Toby House, Inc.

Mental health is how a person thinks, feels, and acts when faced with life's situations. Mental health is how people look at themselves, their lives, and the other people in their lives; evaluate their challenges and problems; and explore choices. This includes handling stress, relating to other people, and making decisions.
Mental illness is the term that refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disorders.  Mental disorders are health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior associated with distress and/or impaired functioning.   Alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior contribute to a host of problems; patient distress, impaired functioning, or heightened risk of death, pain, disability, or loss of freedom.
Mental health problems are real and can occur at any age. They affect one's thoughts, body, feelings, and behavior. Mental health problems are not just a passing phase. They can be severe, seriously interfere with a person's life and even cause a person to become disabled. Mental health problems include depression, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia, and conduct disorder.
Twenty percent of adult Americans will have a mental illness during their lifetime that is severe enough to require treatment and many more have problems that prevent them from enjoying their lives. Rather than admit they need help, often these people simply suffer in silence. Asking for help is not an easy thing for many people to do but is appropriate when a person feels that something is wrong.
Facts About Mental Illness

• Mental illnesses are biologically based brain diseases. They are NOT the result of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. They CANNOT be overcome through 'will power.'
• Approximately 5% of the US population has a serious mental illness. Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes and heart disease and affects persons of any age, race, religion or income.
• Roughly 80-90% of people with serious brain disorders are unemployed.
• Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in North America and Europe. The total price tag of mental illness in the US is $148 billion.
• Today, roughly 283,000 people with severe mental illnesses are incarcerated in jails and prisons, mostly for crimes they committed because they were not being treated for their illness.
• On any given day, approximately 150,000 people with severe mental illness are homeless, living on the streets or in public shelters.

Information About Mental Illness
Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders
Schizophrenia
Borderline Personality Disorder
Mental Illness Stigma
Impact Of Mental Illness