Mental illness knows no age limit, economic status, race, creed or color. Great progress has been made in treating it, but the brain still poses many mysteries. One thing researchers do know is that many mental illnesses are the result of chemical imbalances in the brain, either inherited, or developed or triggered because of stress or substance abuse.

Like all organs, the human brain is vulnerable to disease. Yet people with heart disease probably don't fear the stigma that people with mental illnesses do. Instead of receiving compassion, people with mental illnesses may feel ashamed and isolated.

How to Combat Stigma

The National Mental Health Public Awareness Campaign suggests these tips for ending the stigma:

1. Share your experience with mental illness to show others that mental illness is nothing to be embarrassed about.

2. Help people who have been receiving inpatient treatment for mental illness reenter society by supporting their efforts to obtain housing and jobs.

3. Respond to false statements about mental illness with accurate information.

Five Major Categories of Mental Illness

1. Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are the most common, with three main types: phobias, panic disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People who suffer from phobias experience extreme fear or dread of a certain object or situation. Panic disorders involve sudden, intense, unexplainable feelings of terror and symptoms similar to a heart attack. People with OCD try to cope with anxiety by repeating words or phrases or engaging in repetitive, ritualistic behavior such as constant hand washing.

2. Mood Disorders

Mood disorders include depression and bipolar disorder (or manic depression). Symptoms include mood swings, such as extreme sadness or elation, sleep and eating disturbances, and changes in activity and energy levels. Suicide may be a risk.

3. Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. It is believed to be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain that produce symptoms including hallucinations, delusions, withdrawal, incoherent speech, and impaired reasoning.

4. Dementias

This category includes diseases like Alzheimer's, which leads to a loss of mental functions, including memory loss and a decline in intellectual and physical skills.

5. Eating Disorders

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are serious, potentially life-threatening illnesses. Anorexia is self-starvation while bulimia involves cycles of bingeing (consuming large quantities of food) and purging (self-inducing vomiting or abusing laxatives). Behavior may also include excessive exercise.

Recognizing the Signs of Depression

Depression affects more than 19 million Americans each year. Only about half of them seek help. Left untreated, depression causes unnecessary suffering — and costs about $44 billion annually in lost workdays, decreased productivity, and other losses. How do you know if you have a passing case of the "blues," or are facing clinical depression? Here are some signs:

• Persistent sad, anxious or "empty" mood
• Changes in sleep pattern
• Reduced appetite and weight loss, or increased appetite and weight gain
• Loss of pleasure in once-enjoyable activities, including sex
• Restlessness, irritability
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as chronic pain or digestive disorders
• Difficulty concentrating at school or at work, or difficulty remembering things or making decisions
• Fatigue or loss of energy
• Feeling guilty, hopeless or worthless
• Thoughts of suicide or death

If you experience five or more of these symptoms for two weeks or longer, you could have clinical depression. See a doctor or mental health professional right away.

If you or someone you care about is suicidal, call 911. You will be immediately connected with a crisis center in your area.

Looking for more information about mental illness? Here are some helpful resources:

• National Institute of Mental Health: www.nimh.nih.gov;
  1-866-615-6464
• National Mental Health Association: www.nmha.org;
  1-800-969-6642
• SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices for Education™): www.save.org; 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov; 1-800-789-2647

Additional Resources Available:

Solutions is the UPS Employee Assistance Program (EAP) (1-800-336-9117) and includes confidential, 24-hour access to trained professional counselors. Examples of issues that may benefit from the services available through the EAP anxiety, depression, grief and loss, child or senior care, relationship or marital issues, alcohol or substance abuse, finding colleges, bereavement, financial or legal concerns, parenting challenges, work-related problems and conflict resolution.

Sources: National Institute of Mental Health website (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/), 2005; National Mental Health Association website (http://www.nmha.org/), 2005; www.prevention.com, Emotional and Mental Health, 2005; National Women's Health Information Center, www.womenshealth.gov, Depression during and after Pregnancy, April 2005