A host of new treatments are on the horizon. Withholding the newest psychiatric advances from individuals coping with brain disorders is equivalent to denying a person with diabetes their insulin injection. Indeed, of the available treatments for Mental Illnesses, the majority are supported by extensive controlled clinical trials, comparing very favorably with other areas of medicine. In short, treatment works. Consumer and Family Involvement, Why and How Mental illness is a Family and Community illness that touches us all.
Mental illness is a family illness, it affects the whole family.
Sometimes families feel helpless and hopeless, so they give up. Sometimes families don't care. Mental illness is a devastating disease, not only for the person who has it, but for his or her entire family. There is no way to calculate the impact of this problem on children, on spouses, and on culture itself. I'd like to tell you a couple of true stories of my childhood.