What is the difference between a physical illness and a mental illness? Not much. In fact, they are frequently intertwined such that if you have a mental illness, your physical health will frequently decline and visa-versa.

 

A mental illness could be the result of a chemical imbalance within your brain just like diabetes is a problem with your pancreas and/or immune system when trying to regulate your blood-sugars. So, why has health insurance provided coverage for physical illnesses at a better level than mental illnesses? It is because of the stigma associated with mental illness and the lack of understanding of mental illness. Past generations mostly thought that mental illness was due to a personal weakness or lack of spirituality; thus, many people kept their mental illness a secret. Now we know better. People with a mental illness have real, physical problems such as poor communication between brain cells or even differences in physical parts of their brain.

 

Mental illness takes a huge toll on a person, the family, community, and the world. To better understand the impact of mental illness, see this NAMI graphic titled “The Ripple Effect of Mental Illness”. Click here to see the PDF version fo this graphic. As you can see, it is vitally important for all of us to advocate for better mental health resources in America (see one of NAMI’s advocacy pages for ideas). Tune in next week for resources that might be of benefit to you are your family.