People with mental illness can not lead productive lives.
Fiction! With proper medical treatment, housing, rehabilitation services, and community support, persons with mental illness can be productive members of the community.

Schizophrenia means "Split Personality".
Not so. This is a widespread but erroneous idea. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Sybil, or the Three Faces of Eve - well known from popular literature - were not about people with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia means pursuit of two mutually exclusive ideas.
Not so. This is a common misuse of the term in casual conversation, showing lack of understanding.

Schizophrenia is a form of mental retardation.
No. Many people with schizophrenia were notably intelligent before the onset of their illness, and many retain clear evidence of intelligence while also exhibiting confusion in thinking and responding.

"Poor Parenting" causes mental illness.
False! This once popular idea has been refuted. In fact, parenting a person with mental illness is very difficult and demanding of time, attention, understanding and love. Mental illness is caused by brain chemical imbalances. It is no more the result of bad parenting than diabetes or heart disease.

Mental illness results from personality and attitudes.
Not so. It is the other way around. The three types of serious mental illness (major depressive illness, bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia) are no-fault diseases, not "emotional disturbances" and not willful, petulant behavior.

Stress causes mental illness.
Stress may occasionally serve as a trigger for an episode of acute symptoms, but the root cause appears to be biological in nature.

Mental illness is inherited.
Only partially true. There is sound evidence that some forms of mental illness run in families and recent research has tentatively identified a gene that is associated with a form of schizophrenia. It is also suspected that the disease itself is not inherited, but that a predisposition to developing the disease is inherited, which may be "triggered" by an external factor. Research is ongoing in this area.

Mental illness can't happen in my family.
Don't believe it. Statistics show that over seven percent of us experience one of the three types of serious mental illness at some time in our lives.

Mental illness is contagious.
No, no no! Mental illness is due to abnormalities in brain chemistry. You can't "catch" it.