Mental Illness, Rising Rates and What They Really Mean

Psychology can be defined as the science of behavior and mental processes. More specifically, psychology is the study of human perception, learning processes, memory, human development, intelligence, motivation, emotion, psychological disorders, the treatment of psychological disorders, and the social aspects of human behavior and mental processes. The American Psychological Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistics Manual IV (DSM IV) lists almost 300 medical conditions that are labeled mental disorders, ranging from phobias to schizophrenia to depression (Bernstein and Nash 416). Mental disorders can be categorized into many main groups, including, but not limited to, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and personality disorders. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that by the year 2020 mental illness will be the second leading cause of death and disability. The WHO also reports that today mental illnesses affect over 400 million people globally, 45 million of which suffer from schizophrenia (“Mental Illness” 1). Mental illness rates are on the rise in the United States; however, the increase is due not to a decline in collective American mental health but instead to rising numbers of recognized mental disorders, changes in the diagnostic criteria for mental disorders, Americans’ tendencies to blame social problems on medical causes, and the influence of various groups that stand to benefit from rising mental illness rates.