Stress as an Risk Factor

People who have a mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis often feel under stress for many different reasons. The three main reasons given for people who feel under stress are:

Health Wealth and Relationships

People who have a mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis have a diagnosis that is considered chronic. When an illness is considered chronic, that means that the illness may be a part of their lives forever. In the case of having a mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis, that means that things like increased stress due to stigma, the difficulty gaining and maintaining viable employment, and needing to take medications for a long period of time, often can be challenges for a life time.

Many people who have a mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis often struggle with poverty as a very real part of their lives. Having a diagnosis of Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder may make people feel like they are unemployable. Repeated hospitalizations sometimes result in a struggle to hold onto employment, and people may worry about being fired. Other people may decide that they are unable to work and need to quit their jobs. When either of these things happen, the person’s standard of living often suffers as the monies from employment stop coming in.

Relationships are also impacted when people receive a psychiatric diagnosis. This may happen for several reasons. People may end up losing life partners who they didn't want to lose. Bosses may become irritable. People you know from church may not understand why you can't just pray and get better. People who you were previously comfortable with, may no longer be comfortable due to stigma or due to problems or behaviors that may have happened in the past. If you have been hospitalized, people may not have come and visited when you asked them to.

The above things can happen as a result of receiving a diagnosis of a serious mental illness. Other illnesses or diseases are often perceived as being more acceptable. Cancer is something that, while dreaded, is still a more acceptable illness to have from the perspective of many people in the general public. This is also true of many other diseases.

Medications to help a person’s mental illness may have side effects that they are ill equipped to cope with. When people are struggling with medication side effects or with signs and symptoms, they may be told to snap out of it or to get up and do something, as family members and friends don't understand how the person can sit around all day, unable to think.

The three stressors mentioned above (health, wealth and relationships) are the three most common stressors whether or not a person has a mental illness. However, for people who do have mental illness, these issues end up becoming even more significant stressors. Each stressor becomes magnified and much, much larger when the complications of a mental illness are added in.

Here are some suggestions on how to cope.

Here is some information on person centered planning.   

To cope with the additional stress of having a serious mental illness/psychiatric diagnosis, there are support groups, and people are encouraged to share these problems with their treatment team or peer support specialist.