Mental Illness: How It Feels, How It Hurts

We all feel stress, sadness, worry, or a little out of touch sometimes. But with mental illness, like depression, these feelings don't let go for days, months, or even years. This can result in feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and in extreme cases, thoughts of suicide.

Clinical depression affects 14.8 million Americans. Bipolar disorder – aka manic depression – affects more than 5.7 million Americans (watch Lorette's Story). And while schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder are less common, they too affect millions every year. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a real concern for our military and others who have experienced trauma (watch Humberto's Story). And young people – especially teenagers – are vulnerable to a variety of mental illness, including depression, anxiety or eating disorders (watch Colleen's Story).