One of every four people in the world will experience a mental disorder at some point in their lives. Around 450 million people currently suffer from these conditions, making mental disorders one of the leading causes of illness and disability worldwide. If you’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness, you are certainly not alone.
Receiving a mental illness diagnosis can be scary and upsetting – but it’s important to acknowledge the upsides of having a mental illness, too. (Yes, there are upsides!) Conversations about mental illness usually revolve around the negative, such as challenging symptoms that can affect daily life and stigma and judgment from others. But there are many good things that can come from mental illness, as long as we are willing to see them.
Hidden Blessings
Previous studies have explored this exact topic and found that people can be grateful for a lot of things their mental illness has brought them. These include:
- An intense desire for music and creativity
- Cleanliness and orderliness at home
- Being well in-tune with emotions
- Strong feelings about particular topics that matter
- An ability to remember things better than most
- Greater empathy for others throughout the recovery process
For some people who’ve been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, that diagnosis is what pushed them to meet their goals. Without the struggles of mental illness, they may have never gone after dreams that mattered to them.
A Deeper Understanding
Mental illness sometimes allows us to dig deeper within, exploring the things that lift us up, bring us down, and everything in between. When we might have continued living life blindly, mental illness helps us place more attention on things that matter for our mental, physical and spiritual health.
When we break it down for specific mental disorders, it becomes even easier to see. For example, a person with depression may find that it’s very easy to feel pain and empathy for others and to recognize when somebody else is hurting. That’s because they’ve been hurting themselves – without their depression, they may not ever understand what those feelings are like.
There Is Help
If you’re ready to seek help for mental illness, speak with a professional from Alta Loma today.
At Alta Loma, we understand that mental illness is a serious, chronic condition that must be appropriately treated.
Residents at Alta Loma have their psychiatric needs regularly assessed by licensed mental health providers in addition to meeting with clinicians who specialize in addiction treatment. We develop a long-term treatment plan that helps residents recognize how their disorders relate and learn better ways to manage their symptoms. Our caring staff is ready to help you do the same. Call us today at (866) 457-3843.
