(May 1, 2018) May was coined Mental Health Awareness Month in 1949 by Mental Health America, a national organization dedicated to addressing the needs of individuals with any mental illness and improving the mental health of all Americans.
Picked up by other organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the National Council for Behavioral Health, Mental Health Month has become a clearinghouse for promoting anything mental health-related, including mass media campaigns to fight against the stigma of mental illness, and exercise and fitness programs that support a healthy lifestyle.
This year, the Office of Research and Public Affairs at the Treatment Advocacy Center is going to use Mental Health Month to bring awareness to research into the impacts of the most severe of psychiatric diseases, which are often ignored by these national media campaigns.
Remission and recovery for people with serious mental illness
Recovery and remission is possible for individuals with serious mental illness, despite the common misconception that they are progressive, chronically debilitating diseases. Like any chronic illness, schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder are episodic diseases with waxing and waning symptomology. Individuals with schizophrenia, for example, may experience periods of severe positive and negative symptoms in combination with periods of symptom remission when adhering to proper treatment.
New research published this month in Psychiatric Services from Temple University's Mark Salzer, PhD, and others, suggests that up to one-third of individuals with serious mental illness are in a period of remission at any given time. The authors argue that estimates of remission from serious mental illness are important to use as benchmarks when evaluating health policies.
Salzer and his co-authors utilized the Truven Health Analytics household survey, a community sample of more than 40,000 individuals. Although this type of survey has significant limitations due to the inability to capture individuals who lack housing or those who are institutionalized in hospitals or jails, the results are illuminating in regards to prevalence and remission of serious mental illness in the United States.
Survey Results
Based on responses to questions about previous diagnosis, history of hospitalization and level of functioning, the authors report that 3.9% of the sample had a serious mental illness. An additional 1.9% of individuals claimed to have a serious mental illness but reported that the illness had not severely interfered or limited their daily lives within the past 12-months, indicating a period of remission.
Remission rates in this study were directly related to age of the individual. Remission was less common for respondents 32 years-old or younger. After that age, the probability of remission increased steadily as individuals aged. Some 58% of survey respondents were found to be in remission at age 65.
The authors argue that the findings from this study should be treated with caution, as the sample is limited and remission was a self-reported indicator. However, Salzer writes "this is an inspiring number that should provide hope to many about their future after a diagnosis as well as to caregivers and other loved ones... It can also serve as a benchmark for future efforts aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of mental health policies and service delivery systems at all levels. Nonetheless, there is ample room to improve recovery-remission rates, and more research is needed to explore how to enhance recovery."
It is important to note that the use of the word remission is not meant to imply that symptoms will not return. Remission rates vary depending on specific diagnosis. However, the results confirm the episodic-nature of serious mental illness and the need for a full spectrum of services. Just like any other chronic illness, individuals with serious mental illness deserve a continuum of care that addresses their needs at all points along the course of the illness. Mental Health Awareness Month is as good a time as any to bring attention to this need.
Elizabeth Sinclair
Director of Research
References:
- Salzer, M. S. (2018, May). National estimates of recovery-remission from serious mental illness. Psychiatric Services.