Caring for Your Mental Health

Welcome to National Mental Illness Awareness Week – October 4th to 10th. Mental health problems affect many people, including people with epilepsy.

• Depression and anxiety affect 1 out of 3 people with seizures and up to 1 out of 2 people with uncontrolled epilepsy.
• Mood disorders affect people of all ages — children, adults and seniors — although symptoms may vary for different age groups.
• Mental illness is a brain disorder that requires ongoing treatment. Unfortunately, access to treatment can be hard to find or afford.
• The fear and misconceptions associated with mental health problems are enormous. For people with seizures and mental health concerns, these issues can be worse than the diseases.

While we emphasize the need for awareness of mental illness, are we also paying attention to our mental health in general?

How we feel emotionally (feeling stressed, sad, or worried) can affect how we function in so many ways. For example…

• We may have trouble paying attention, remembering, or thinking clearly.
• We may have trouble making decisions.
• Our emotions can affect our daily activities. For example, we may not sleep or eat normally.
• People may not work or exercise regularly — either doing too much as a way of coping with stress or worry or doing too little when we feel down or worried.

During Mental Illness Awareness Week, I hope that all of us stop and take a moment or more to think about the importance of mental health and illness.

Think about how it affects people with epilepsy. Think about how it affects family members, caregivers, friends, and health care professionals. No one is immune; emotional wellbeing is critical for each and every one of us.

• Some will need access to professional treatment, supportive services, and other comprehensive care.
• All of us need to pay attention to our emotions, how our emotions affect each of us and others in our lives and how to take care of our mental health.
• We should all check our emotional health as often as we do our physical health.

Best wishes for a healthy week. And don’t forget: it’s healthy to reach out to others and ask for help.