Some form of mental illness affects almost one out of every five Canadians at some point in their life, yet it remains a disease shrouded in stigma and dogged by misconceptions that have evolved into myths. While celebrities such as Canadian actress Margot Kidder and Margaret Trudeau, former wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, have openly discussed their bouts of depression, other conditions, such as anxiety disorders, psychosis and schizophrenia, often remain in the shadows.
People with mental illness are often afraid to tell their friends or employers, and may be shunned by their families or face certain prejudices. Others are told to just "snap out of it." Yet mental illnesses are medical disorders that can be treated, often with excellent results.
Canadian Living magazine asked three top psychiatrists in Canada to dispel 10 of the more common myths about mental illness. Dr. Patrick White is a professor and the chair of psychiatry at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Dr. Stanley Kutcher is the Sun Life Financial chair in adolescent mental health at Dalhousie University in Halifax. And Dr. David Goldbloom is the senior medical adviser for education and public affairs at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto.
Myth 1: Psychiatric disorders are not true illnesses like heart disease or cancer; people who have a mental illness are just "crazy."
Unlike a broken leg or heart attack, which are easily detected by simple tests, mental illness has traditionally been an invisible disease. This inability to see what's wrong may add to the public perception, and even fear, of mental illness. But, like heart disease, mental illnesses are bona fide medical conditions. They involve complex physiological processes, as well as changes or imbalances in brain chemistry, according to White.
With today's sophisticated brain imaging technology, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), it's now possible to actually observe differences in the brains of people with mental illnesses, says White. "With illnesses such as psychosis, schizophrenia and others, we can see very real changes in the brain," he says.
This sort of technology will eventually help predict who is at risk for these conditions and find ways to prevent onset. One day these technologies may well help monitor how well treatment is working.
Myth 2: All people with schizophrenia are violent.
Unfortunately, Hollywood often portrays mentally ill people as dangerous axe-wielding murderers, says Goldbloom. The reality, he says, is that "very little violence in society is caused by people who are mentally ill." The most common types of violence – gang fights, domestic abuse, even road-rage – aren't caused by people with a mental illness such as schizophrenia. "People with a major mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators," says Goldbloom.
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