Mental illness facts for kids
A mental illness is a health condition that affects your mind. It can change how you think, feel, and act. Sometimes, people with a mental illness might have thoughts or behaviors that seem unusual to themselves or others.
These illnesses can develop at different times in a person's life. They can be connected to things like your genes (what you inherit from your family) or your life experiences. What counts as a mental illness can also change over time and differ between cultures. For example, something seen as a mental illness in one place might not be in another. A book called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) helps doctors around the world understand and identify different mental illnesses.
People with mental illnesses sometimes find it hard to deal with others or to live what is called a "normal life." But there's good news! With the right help, like therapy or certain medicines, many people can manage their condition and live a much better life.
It's important to know that while mental illnesses affect the brain, not all brain conditions are mental illnesses. For instance, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease affect the brain, but they don't change how a person thinks in the same way a mental illness does.
Images for kids
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Mental illness is more common in countries with a lot of economic inequality.
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"Haus Tornow am See" in Germany, once a manor house, now helps people with mental disorders learn job skills.
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Patients at a hospital in Paris in the 1800s, showing different mental health conditions.
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A patient in a special jacket and barrel, used in 1908.
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A medical procedure called Insulin shock therapy from the 1950s.
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Giorgio Antonucci, an Italian doctor who worked to change how mental health care was given.
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Thomas Szasz, a psychiatrist who wrote about mental illness and freedom.
See also
In Spanish: Trastorno mental para niños
