There is a terrible stigma associated with mental illness or mental disorders in Belize and clearly around the world. We grew up referring to people as “crazy” and being absolutely non-empathetic to these people. We have never really learnt at home or on the streets to view persons with mental health issues as one of us. On the contrary, we mistreat them, and abandon them and reject them from our social circle.

But the truth is, more of us are suffering from mental issues, be it a disorder or an illness, than we want to admit. Sadly, our ignorance of the issue makes it absolutely difficult for those suffering to come forward and seek help. And even sadder, once a person admits there is need to see a doctor to address a mental issue, they are all lumped as “crazy”.

Mental Health Week

This week is Mental Health Week, and enough cannot be done to bring sufficient awareness of the need to ensure our mental health as much as our physical health. I will try to do my best to do my share to shed some light on the issues in my own layman’s terms as best as possible, since it is an issue we cannot ignore.

It can be said as a fact that we all have mental health, the same way we all have physical health. Per a famous slogan from the World Health Organization, it is true that “There is no health without mental health.”

When we talk about our mental health, we’re talking about our own mental well-being— that is our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, our ability to solve problems and overcome difficulties, our social connections, and our understanding of the world around us. This is the intangible part of our health, but a most important part, as our mental health can adversely affect our physical health.

I say intangible because a doctor can operate on your organs, limbs and every part of your body when dealing with your physical health, but when dealing with your mental health, there is no way to operate on your emotions and thoughts and feelings, or our critical thinking or even our perception of our environment. We all take for granted our ability to perceive and think and reason, and discuss and express our feelings and thoughts etc., but we don’t stop and think how that is just a normal expression of our mental health.

It is more likely that we all will experience some physical illness such as a cold, or fever or bruises or even other illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes or cancer, than some adverse mental health illness. It is important that we talk about mental health openly and remove the taboo associated with it, since often as people hear mental health their stigma radar pops up and their own ignorance about the issues comes to the surface. Therefore, to understand mental health, it is important to understand the terms.

From my appreciation of the topic of mental health, I know that in the area of mental health there are two distinct categories of mental health diagnosis.  These are mental illness and mental disorder, but they are used interchangeably, and often even the term mental health is viewed as a form of illness, rather than just a generic term describing and distinguishing our mental health from our physical health.

Mental Illness vs Mental Disorder

I know for everything we call people crazy, because we are not educated from young about mental health, and worse yet, we do not know the difference between a mental disorder and a mental illness.  I too was guilty of that, but since then, I have had better learning on the issue, because even in law, one’s mental ability makes a difference in a criminal trial. Also, one’s soundness of mind is relevant to not only crimes, but the ability to enter contracts, marriage, and management of one’s estate and affairs and wide range of activities.

So while I have my layman’s understanding of mental health, let me share how the The American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, defines “disorder” in medicine. Disorder is a disturbance or derangement that affects the function of mind or body, such as an eating disorder or the abuse of a drug.  Based on the definition of “disorder,” it specifically includes a disturbance of the mind (such as a mental disorder); it better fits what we now call mental illnesses, particularly before we understood that mental disorders are truly disorders of the brain (and not simply the “mind”).

According to The American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, ”illness” is in medicine a disease with its specific medical definition. Disease is a pathological condition of a body part, an organ, or a system resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms. Based on the definition of “disease,” which specifies that the pathological condition is of a body part; people were less likely to use the term “mental illness” before it was understood that mental illness is also a disease of the body.

I hope this helps to bring clarity to the difference between “mental disorder” and “mental illness,” which to me seems to be distinguished by considering the origin of the condition. However, I will admit that there is still much debate about the distinction, and a list of research papers can be found on a wide range of topics related to the distinction.

The truth is, to the layman, the difference may not seem important, and to the affected person suffering mental health issues, all they want is the solution. It seems from my own reading and research that there are nearly 300 mental disorders listed in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). It’s their bible, used to make diagnosis.

Mental health problems

We may all have suffered some kind of mental health problem and not even recognized it because it is normal that under the pressures of life, we have found ourselves with some mood change, depression and/or anxiety. These are matters we often get over quickly and are not permanent, and brought on by the stress of challenge of the moment.

However, even these have a cure or treatment, since if left unchecked, it can seriously impact our quality of life. Some of the main groups of mental disorders are: mood disorders (such as depression or bipolar disorder); anxiety disorders; personality disorders; psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia); eating disorders; trauma-related disorders (such as post-traumatic stress disorder); and substance abuse disorders.

Some mental illnesses and disorders actually can be so severe that they make a person lose touch with reality. And on the other hand, some people may be suffering from a mental disorder and appear all normal, but are silently suffering inside.

Prevalence of mental illness and disorders

Yes, stress and depression are major mental health problems and one we have been ignoring as a society, and one that has become more prevalent as people seek to cope with crime, poverty, domestic violence and abuse, failed relationships, bullying and cyber-bullying, and I dare say, the social disconnect brought in by social media and the modern technologies.

Those of us old enough will tell you that before cell phones and cable and Netflix and Facebook and Instagram and all the other modern amenities, folks actually had better and closer relationships and took time to visit, write each other letters and at dinner, they socialized with each other.

Today, you go to a restaurant and it is depressing how many people are sitting with each other, but each is on their own cell phone.

Let’s take depression as an example. Often, people are so depressed, yet they do not tell us. We do not know how many people are walking around with suicidal thoughts, and feeling helpless and hopeless.

Now in this world of instant social media, people are more prone to pretend all is well and post pictures and stories of a “perfect” life, to mask the reality of the hurt and challenges they have. I am sure that if you all read some of the posts and know the person, you will understand what I am saying. Then there are those who lash out and bare the rawness of their pain and suffering, and others attack, but fail to see the challenge the person is battling.

In general, Belizeans will not seek the help of a therapist, psychiatrist or psychologist because of the fear of the stigma associated with being called “crazy”.

However, my plea is twofold. Firstly, I know a person suffering from a severe mental disorder or illness can be dangerous, but I implore our government to please abide by the Mental Health Act to provide the appropriate facilities to treat these chronic cases.

Too often, we see our mental “patients” wandering around, being a danger to themselves and others, and this should not be. Often, they are also exposed to ridicule and attacks by cruel members of society and are treated most inhumanely. Often, police are called to deal with them, instead of calling out a mental health practitioner and warden to take them to a clinic, instead of prison.

Secondly, I implore you to educate yourselves more about mental health issues, so that you can be more understanding of your own mental well-being and more sensitive to those not “crazy,” but facing mental health challenges, especially depression and anxieties, which have increased, yet we are not keeping track.

This year’s Mental Health Week is focusing on suicide prevention. This is so fitting because I can assure you that at least 9 in every 10 persons have had suicidal thoughts and less persons act on it, but you never know what can trigger a suicide.  Look at how many kids have opted to commit suicide as a result of bullying!