case (Nadelson, 6). In the

cases of some mental illnesses, many people with a psychotic disorder, a disorder doctors

have yet to explain, can see a hallucination or something that is not there (WebMD).

Anyone can confuse this with a certain behavior, or can assume that the person may be on

a drug that causes these hallucinations, which relates back to the thoughts that people

with these diseases are just crazy. Unfortunately, there are no easily noticeable causes

for a mental illness, only that the chemicals in the brain are seriously unbalanced when
sparked by an event of some form (Mental illness).

In the modern era, people being so sick with a mental disorder, almost to the

desperation point, is not rare or unlikely like it was back in the middle ages, but is more

common than a person may think (Tracy). Many people today are having trouble even

finding a cause for their illness, as many are not qualified to be admitted into a hospital

for research, leaving them completely helpless (Tracy). With other diseases, like the

common cold, many have courses of treatment that match another disease. It is not the

same for mental illnesses, however. As they are in a different aspect of the human body,
mental disorders are treated in a much different way, in a way that the society cannot

afford to keep up with (Tracy). Despite the need for a research depicting the causes of a

mental illness, there are no new ways of finding a cause, leaving so many people

worldwide out of luck for the time being.

The fight to find a cure for mental disorders is still being fought today all over the

world. However, there is no set in stone treatment for the serious diseases. In fact,

people have discovered that more than 5% of adults get any form of treatment for a

mental disorder (Wexler). There are many people who want to get help for their illness,

but many do not even get a doctors visit. In fact, it is likely that a person will be turned

away from a serious mental emergency (Tracy). Society has certainly progressed since

the middle ages, but there were never this many concerns with mental illnesses. In the

beginning of the middle ages, there were only a few schools that would treat and even

house the mentally insane, even then, a few was not enough (Mental Illness). Along the

same lines, there has been an overwhelming increase in the number of charges pressed

against mental asylums, as they have been known to cause patients even more emotional

stress than the disease itself (Mental Illness). There is a good side to these charges,

though. Many of these charges were enough to cause the owners of the asylums to

improve their system and keep severely mentally ill patients in their care for longer if

needed (Mental Illness).

 On an even brighter note, there are many new ways of getting personal help, all

through the Internet. Many people who have a mental illness have turned to YouTube, a

video sharing website, to help others by sharing their own personal stories and how they

have overcome the challenges a mental illness can bring (Wollheim). It has increased

throughout the years as well, helping many people of all types overcome their fears of

something they cannot control. Many scientists believe that early diagnosis is a key factor

into creating a treatment and for a fulfilling life (Nadelson 6). Although there is no new

treatments for mental illnesses, doctors and scientists have found ways to capture the
brains activity and study it to discover what part of the brain is inflicted and start

creating new ways to solve this problem (Solomon). However, the main problem lies with

getting hospitals around the country what they need to ensure everyone gets the care they

need. If the government and society were to solve that problem alone, many people who

suffer with mental illnesses would be at ease, knowing that they can at least talk to

someone about this problem that they did not choose to have.

Many people do not understand that mental illnesses can affect more than just that

person, it can affect everyone in that persons life, and cause a lot of emotional stress. It

can also cause damage to an inflicted persons self esteem, as they can be looked as

weird or crazy by people around them. Back in the middle ages, people in small towns

or villages would treat the inflicted people like a circus act, calling many of the patients

in mental asylums vile names (Mental Illness). It was not until a while ago when mental

illness became a normal part of society and in medicine in general (Mental Illness). Even

though its more common in todays era, a mental illness can cause a person to feel poor

about themselves, and about this illness that they did not choose to have (Mental Illness).

However, this dismal subject is becoming lighter, as mental illness is beginning to be

seen as a real illness, not just in that persons head (Solomon).

Hollywood has also taken an interest in the fight for mental illnesses to be seen as

real. Different celebrities of every aspect of stardom have come forward with some form
a mental illness that they have struggled with in the past few years, (Solomon) but, no

matter what problem this society may be facing, there will always be people who love to

go against the issue at hand, and the only way to stop this is by getting more people

educated about this topic. Humanity seems to think that anyone can snap out of it when

dealing with a mental disorder (Nadelson 6). On the daily, many people can confuse a

multiple personality disorder with schizophrenia, which is a more serious, and

potentially dangerous disease, as well as the mix up between grief and sadness with

depression which can have serious consequences if not talked about (Wollheim). Despite
the new groundbreaking coverage on mental illnesses, whats done has been done. Those

who have previously suffered from a mental illness in which it had taken their life, will

never get a chance to defend themselves to the people who disagree about mental

illnesses. This statement alone should encourage lawmakers and hospitals to begin

finding newer and better treatment options for those who still have a chance to share their

side of the playing field.

In summary, mental illnesses are not a choice, and should never even be an

option. There are so many people in the world today who are inflicted with a mental

illness, many of whom are adults, and some of whom are children. A persons skin color,

body type, background etc. does not bother a mental illness, for it can affect anyone at

anytime in a persons life. A personal life does not determine what mental disorder a

person is granted, it can be any type of illness on any person, and how that person lives

their life should not define their illness. There are no specific causes for a mental illness,

but many disorders can begin showing after a very traumatic event in that persons life,

however, the causes of other mental disorders are still hidden, and may not surface for a

while. As well as no known cause of a mental disorder, there is still no known treatment

for these disorders. Many scientists have begun looking deeper into the brain, hoping

theyll find a small clue as to what may be causing many people so much unhappiness

and sadness. But that day may be far off, only until people in the world start to realize
that mental illnesses are a major problem today. A major side effect of a mental disorder

is personal grief, something that can affect not just the person inflicted, but that persons

family as well. People are cruel, no doubt about it, and being looked at as crazed or

mental can hurt anyone, whether they have a mental disorder or not. With various

support groups around the country, and some even around the world, people can get help

from other who are actually going through what they may be going through, relieving

some of the stress about no one understand their problem. In todays world, governments

are attempting to address the problem, and are looking for way to fix it, which is what
anyone with one of these horrible diseases wants, as well as to get the rest of the world to

follow in suit, and admit that mental disorders are, indeed, real. Mental illnesses are not a

choice, and should not even be considered one.

Works Cited
Mental Health Disorders Center. WebMD. WebMD, www.webmd.com/mental-health/.

Accessed 20 Oct. 2016

Mental illness. World of Health. Gale, 2007. Biography in Context. Web. Accessed 25

Oct. 2016

Nadelson, Carol C. Psychological Disorders and Their Effect. Personality Disorders,

Chelsea House Publishers, 2000. Accessed 10 Oct. 2016

Solomon, Jolie. Breaking the Silence. Newsweek. 20 May 1996. Opposing Viewpoints

in Context. Accessed 20 Oct. 2016

Tracy, Natasha. The Desperation for Mental Illness Treatment in the U.S. The

Huffington Post. 25 Apr. 2016. Huffingtonpost.com, www.huffingtonpost.com

Accessed 19 Oct. 2016

Wexler, Barbara. Mental Health and Illness. Health and Wellness: Illness among

Americans. Gale, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Accessed 18 Oct. 2016.

Wollheim, Peter. The erratic front: YouTube and representations of mental illness. After

image. Sept. - Oct. 2007. Biography in Context. Accessed 27 Oct. 2016