Ever feel sad? Anxious? Down on yourself? Unattractive? Distracted? Hyper?

These are all states of mental health. Everyone faces emotional issues at some point in their lifetime.

It’s Normal.

Like physical health issues, sometimes you need outside help, other times you can help yourself.

MENTAL HEALTH FACTS
An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — have a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. About 6% (1 in 17) have a serious mental illness.

Approximately 20.9 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder. Depression accounts for about 18.8 million and Bipolar disorder accounts for about 5.7 million.

Approximately 2.2 million American adults age 18 and older, or about 1.0 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).

Approximately 7.7 million American adults age 18 and older, or about 3.5 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

More than 14 million children and adolescents in the United States, or 1 in 5, have a diagnosable mental health disorder that requires intervention or monitoring and interferes with daily functioning.

AD/HD is more common in boys than girls, and it affects 3-5 percent of children in the United States.

In 2000, 54 percent of twelfth-graders reported having tried an illegal drug -- up from 43 percent in 1993.

Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. & Canada for ages 15-44.

TALK THERAPY – An Empirically-Validated Form of Treatment (i.e., IT WORKS!!)
A combination of talk therapy and drugs worked best for treatment of depression and anxiety; OR, for those whose treatment consisted of only talk therapy, they did almost as well if they had 13 or more visits with the therapist. Treatment from primary care doctors (MDs) was effective for people with mild problems, but less so for people with more severe ones, who did better with psychologists. Treatment by psychologists yielded significantly better results for people who started out in poor shape.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

National Mental Health Information Center: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov

American Psychological association: www.apa.org

National Institutes of Health:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealthandbehavior.html
www.healthfinder.gov

American Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry http://www.aacap.org

Parents. The Anti-Drug:  http://www.theantidrug.com/advice/advice_thinkyourkid.asp

The Internet Public Library contains 4492 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by literary period. www.ipl.org.

1. Free online brochures from the American Psychological Association about a variety of topics: www.apa.org/pi/online.html#Violence
2. Mental Help Net (http://mentalhelp.net ). CMHC Systems developed this web site "as a free service to the worldwide mental health community of professionals and laypeople." MHN is a comprehensive resource for mental health information, news and resources.
3. The Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS) of the Medical Library Association refers healthcare consumers to an extensive list of resources. While geared to general health, has a lot of useful information for patients. http://caphis.mlanet.org.
4. Dr. Ivan's Depression Central:www.psycom.net/depression.central.html. This site is an impressive clearinghouse for information on all types of depressive disorders and on the most effective treatments for individuals suffering from Major Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Cyclothymia, Dysthymia and other mood disorders.
5. NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services: http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas. The Division makes policies and rules and monitors public services to people with mental illness, developmental disabilities or substance abuse throughout North Carolina. Useful updates on Division activities.