here in NY (the one in the USA as opposed to in other locations) mental illness isnt like a virus or bacteria. you cant catch it from being exposed to others with mental illness.

here that belief that mental illness is catching from another person is called false belief/ old wives tales, outdated, stigmatizing/discrimination against the mentally ill. there are many agencies that fight against this kind of stigma and discrimination of the mentally ill, one is the National Alliance on mental illness (nami) another is the American Disabilities Act and the American Psychiatric Association.

thats not saying a person cant show .....symptoms... of mental illness... there are many different mental and physical health diseases/disorders and many share the same symptom..

example a bacteria or virus like syphilis which is a bacterial infection that can cause a person to have mental disorder symptoms like symptoms of paranoia, psychosis, hallucinations, delusions... if left untreated but here in America Syphilis is a physical health problem not a mental illness.

there are some mental illnesses just like physical health diseases that are there from birth...these are called hereditary disorders/diseases. in some families for example schizophrenia is hereditary, so is bipolar disorder...PTSD on the other side is not a hereditary mental disorder. its a reaction to things that happen to you...example put two people in the same room and have them witness a crime one may have reactions to that of nightmares, flashbacks, panic attacks (PTSD) where as the other may come out of it with no negative affects. (no PTSD)

to find out whether you have mental disorders, what they are and why they are there (hereditary, life reactions, a bacterial infection (which is curable with antibiotics) you will need to contact your own treatment providers.