May is Mental Health Awareness Month

About 20% of people in the United States have some kind of mental health condition. There are many misconceptions about mental illness that often lead to stigmatization of people dealing with these conditions. This month, take some time to read and become more informed about what mental illness is and isn't. Consider these facts from the National Alliance on Mental Illness:

1 in 25 (10 million) adults in the United States lives with a serious mental illness.

60 million people in the United States face the day-to-day reality of living with a mental illness.

Half of all lifetime mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75% by age 24, but early intervention programs can help.

African Americans and Hispanic Americans used mental health services at about half the rate of whites in the past year, and Asian Americans at about one-third the rate.

90% of those who die by suicide have an underlying mental illness. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, but suicide is preventable.

- See more at: https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Awareness-Messaging?utm_source=awareness&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=intoMH#sthash.qdVrbNBv.dpuf

For more information see these library resources:

Non-fiction:

Kemp, Donna R. Mental Health in America. 2009.

Miklowitz, David J. The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide. 2002.

Owens, Michael L. and Amy Gelman. I'm Depressed, Now What?. 2012.

Torrey, E. Fuller and Michael B. Knable. Surviving Manic Depression. 2002.

Watkins, Heidi. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. 2010.

Wylie, John V. Diagnosing and Treating Mental Illness. 2010.

Fiction:

King, Wesley. OCDaniel. 2016.

Scelsa, Kate. Fans of the Impossible Life. 2015.

Shusterman, Neal. Challenger Deep. 2015.

Whaley, John Corey. Highly Illogical Behavior. 2016.