Is Mental Illness Contagious?

In a word, no! At least not in any conventional sense. A mental illness cannot be spread the way a cold or viral infection might be but there are other dangers. Especially if you are close to someone who is dealing with a serious episode of depression, stress, anxiety or other mental illness.

There is a growing body of research to support the fact that living with someone who is clinically depressed, for example, may erode the mental and emotional strength of the very people who are trying to help them. Spouses, partners, children or parents can all find themselves worn down by the relentless demands placed on them by loved ones dealing with these types of illness.

This, in turn, can lead to feelings of resentment, guilt, frustration and others on the part of people whose only motivation is to help those people they care about who are coping with a serious mental illness. Eventually these states of mind may even trigger an episode of something like depression in the person who took on the role of caregiver in the first place.

Why is this important to know? It's quite simple really. Something we see all the time is a surprising lack of concern for people who are caring for someone with an illness. And this is not limited to mental illnesses alone. Everyone's attention, including that of the caregiver or caregivers themselves, is focused on the person suffering the illness. Little attention is given to the caregiver. Surprisingly, this is even true of caregivers themselves.

If someone who has assumed the role of a caregiver is sacrificing their own health and wellbeing in order to care for someone else, ultimately they will not be of any help to themselves or anyone else. As a caregiver you MUST know when enough is enough. Only you can know this. You do not need to feel guilty that you are not doing enough. You don't have to worry what other people are going to think. As a caregiver you have a responsibility to take care of yourself so you can take proper care of others. Professional caregivers like doctors and nurses know this all too well.

If you are caring for someone who is suffering from a mental illness we may be able to help. Cognimmune provides programs that aid in the prevention of mental illnesses such as depression and others. They can also be used to treat people already suffering from these illnesses. If you were caring for someone with a illness that you could be immunized against so that you would not succumb to the illness and be able to continue caring for your loved one you would choose to be inoculated, wouldn't you? Cognimmune offers you the possibility of doing the same thing in the realm of mental health.

Remember, there are resources available to help you and your loved ones. You do not have to go through this alone. All you need to do is ask for help as a first step. Also you will find some helpful insights at this link:

Coping With Mental Illness In The Family

If there is anything we can do here at Cognimmune to help simply visit our website or reply to this post.

I wish you all the best.

Suicide, The Hidden Endemic

Did you know that an average of 80 Americans take their own lives each and every day? That is about 30,000 people per year. In addition, almost 500 people attempt suicide in the United States each day. In other words almost 180,000 people a year!

If you want to look at that in perspective, consider that since the war in Iraq began the estimated number of US soldiers killed in combat is 2,924. The same period has seen almost 120,000 suicides and approximately 720,000 suicide attempts! This is almost 1 million individuals and families who have been directly impacted by suicide. This is in no way intended to minimize the significance of the loss of brave US fighting men and women but we all know what's going on in Iraq and, agree or disagree, we all talk about it. We don't do the same when it comes to suicide and the underlying mental illnesses that cause it?

The direct costs of suicide and attempted suicide each year (costs being work loss, and medical costs) is almost 40 billion dollars. This does not include costs incurred by survivors such as funeral costs, therapy costs, work loss costs and others. And despite these staggering costs, business and individuals seem content to simply ignore the problem. Why are we, a culture that is obsessed with health so afraid of discussing and dealing with the issues of mental health?

We cannot begin to address a problem until we recognize and accept that the problem exists. Personally I would consider a mental health issue that directly impacts almost 200,000 individuals and families each and every year as being a serious problem. But what to do about it? A good first step is open and honest discussion. I find it impossible to believe that there is any person living in our day and age who, upon reaching the age of reason, has not at least thought about suicide. Fortunately, most people are mentally strong enough to overcome these momentary lapses in judgment. But what about those who are experiencing a moment or period of weakness brought about by some other mental health problem such as depression, stress, anxiety or others?

As always, the question is where to start?

Depression is one of the root causes of suicide. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 19 million people in the United States suffer from "clinical depression" each year. In addition to this most people suffer some form of mild to moderate depression on an ongoing basis. It may surprise you to learn that you too are probably experiencing some level of depression right now. To find out how moderate or severe this may be use this link to take a brief depression self assessment.

In future postings we will deal in more depth with mental and emotional illnesses and techniques for their prevention.