Access Of Mental Health Care

Mental illness is often wrongly portrayed in the United States’ media creating stigmatization and misrepresentation. Mental illness “refers to a wide range of mental disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015). Examples of disorders include anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Any “negative attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are called stigma” (Wilson et al., 2016, p. 2) and stigma can contribute to progression of mental illness because of its harmful effects due to misrepresentation in the media. In the recent years, the United States media has began to address the reprehension around the topic of mental illness, as it has began to develop into a rising problem in citizens across the nation. In the past, any portrayal of a figure or character with a mental disorder would be wrongly depicted, therefore, creating a distorted perception for the viewers (Stout et al., 2004, p. 1). Television shows have started to establish characters with mental illness in hopes to lessen the stigma behind ill characters due to the wrongful associations viewers may make. The way media viewers’ stereotype the mentally ill into categories can be harmful to the well being of those with disorders. Stereotypes can be so harmful that even medical professionals “contend that stigma is a major reason why one-fourth of the estimated 50 million Americans experiencing mental illness yearly will not seek

The main complication is that America’s corrupted mental health system is a liability to the safety of regular American citizens because mentally ill people do not get the proper help they need and are easily able to gain access to guns. A majority of people with mental illness show signs of having a mental illness and are often not given a proper diagnosis or any diagnosis at all. Only one-third of the people with mental illness who have committed mass shootings in the U.S. since 1900 had sought or received mental health care prior to their attacks. This information suggests that most shooters do not seek or receive care that they need (Duwe 1). If a person with a mental illness is left untreated they could end up hurting themselves or others. Sandy hook mass shooter Adam Lanza presented clear signs of schizophrenia but was not issued the proper care he needed. (Turndoff 5). Another instance where the mental health system has failed is in a case where an individual with mental illness may be diagnosed, but their case is not taken seriously and left untreated. For instance, the notorious Charleston Church shooter Dylann Roof was diagnosed with a host of multiple disorders by a

Donald Trump is trying to tell American citizens that guns do not need to be banned, “and when Nikolas Cruz brought a rifle to shoot up a school in Florida, it was do to “mental illnesses” and he doesn’t deserve severe punishment and that people “should feel safe in school.” How are students supposed to feel safe after there’s been roughly 17 school shootings in the USA within 12 weeks in 2018? In example, If you were suffering from schizophrenia, and you murder a person, will you be charged and arrested for murder? Most definitely. So how are we going to protect someone who has killed 17 former classmates from depression? If people had more access to the proper mental help they needed in America, this would be less of an issue, but instead people are silently suffering.

Furthermore, it is sad to see that there are people with mental illness who do not have the proper support, services, or intervention programs. Instead funding is directed elsewhere and not on preventing the 2,000,000 mentally-ill individuals from jail. Another reason why I believe the media portrays mental illness with mass shootings is because there are people who are not mentally ill but plead this in case so that they can receive a lighter sentence and not serious jail time. Another sad reality is that an estimated half of people who are shot and killed by police are in fact mentally ill. Their definitely needs to be an effective plan to help those suffering from mental illness so that lives can be saved and fiscal sense can be made to take a stand for the many people who were disregarded even though they themselves have mental-illness. Finally, effective treatment facilities also need to be put into place. This article provided me with a better understanding of what mental illness actually is. and the lack of services that are at the disposal of these

When my mom was first diagnosed with a mental illness, rumours and gossip spread quicker than wildfire. No one, not even my family and I, understood what was going on. All we saw was my mom acting like somebody else. “Crazy” became a word attached to her like a tail is attached to a dog. No matter who explained it or how many times it was explained many people could not see past their narrow views. It is common that people do not like what they do not understand. How can something be understood if it is not physical, not seen? There are many negative attitudes towards mental illness. It is misunderstood and is given less sympathy than a physical illness such as cancer. Often times when people are diagnosed with a mental illness they are automatically deemed crazy. We live in a time were normal is

School safety is something that people think of all the time. People are bullied and kicked out of school, and it’s just the “cherry on top” when they have a mental illness. That illness will tell them that everyone in the school is against them, even if they’ve never met before. They will pull that trigger because their mind told them to. A gun doesn’t shoot someone on its own. It needs someone to assist the process. The number of mental health records in the system has grown rapidly, to 5.2 million in 2018 from 234,628 in 2005 (Mueller). That number is scary, but it also means that more people are aware of their problem. I’m not going to say that everyone who has a mental illness will want to kill people, but there is a big number of people where their mental illness pushed them over the edge a little.

It is a necessity for our veterans who have honorably served our country to have increased access to mental health services. Closely monitoring the availability of future appointment slots is essential to be able to respond to increased demands for service. An integrated portal across VA and Non-VA facilities should be available for providers that would expedite immediate access to care, and receive quality treatment. The portal must include the number of available new appointments per week, and be open to upgrades for clinical staff to include information about the patient’s medical history and medical visits for the year. If there are any new resources available by the provider, the patient shall be informed within 15 days, and decide if

Unfortunately the media have the power to shape people’s opinions on issues such as mental illness and since many people have a limited understanding of mental illness, they are more susceptible to believe inaccurate stereotypes to be reality and form prejudiced views against the mentally ill. The media’s poor representation of mental illness not only creates ignorant stereotypes of mental illness, but it also breeds fear which makes those with more illnesses such as schizophrenia vulnerable to violence and

We live in a very dynamic society that consist of many different cultures, beliefs, and values. There is common ground as well as differentiated opinions, perceptions and misconceptions. One such the perception and stigma of mental illnesses. Mental illness is probably the most misunderstood and abused illness. At one time it was an illness that no one would dare talk about. The stigma was so strong it was looked upon as a crime. Patients would be “put away” not necessarily to be treated, but to shield them from the public. It was an illness to be ashamed of, cursed with, and brought upon by the patients themselves. It was looked upon as anti social behavior, poor upbringing or simply a damning disease. A patient of the late Neuropsychiatrist

There is such a strong Stigma against mental illness in the United States. When I worked with NAMI I helped to raise money towards treatments for mental illnesses, education of mental illness, avocation of their public policies, and their fight against the negative beliefs of mental illness. They fight the Stigma and work towards creating a better world for those of mental illness because no one deserves to be treated different because of the way they were born.

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” -Malcolm X. It can be said without a doubt that media plays a massive role in how society views certain things. A negative media portrayal ultimately leads to negativity and stigma towards whichever group. One of the groups that is severely impacted by these dismissive representations is mental illness. The portrayal of mental illness in mass media as violent, amusing, or downright “nuts”, is inaccurate and vilifying, but can be resolved by the inclusion of mental health specialist in program planning.

Access to mental health services is distributed unevenly across countries, with low and middle-income countries (LMICs) lacking proportionate access to human resources and treatments. Developed countries only carry a small portion of the global mental health burden, and yet they are most equipped to treat patients. In need of a more sustainable method of providing mental health services within the confines of cost and time, LMICs have begun to explore the option of task-sharing, in which mental health care is conjointly or selectively provided by a trained community member with preexisting or nonexistent experience in health-related functions. If treatments and interventions conducted by non-specialists are comparably effective to those

Before narrowing our focus on the media, we must clarify the terms mental illness and stigma. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, a mental illness is “a condition that impacts a person’s thinking, feeling or mood and may affect his or her ability to relate to others and function on a daily basis.” A survey conducted by the CDC reveals that 26.2% of adults in the US have at least one mental disorder. 5-7% of US adults have a “serious mental illness,” and 5-9% of children have a “serious emotional disturbance.” Mental illness remains the top cause of disability in the US, and, according to the World Health Organization, more US citizens die from suicide every year than from war or homicide. One contributor to the high suicide rate is stigma. According to the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, stigma “refers to a cluster of negative attitudes and beliefs that motivate the general public to fear, reject, avoid, and discriminate against people with mental illnesses.” Mental health stigma remains a major reason why people

As a woman who has, in my own life, confronted poverty, abuse, and the death of my sister, I am dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals and families who are besieged by circumstance. Specifically, I am interested in improving the intrapersonal and social functioning of individuals and families who are working through mental health issues. I know firsthand the anguish pervasive to families who are struggling. I believe that mental health treatment and equal access to resources can make the difference between despair and hope. I am applying for the master’s in clinical social work program so that I can pursue my goal of serving these people.

Many people often have stereotypes or stigmas regarding mental illnesses. There is a general public stigma that is overall expressed by people who may not have full knowledge over the importance of mental health. When referring to the stigma, people will usually say that those with mental illnesses are irresponsible, should be cared for, or should be feared and kept out of the direct community. All of these stigmas having to do with mental illnesses are false. Many people with mental illnesses are able to hold stable jobs, graduate from high school and college, and even live as good neighbors in a community. By creating this stigma, people are adding to the everyday challenges that people with mental illnesses are going through. We should aim to educate and stop the prejudice that is brought about by those who are not fully aware of the importance of mental health.