Health Gateway Program  

At Tutu's House

“Exploring health information on the Internet"

Mental Health

In any given year, one out of five adult Americans experiences a mental illness or emotional problem severe enough to require treatment. These disorders impair how people feel, think, and act, and interfere with their effectiveness at work and school and their relationships with friends and family.

Mental illness does not discriminate. It affects men, women, and children of all ages, races, and economic positions. An individual with mental illness may feel overwhelmed, numbed, or frightened by unwanted emotions or experiences. Relentless feelings of sadness, overpowering anxiety or loneliness, loss of a job, divorce, death of a loved one, abuse of alcohol or drugs-all are reasons to seek help.

If someone you know has emotional or mental problems, advise him or her to seek help. Once properly diagnosed, treatment, such as psychotherapy, can help patients to function more effectively and comfortably.

For more specific information regarding mental health, try the Web sites listed below:

American Medical Association, Health Insight - Depression page (http://www.ama-assn.org/insight/spec_con/depressn/depressn.htm) provides an article about how to recognize depression, and how it is treated.

Federation of Families for Children’s Health (http://www.ffcmh.org), a national parent-run organization focused on the needs of children and youth with emotional, behavioral, or mental disorders and their families, provides a list of valuable links.

Internet Mental Health (http://www.mentalhealth.com), an encyclopedia of mental health information, providing overviews of mental disorders and treatments for the 52 most common ailments, including descriptions, causes, diagnosis and complications.

Mental Health Net (http://www.cmhc.com), an easy-to-use resource in which to access all the mental health topics on the Internet, is organized into three separate sections: Disorders & Treatments, Professional Resources, and Reading Room.