Mental Health : Becoming A Public Health Crisis

I have read an article called "Mental Illness: The New Cancer." this articles the writer told us three sad stories about how Mental Illness has killed people he loved.

When asking any Canadian citizen why he or she loves Canada, one of the main reasons will usually include the free health care. The health care system is one aspect of Canada that makes citizens patriotic and proud and makes those from other countries, like the United States, a bit envious. All around the world, Canada is known to have a reputation for the great healthcare and free health care policy. With such a wonderful system, it is hard to believe that the mental health care system is subpar compared to all other aspects of the health care system. Due to lack of funding, support, and accessibility, Canada’s mental health care system is not able to provide satisfactory care for those with mental illness.

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

Mental health issues are a challenge faced by many people throughout society as statistics show one out of four people around the world experience mental health challenges. World Health Organization (WHO) states that depression and anxiety are the main conditions that affect people, regardless of their age or ethnicity. Therefore, it is important to know about psychotic disorders and the medication used to treat the symptoms.

According to the director of national health, “the States have cut $5 billion in mental health services from 2009 to 2012. While also distinguishing at least 4,500 public psychiatric hospital beds.” Decreasing funds for mental health has resulted in an overcrowded population of homeless patients who either spend their time on the streets, in prisons, or in coffins. Overtime, mentally ill patients have nowhere to go, the jail systems are failing to provide proper treatment, and the government has already reduced mental health fundings as it is. It is time to take a stand, and say yes to increasing funds towards the mentally ill and health facilities.

Globalization is the product of evolution and has been shaped by weapons, agriculture, advance technology and biological components. The economics of the importation and exportation business has grown (including mental illness) with each element and has indirectly influenced culture. The dynamic portrayal of mental illness across cultures is prevalent and should be taken into consideration to better assist our clientele.

On August 29, 2016, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton released an ambitious plan for addressing the issue of mental health care in the United States1. This plan echoes numerous bipartisan bills that have been produced in Congress over the past several years and seems to be one of the few issues that both sides of the aisle can agree on.2 Earlier this year, a bill providing additional support to mental health care was passed in the House with a 422-22 vote3, so it is now up to the Senate to pass its own reform. If lawmakers fail to send a bill to President Obama before leaves office, which is likely, the onus will fall on the next president to leave their mark. If this turns out to be Ms. Clinton, her stance is obvious. She and the lawmakers working on these issues seem to agree on many important aspects; first and foremost that treatment of mental and physical health should be given the same priority. Other aspects of Clinton’s plan focus on early diagnosis and intervention, federal support for suicide prevention, improved outcomes in the criminal justice system, and integrating the mental and physical health care systems. Ms. Clinton also proposed $5 billion for community health centers to provide mental health and substance abuse treatment in addition to traditional medical care and advocated for the use of telemedicine to help address the shortage of mental health professionals. While the idea of these reforms has widespread support, one of the most likely obstacles

Being that mental illness affects a high number of people, the world should have more accommodations that will help mental illness and not see it as unimportant. Another key point from, “Mental Illness Is a Global Crisis”, is that mental illness needs to be confronted by the culture and by natives that have the power to initiate and bring awareness th tho problem. “Although mental health is part of the United Nations global development agenda, it remains little more than a bullet point in poorer health-care systems…” That statement made in the article goes to show how the world recognizes that mental health is a global issue that needs help. Though the United Nations implemented an actual agenda for mental health, it seems that it has not

Mental illnesses affect people despite their race, ethnicity or culture. They can start to make everyday tasks harder to accomplish. They can cause problems at work, school and in relationships. Some individuals are unaware that they may have such a disorder and others are unable to treat the disorder, I believe that mental illnesses have a major impact on youth today. Mental illnesses are extremely hard to understand due to their complexity. Let alone doctors, but victims of mental disorders are not able to identify the causes of their illness or even if they have one. The concept of mental illnesses is also looked down upon, ignored and feared due to neglectance of the severe issue. Many individuals fear the thought of developing such illness,

Mental illness plays a significant role in homelessness across America. Nearly “25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness” (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Because people with severe mental handicaps have a harder time integrating into society without the help of trained professionals, a large number of these individuals become homeless or have placement issues. For this reason, mental health centers have been placed in communities across the country in an effort to give these people a foundation for growth and recovery. Since the mental health centers have limited

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.

Approximately 99.8 percent of Canada is considered to be a rural area (World Health Organization, 2009). Within this, there are over six million Canadians, approximately 20 percent, residing within these rural areas (Statistics Canada, 2006). The need for mental health care in rural areas of Canada is on the rise, yet there are still many barriers, identified in the

Everyone is different in society. There are special individuals, which are affected by mental health illnesses. Mental health issues can affect society both negatively and positively. There are cultures that treat these individuals like the reincarnations of gods. On the other side, there are cultures that isolate these individuals and look for cures to these pathologies. Mental health illnesses are important because they have to be studied to understand their cause, whether it may be biological or environmental. These issues are important because like every type of illness they have to be delicately studied, focusing on treatments to either cure them or reduce the symptoms of the pathology. These people were either conflicted with the ideals of society or they were praised by it. Cultures, which didn’t accept them, closed them up into asylums. Patients inside these facilities were brutally used as guinea pigs for their experiments. The way these people were treated shows how cruel and ignorant people were to the unknown. By learning from histories mistakes we can move forward in improving our society and achieve greatness.

Mental illness affects one in four people at some stage in their life. It is estimated that at any one time, there are 450 million people experiencing a mental illness, most of whom live in developing countries. About 25% of patients using primary health care services in developing countries suffer from a mental illness. “Despite the substantial burden of disease and the availability of effective and affordable treatments, mental health care remains a neglected issue, especially in developing countries” (Kermode, Herrman, Arole, White, Premkumar & Patel 2007, pp. 2).

Barriers to mental health care, which increase the treatment gap, are originated both at the governmental and the individual level (Kohn 2013). Barriers to care at the individual level result from the individual’s attitudes, false beliefs about mental illness, stigmatization, and lack of compliance with medicines. Andrade et al., (2014), using data are from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys found that for among those with a DSM-IV disorder in the past twelve months, the low perceived need was the most common reason for not initiating treatment and more common among moderate and milder than severe cases. Governmental barriers to care, as described in the Atlas (WHO) studies on mental health and the WHO-AIMS (Kohn 2013), emanate mostly from (i) the governments’ failure to have specific legislation to protect the mentally ill and to provide parity for mental illness with other medical conditions; (ii) the small amount of funds allocated to mental health in the health budget; and (iii) the type of health care coverage offered. Furthermore, the structure of the mental health system in the country, including the weight of mental hospitals in relation to general hospitals with psychiatry beds, and the availability of outpatient services, also contribute to the effectiveness and quality of the treatment. Deinstitutionalization of large mental hospitals and decentralization of mental health services located mainly in large urban centers