Mental Health : A Global Crisis

Our progress in learning the causes and treatments for mental illness has been steady as we build on the medical model of mental illness, which Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman (2010) describe as a model that, “views emotional and behavioral problems as a mental illness, comparable to a physical illness (pp. 341). Only in modern times have we been able to effectively treat mental illness with behavioral therapy, social support, medicine, and other research-based programs. However, there is still much work to be done in regard to access, proper facilities, policy and a host of other challenges that affect this issue.

One of the biggest contributors for poor healthcare is the stigma against mental health. This stigma allows healthcare providers to view those with a mental illness as having low relevance, thus creating disinclination towards providing adequate resources and/or care. This negative stance, based on misinformation and prejudice creates those that have a mental illness to lose their self confidence. Because of this loss, people with mental illness decide not to contribute to their health or livelihood. In the past fifty years, many advances have been made in mental healthcare. However, with the attached stigma, many people choose to not seek out treatment.

According to Merriam-Webster, mental health illness is described as a broad range of medical conditions (such as major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder) that are marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, or emotions to impair normal psychological functioning and cause noticeable grief or disability and that are usually related with a disruption in standard judgement, feeling, mood, behavior, interpersonal interactions, or daily functioning. Mental health is described as a level of psychological comfort, or the absence of a mental illness. It is the "psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment from the perspective of positive psychology or holism, mental health may include an person 's capability to enjoy life, and produce stability connecting life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. The World Health Organization, suggests mental health illness includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, inter-generational dependence, and self-actualization of one 's intellectual and emotional potential, among others. The WHO further states that the well-being of an individual is encompassed in the recognition of their capabilities, managing with normal stresses of life, constructive work and involvement to their community. Ethnic differences, prejudiced evaluations, and competing professional

Problem Statement: The World Health Association defines ‘good’ health as: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” However, in the United States, access to care and funding for mental health care are grossly neglected and underfunded in comparison to other aspects of health care.

The mental health care needs of many children and adults have been overlooked for quite some time. Nearly one in five adults experience a mental health issue at some point throughout their lives, yet due to the challenges in accessing and obtaining affordable health care, many have gone without adequate treatment (Mental health by the numbers, 2015). According to SAMSHA (2013), 2/3 of America’s 45 million adults suffering from mental illnesses, and 90% of our country’s 21 million adults struggling with substance use disorders go without treatment each year (SAMSHA, 2013).

Mental health has been a recurring topic in present society and it is a very large section of health care in general. Health can be termed as an absence of disease, but it really is much more than that and should encompass every facet of the human, mind and body. The WHO defines mental health as a state of well-being in which an individual can function properly and productively, cope with life stressors, and contribute to community. Mental health is dependent on many factors, mainly social, biological, and psychological (WHO). A mental disorder is a condition of alterations

A strong case can be made for investing in mental health, whether to enhance individual and world wellbeing, improve life span, or even to enable people living with mental illnesses to have a better quality of life. Mental health problems account for a quarter of all ill health yet they receive less than 6% of all health research funding, people with these health conditions usually experience poor access to help services and lower quality care than those with physical health problems. Addressing mental and physical health needs together would be more cost effective for the NHS and would benefit the increasing numbers of people dealing with untreated mental illness.

The mental health intervention and prevention focus impacts the quality of life. The lack of assessment and underreporting of depression results in lower quality of life and increases disease mortality (Stoop, et al., 2015). Stoop, et al., report (2015) purposed the solution to the lack of mental health care is to incorporate “stepped care intervention”. The report asserts that depression is not recognized by the majority of health care providers as well as not reported by those that do recognize it. Furthermore, the report asserts that “stepped care intervention” is effective therapeutically and financially. The method calls for screening, intervention of education and therapy, followed by continued monitoring (Stoop et al., 2015). Limitation in the method are lack of participation attributed to stigma of mental illness but the effect size of decreased depression shows promise (Stoop et al.,

Mental disorders is an essential element of health as defined by the WHO.27 The goal of the health system is to improve health. The health system that constitutes the personnel, funds, information, supplies, service delivery and leadership to influence health determinant (preventive and promotive) and direct health improvement (treatment and rehabilitative) interventions.28 Previous studies have shown that getting entry and actually using health services is a function of health systems characteristics (availability of personnel, prejudice, funds, supplies and distribution/location) and population in need(health status (perceived or evaluated, age, preference, income and location).29, 30 It is argued that the health systems adjust its dimension in response to potential users dimension.29

Mental health issues continue to be a growing concern sweeping across many nations globally and domestically. Findings from the National Institutes of Mental Health (2013) illustrated that in 2013, in the United States, 43.8 million adults suffered from a mental illness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2006) mental illness and substance use disorders are the leading causes of disability worldwide. As mental health issues continue to endure and implicate the lives of many, the need for competent, qualified clinicians emergent from a field that implements efficacious treatments for such conditions

Citizens do not speak about issues that make them uncomfortable or issues they do not care about because the issues do not pertain to them. Mental illness and the inaccessibility to healthcare in other countries are often disregarded. People neglect those with mental illness and do not care when citizens of other countries are unable to get basic healthcare needs. Those with mental illness and those without access to healthcare either die or live their lives in pain. Learning about mental illness and global healthcare issues influenced my decision to pursue a career helping those who are unable to advocate for themselves.

Thirty years ago, my parents escaped war-torn Lebanon as refugees. Having lived most of my life in California, the annual trips to Lebanon had a profound impact on me. In 2013, I traveled to Lebanon, this time as a graduate student researcher, to conduct a study on mental health that I hoped would help to improve the quality of life of those living in the Shatila refugee camp. During my study, I met 18-year-old refugee with symptoms and signs of depression. The experience brought home to me one of the most disheartening aspects of global medicine: the neglect of mental health. While my desire to become a physician can be traced, years back to where I was brought face to face with poverty and suffering, my recent trip opened my eyes to

Mental health is an issue throughout society. Many people suffer with these illnesses and the media tends to treat it as a stigma. The media portrays mental health as negative and it is not. Having a mental illness is just like having a medical illness. It is important to give mental illnesses the same respect. This is why I chose to write about Homeland, because it accurately represents a mental illness.

The treatment and prevention of mental illness can be difficult, and as with physical illness, no case or result is the same for everyone. Treatment varies for each illness, as well as for individual client needs and level of severity. With the numerous choices of treatment available today, people around the world have a greater chance at not only preventing or decreasing mental illness, but also the opportunity to enhance their mental health through the public health model of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

Mental health is critical to a person’s well being. If a person is unable to withstand the stresses of everyday life, work at the same pace as the average person, or has not developed at the same rate as the general population, there is a possibility that the person has a mental health issue.