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Robin Williams was a beloved actor and comedian, who played many inspiring roles and his suicide was shock to the public. It is sad that such a tragedy has been the source of the recent talk about mental illness, but maybe it is what was needed for people to realise the seriousness of mental illness.
Due to the stigma
surrounding mental illness, its victims are shamed into hiding their disorders
and not talking about them. There is currently no
definitive biological cause for mental illnesses, which leads people to believe
that they are not as serious as diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s
disease. However, just because we don’t fully understand it, does not mean it
is not real. Mental illness is very much all around us. Everyone knows someone
affected by cancer, but you probably know a lot more people affected by mental
illness. You just don’t know it. According to WHO (World Health Organisation),
in 2012 there were 14.1 million cancer cases worldwide, but there are
approximately 450 million people worldwide suffering from a mental disease.
In 2011, 159,178 people died from cancer in
the UK. In 2012, there were 5981 deaths from suicide. Obviously this is just a
fraction of the deaths from cancer, but this is just the number of successful
suicide attempts. But what is most important is that these deaths could have
been prevented. Suicide is not the only serious consequence of mental illness.
It is estimated that 400/100,000 people self-harm. It can also be the reason
behind many crimes; it is thought that as many as 9/10 prisoners suffer from a mental illness.
Additionally, it often leads to substance abuse and addiction. Addiction, like
mental illness, is a biological disorder; it is not just something that happens
to some people. Yes, there is the initial choice to take substance, but some
have a difference in their genetic make-up that makes them more susceptible to
addiction via changes to the reward pathway in their brain – the mesolimbic
system. Mental illness is an illness, not a deficiency of character.
Celebrities speaking out about mental
illness helps to break the taboo that surrounds the subject. Catherine Zeta
Jones and Stephen Fry have spoken openly about suffering from bipolar disorder,
where one has mood swings between mania and depression, making it particularly
difficult to treat. Actors such as Emma Thompson, Jim Carey and Zach Braff have
admitted to suffering from depression. Michael Phelps, a professional swimmer
and the most decorated Olympian, suffers from ADHD – which many do not take
seriously as a mental illness. Both Elton John and Tom Fletcher (lead singer of
McFly) have suffered from eating disorders, which are not often associated with
males but are very common.
It is extremely important to recognise that
males suffer from mental illnesses too. According to reports, twice as many
women suffer from depression. However, men are three times more likely to
commit suicide. Therefore, it is not that more women suffer from depression;
they are just more likely to report it and seek help. Suicide is the main cause
of death in men under age 35. We need to allow males to communicate and feel it
is ok to talk about their problems – it is not weak.
This year, 1 in 4 will
experience a mental illness, 8-12% of the UK population will experience
depression, and nearly 5,000 young people in the UK will commit suicide this
year with depression being the primary cause. Less than 50% respond to current
treatments, emphasising the multifactorial cause of mental illnesses, and the
need for more effective pharmacotherapies.
Help to eliminate the
negativity surrounding mental illness and if you can, please donate to Mind, a UK
mental health charity, at http://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/support-us/donate.
Let’s allow the world to be a place where people can stand up and ask for help.
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