MYTH:

Mental illness is a single, rare disorder.*

FACT:

Mental illness is not a single disease but a broad classification for many disorders, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, personality disorders, eating disorders, and other disorders.  

I don't want to start popping pills just so that I can turn into someone that other people want me to be. This is how I am. This is who I'm supposed to be. From Glee episode Born This Way

A client at one of JBFCS' day treatment programs has this to say: 

"It started with bad dreams, and at night I heard people talking in my head and saw a TV on the wall. The voice said I was going to be crowned King. I was waiting and waiting for all the people to come to my coronation. But the voice tricked me. Then I ended up in the hospital. I felt like everyone was against me, I felt like I was the only one. In the hospital and at the program, I found out that other people had similar experiences. I still think maybe I'm the only one, though."  

And to further explain, Julie Kipp, Administrative Supervisor at our clinical day treatment program, expands on the topic: 

Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes or heart disease. "Nearly 50 percent of Americans have been mentally ill at some point in their lives, and more than a quarter have suffered from mental illness in the past twelve months."

(McNally 2011, citing the 2005 National Comorbidity Survey Replication).