Myths that surround mental illness promote stigmas that can be harmful to people who are looking for help with living with mental health issues. Stigmas can keep people from getting the help they need for fear of judgment from others, misinformation that help may not be assistive, and more. So, it’s important to address what we get wrong about mental illness so that more people can know the truth about these issues. And, can get the help they need to overcome symptoms of mental illness and live better lives of mental well-being.

Myth: People Who Have Mental Illnesses Can’t Make Decisions About Their Care

This myth about mental illness can keep people from getting help for fear that they may not be able to make decisions about their treatment. However, there are only a few mental illnesses that can impair a person’s decision-making. So, most people living with mental illnesses should and do make informed decisions about their treatment planning. Mental health professionals have an obligation to their patients to provide care that they’re comfortable with and with their opinions kept in mind. So, it’s not true that people with mental health issues are kept out of making decisions when it comes to mental health care.

Myth: People With Mental Illnesses Will Never Recover

It has long since been believed that people living with mental illnesses don’t obtain lasting recovery. This can reduce hope for people with mental health issues and cause them to not want to try to utilize mental health treatments. However, with treatment enhancements and discoveries over the past few decades, it’s shown that a majority of people living with mental health issues who gain help from mental health treatment maintain full or partial recovery. So, there is hope for recovery from mental illness – even if it’s to get partial recovery like utilizing symptom management tools.

Myth: People With Mental Health Issues are Violent

It’s a common stigma that people living with mental illness are violent. This stigma can keep people from opening up about their mental health struggles or even getting help as they don’t want people to assume they are violent. In reality, the majority of people living with mental illness are not violent. And, violence is essentially just as common in the general population as it is in people diagnosed with a mental illness who have not been exposed to violence in the past, have concurring mental health issues, or have been a victim of violence. Rather, people diagnosed with mental health issues are actually more likely to be the victim of violence than to be the perpetrators of violent behaviors.

Overcoming What we Get Wrong With Mental Illness by Getting Help

History has shown that we have gotten a lot wrong when it comes to mental illness. But, with what we know about mental illness now, more people are getting help for mental health issues as stigmas are being challenged, and advocating for mental health is working. So, if you wish to be an advocate of mental health and join the many in recovery from mental health issues, now is the time to get help.

Yellowbrick offers outpatient mental health services for young adults who are living with mental illness. We offer mental health consults, diagnosis, treatment planning, and treatment services in order to help people living with mental illness to gain lasting healing and recovery. Find out more about who we treat, our services, and our facility from our website.