Mental Illness in American Society - Essay Example

Mental illness is a serious disorder in human beings which is prevalent in American society. Mental illness is completely different from physical illness as it cannot be cured with medicines alone and it requires efficient counseling and a human service-oriented approach from all of us. It should not be treated as a spiritual problem. Rather spiritual knowledge helps in treating this disorder effectively. It is high time to eliminate the discrimination of society towards the people suffering from mental disorders.

Mental illness is a disorder of human beings due to a deviation of their behavior from the normal expected behavior. It includes stress-related brain disorders like bipolar disorder, chronic obsessive–compulsory disorder, and schizophrenia. It is a state of mind during which the person may undergo the transformation in perceiving the various things in life and hence behaves differently with other persons. Hence the associated family members and friends in the society feel inconvenience in interacting with them.

It was reported that mental illness affects one in four American families and about 2.8 percent of the US adult population suffer from one or another type of mental illness (O’Keeffe, 1994). Some people may perceive mental illness as a problem of spiritual nature, but it is not true. Spiritual knowledge is certainly superior to intellectual knowledge and physical knowledge and it will enlighten the person to face life with the highest level of maturity. A correct interpretation of spiritual knowledge makes persons help others with the right spirit of humanity.

Hence mental illness shouldn’t be treated as a spiritual problem. Mental illness is completely different from physical illness as the former relates with deviation from normal expected mental behavior whereas the latter relates to physical injury or pain. Mental illness is complex in nature compared to physical illness and it is very difficult to cure mental illness with medicines that generally work well for curing physical illness.