HJLR May/Jun 2019

Healthcare Journal of LITTLE ROCK  I  MAY / JUN 2019 59 Bruce Trimble, MA, APR Director Business Development The BridgeWay Hospital relationships. We know that only medical and mental health professionals, particularly psychiatrists, primary care physicians, and therapists can diagnose mental illness. For others, it is the lack of such understanding that leads to misunderstanding and stigma. How prevalent are mental disorders? According to National Institute on Mental Health, mental illnesses are common in the United States. In 2017, nearly one in five U.S. adults lived with a mental illness, including many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe. There are two broad categories used to describe such conditions: Any Mental Illness (AMI), which encompasses all recog- nized mental illnesses, and Serious Mental Illness (SMI), which is a smaller and more severe subset of AMI. The three most prevalent mental disorders in the US, according to the National Council for Behavioral Health, are: • Anxiety disorder • Major depressive disorder • Substance abuse disorder As reported in the prior issue, in 2018, Mental Health America ranked Arkansas at 35 for prevalence of mental illness, and 27 for substance abuse disorders. With a persistent prevalence of mental illness among Arkan- sans and less access tomental health services, it is no wonder that our suicide rate is so high. What is the impact of mental illness? While anxiety, major depressive, and sub- stance abuse disorders are classified asAMI and more prevalent than SMI, the impact of these conditions is significant depending upon each person. Take a look at the chart below and consider how you would rank fol- lowing health conditions on a scale of 0.00 to 1.00, from least to most disabling. As you consider this list, perhaps you can see how one physical illness might lead to a mental health illness—an illness so impactful that it results in suicide. AIDS (first stage) Alcoholic psychosis Anorexia Basal cell skin cancer Chronic hepatitis B with active viral replication Deafness Disseminated breast cancer Disseminated colorectal cancer End-stage Parkinson’s disease Epilepsy Extreme intellectual disability (IQ <20) Gingivitis HIV seropositive Low back pain Medium-level spina bifida (L3-L5) Mild asthma Mild depression Mild hearing loss Mild stable angina Mild vison loss Mild/moderate obsessive compulsive disorder Mild/moderate panic disorder Moderate depression Moderate intellectual disability (IQ 35-49) Moderately severe brain injury resulting in permanent impairments Multiple sclerosis-relapsing-remitting phase Non-invasive breast cancer or tumor <2cm (diagnostic treatment phase) Operable small cell lung cancer Osteoarthritis (grade 3-4) Osteoarthritis of hip or knee Quadriplegia Severe asthma Severe chronic bronchitis or emphysema Severe dementia Severe depression Severe post-traumatic stress syndrome Severe schizophrenia Severe vision loss Spina bifida (sacral) Stroke with multiple permanent impairments Uncomplicated diabetes Weight 0.00 - 1.00 Disease stage, severity level or sequels