There is a difference between assumptions and realty. Simply, assumption is what you think without evidence, and realty is, what the thing is in real with evidence. • Now, It is time, people understand what being mentally ill, really means.

1. Mental Health Assumptions and Reality
• There is a difference between assumptions and
realty. Simply, assumption is what you think
without evidence, and realty is, what the thing is
in real with evidence.
• Now, It is time, people understand what being
mentally ill, really means.

2. Assumption 1:
People with Mental illness are dangerous , violent and
unpredictable:
Reality:
The majority of people with mental health problems are
not violent and only 3%–5% of violent acts can be
attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness.
In fact, people with severe mental illnesses are over 10
times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the
general population.

3. Assumption 2:
Mental health problems don’t affect me.
Reality:
Mental health related problems are actually very common.
Annually, about: One in 10 young people, experienced a
period of major depression.

4. One in 25 lived with a serious mental illness, such as
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United
States. It accounts for the loss of more than 41,000
American lives each year, more than double the number of
lives lost to homicide.

5. Assumption 3:
Most Homeless People Are Mentally ill.

6. Reality:
Most Homeless People are not mentally ill.
• It is wrong to assume, most homeless people are
mentally ill or that they became homeless, because of
mental illness.
• Only 30–35% of homeless people suffer from severe
mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, schizo-
affective disorder, bipolar disorder and major
depression.
• We all see the occasional mentally ill homeless
person shouting obscenities or nonsense, clearly in
extreme need of psychiatric help.

7. Assumption 4:
Mental Illness and Physical Illness are different.
Reality:
Mental illness can have medical symptoms and
medical illness can have mental symptoms.
• Common mental illnesses like depression have body
aches, pain, gastrointestinal problems, disturbed

8. biological functions such as sleep disturbances,
appetite changes, sexual problems and more. The
stress of coping with medical illness can lead to
mental illness.
• The mind and body are intertwined and tend to push
and pull on each other rather than acting
independently. People who don’t understand mental
illness usually say that , the symptoms are “not real”
or “in your head. In reality , the mind affects the body
and body affects the mind. They are complimentary to
each other.
• For example, mothers who suffer from postpartum
depression, people make them feel something is
“wrong with them” rather than accepting it as an
illness to be treated.

9. Assumption 5:
People with Mental Illness always need Medications.
Reality:
• Medicines are not always necessary.
• Psychotropic medications such as antidepressants
are a popular way to treat mental illness, those not

10. familiar with it, assume drugs are necessary and that
mentally ill people take them their entire lives. It is not
true.
• People have used psychotherapy alone to treat
mental illness or a combination of therapy and
medication. In many cases, patients prefer therapy
only, not any medicines at all, like in case of mild
depression.

11. Assumption 6:
Children don’t experience mental health problems.
Reality:
Even very young children may show early warning
signs of mental health problems.
• Mental health problems are often clinically
diagnosable, and can be a product of the interaction
of biological, psychological, and social factors. Half of
all mental health disorders show first signs before a
person turns 14 years old, and three quarters of
mental health disorders begin before age 24.
• Unfortunately, less than 20% of children and
adolescents with diagnosable mental health problems
receive the treatment they need. Early mental health
support can help a child before problems interfere
with other developmental needs.

12. Assumption 7:
People with mental health problems, even those who
are managing their mental illness, cannot tolerate the
stress of holding down a job.
Reality:
People with mental health problems are just as
productive as other employees.

13. • Employers who hire people with mental health
problems report good attendance and punctuality as
well as motivation, good work, and job tenure on par
with or greater than other employees.
• When employees with mental health problems receive
effective treatment, it can result in:
1. Lower total medical costs
2. Increased productivity
3. Lower absenteeism
4. Decreased disability costs

14. Assumption 8:
Personality weakness or character flaws cause mental
health problems. People with mental health problems
may be in trouble, it if they try hard enough.

15. Reality:
Mental health problems have nothing to do with being
lazy or weak and many people need help to get better.
Many factors contribute to mental health problems,
including:
• Biological factors, such as genes, physical illness,
injury, or brain chemistry
• Life experiences, such as trauma or a history of
abuse
• Family history of mental health problems

16. Assumption 9:
White People Suffer More from Mental Illness.
Realty:
Minorities suffer more from mental illness.
• Due to economic and cultural disadvantages, that
cause increased stress, minorities are more
vulnerable to mental illnesses such as depression.

17. • White people receive more treatment for mental
illness because they tend to come from privilege that
makes them more open to and able to access it. This
breeds the assumption they must be more
predisposed to mental illness. They do not, however,
suffer from it the most.
• Unfortunately, cultural stigma regarding counseling
and medication prevents many ethnic minority
individuals from seeking mental health treatment.
• As per American Psychological Association, African
Americans are most at risk and have limited access to
mental health care.

18. Assumption 10:
There is no hope for people with mental health
problems. Once a friend or family member develops
mental health problems, he or she will never recover.
Reality:
Studies show that people with mental health
problems get better and many recover completely.

19. • Recovery refers to the process in which people are
able to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their
communities. There are more treatments, services,
and community support systems than ever before,
and they work.
• You probably know someone with a mental health
problem and don’t even realize it, because many
people with mental health problems are highly active
and productive members of our communities.
Assumptions 11:
I can not do anything for a person, with a mental
health problem.

20. Reality:
Friends and loved ones can make a big difference and
be important influences to help, someone get the
treatment and services they need by:
• Reaching out and letting them know, you are
available to help.
• Helping them to access mental health services.
• Learning and sharing the facts about mental health,
especially, if you hear something that isn’t true.
• Treating them with respect, just as you would anyone
else.
• Refusing to define them by their diagnosis or using
labels such as “crazy”

21. Assumption 12:
All mentally ill people keep it to themselves.
Reality:
Stars and Everyday People Speak Openly About It.
• This assumption is another result of the popular
depiction of mentally ill people as disturbed, reclusive
and putting on a front to appear “normal.”

22. • Many sufferers don’t mention their illness because
they succumb to the stigma or worry it will get them
fired.
• There are, however, public or professional
environments that welcome people to be open about
their struggles with mental illness, those who speak
about it are rare, but do exist.
• There are also celebrities with mental health initiatives
such as Dipika Padukon. She has spoken publicly
about the challenges of dealing with depression.

23. Assumption 13:
Patients with mental illnesses are fundamentally
different people.
Realty:
Absolutely wrong, They are usually not so different.
• According to doctors, they have patients, who felt or
believed other people felt, they were a fundamentally
different type of human, as if having mental illness
meant, they were different from birth.
• The media and film industry exacerbates this feeling
of otherness by using extreme cases to portray the
mentally ill as people who think and operate
differently than others (think “A Beautiful Mind”).
• It is possible for someone to become mentally ill and
then treat that illness.

24. Assumption 14:
Mental Illness defines the sufferer.
Reality:
Not at all. It’s a small part of who, they are. It is just an
illness, should be treated not more than that.

25. • Because mental illness directly influences behavior
more than medical illnesses, people sometimes see it
as a defining trait.
• Some experts highlighted a linguistic tendency for
people to more commonly use “he is” language for
mental illness rather than “he has” language.
• Now consider the opposite: Wouldn’t it be weird if you
said “he is cardiac disease” instead of “he has cardiac
disease”?
• With the vast majority of people who struggle with
mental illness, you won’t know they have that burden
unless they tell you.
• And if they do tell you, know it shouldn’t overshadow
everything else you know about them.

26. Assumption 15:
People with mental illness are at fault because they
don’t have enough will power to change.
Reality:
People are usually not at fault.

27. As per mental health expert, people who believe those
who struggle with depression can will away their
symptoms, but are too lazy and unmotivated to do so.
• Roughly half of the other mental health professionals
have a common misconception about depression and
mental illness as a whole.
• People sometimes exacerbate this by judging the
mentally ill as melodramatic or too stubborn to
change.
• Blaming someone for struggling with depression is
like telling a woman with breast cancer she is dying
because she doesn’t want to live badly enough.
• Mental or not, illnesses can come without just cause.
People can be barreling towards the diagnosis without
realizing it. And that’s not the only similarity mental
and medical illnesses have.

28. Assumption 16:
People Who look or act happy/normal aren’t
mentally ill
Reality:
Mentally ill people don’t act or look a certain way.
• Suppose, family friend who committed suicide despite
having a great career and being happily married.

29. • People who don’t understand mental illness look and
think, “Everything seems to be going great for him.
How could he be depressed?” (Think for Sushant)
• The face of mental illness can be the same as any
other. It doesn’t make people look or behave in any
way we are guaranteed to notice or perceive as
abnormal. Remember people with mental illness are
not “crazy.”
Assumptions 17:
Prevention doesn’t work. It is impossible to prevent
mental illnesses.

30. Reality:
Prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders
focuses on addressing known risk factors such as
exposure to trauma that can affect the chances that
children, youth, and young adults will develop mental
health problems. Promoting the social-emotional well-
being of children and youth leads to:
· Higher overall productivity
· Better educational outcomes
· Lower crime rates
· Stronger economies
· Lower health care costs
· Improved quality of life
· Increased lifespan
· Improved family life

31. Assumption 18:
Therapy and self-help are a waste of time. Why bother
when you can just take a pill?
Reality:
• Treatment for mental health problems varies
depending on the individual and could include
medication, therapy, or both.
• Many individuals work with a support group during the
healing and recovery process.

32. What We Can Do?
• How the situation is currently, you can easily guess
that, the top Google image results for “mentally ill
people,” include: John Hinckley (the man who
attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan),
a homeless man, the Aurora shooter, and pictures of
Jack Nicholson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
and “The Shining.”
• These results reflect the reality of how the public
views the mentally ill and makes hurtful,
stigmatizing assumptions about them.
• Once people acknowledge these assumptions and
learn to stop making them, they can focus on the real
signs people need help.
• If we push hard enough to break the stigma and
understand the facts about mental illness, maybe we
can push successful mental health warriors like Demi
Lovato to the top search result for “mentally ill
people.”