Mental Health Pamphlets

The Various Types of Mental Illnesses

What are Mental Illnesses?

Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.

Mental illness does not discriminate; it can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, geography, income, social status, race/ethnicity, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, background, or other aspect of cultural identity. While mental illness can occur at any age, three-fourths of all mental illnesses begin by age 24.

They take many forms. Some are mild and only interfere in limited ways with daily life, such as certain phobias (abnormal fears). Other mental health conditions are so severe that a person may need care in a hospital.

Informative Mental Illness Downloads

NAMI Contra Costa is dedicated to providing the community with tools, information and resources to help those with mental illness and their loved ones. Listed below are free downloadable pamphlets and brochures on a wide range of mental illnesses. If you or your loved one need information pertaining to a mental illness and it is not listed here, please check the National Institute for Mental Health Publications website. They have brochures, pamphlets and fact sheets for you to review and download.