Mental Health Professionals

Mental illness becomes a bigger issue with a long lasting cultural stereotyped due to the manner in which it has long been labelled (Miles, 1988). Although mental illness is very much connected to instabilities in one’s mental health state, as previously mentioned, a person can be mentally healthy but still suffer from a mental illness. What is understood by mental illness is that it

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.

Select and describe one issue of interest. Describe advocacy processes needed to address institutional and social barriers that impede access, equity, and success for clients. Identify public policies on the local, state, and national levels that affect the quality and accessibility of mental health services.

In the United States the Mental Health Care field is one of the most underserved areas of healthcare. The mental healthcare field faces many challenges to the proper treatment of patients from both a societal and professional standpoint. From a societal perspective a negative stereotype is associated with patients seeking psychiatric care. Patients seeking care are often labeled as defective or damaged. Add in the complication that most patients with mental illness appear to be normal, accepting that someone is ill without outward symptoms can also be difficult for a society to understand. From a professional perspective the challenges within the mental health care industry include personal prejudice, staffing issues, and problems with coordinating care. The combination of these factors has a direct negative impact on the willingness of individuals suffering from mental illness in seeking the care needed to treat the symptoms of mental illness.

Although about 450 million people in the world currently are suffering from a mental illness, many untreated, the topic still remains taboo in modern society (Mental Health). For years, people with mental illnesses have been shut away or institutionalized, and despite cultural progression in many areas, mental illnesses are still shamed and rarely brought to light outside of the psychiatric community. The many different forms in which mental illness can occur are incredibly prevalent in the world today, and there is a substantial debate about the way that they should be handled. Some people are of the opinion that mental illness is merely a variance in perception and that it either can be fixed through therapy or should not be treated at

In the text “Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway?,” the author presents how in a study by David Rosenhan, hypothesized if mental health professionals could tell the difference between someone who was mentally ill and someone who was mentally healthy. The reason for this experiment was to see how these doctors and psychiatrists judged and diagnosed patients when describing of having some sort of characteristic of a mental illness and seeing if they truly could tell if they were mentally unstable. Rosenhan proposed that if these doctors and psychiatrists had enough training and knowledge then they would be able to recognize a mentally healthy person from a person who actually had a mental disorder.

Mike writes about how some psychiatrists can’t determine whether a patient has a mental illness and is insane or whether they are sane. Mike says, “I recall a psychiatrist and philosopher telling me that the sanest people she met where those who believed themselves to be insane and that conversely, the most mentally unwell were the ones who insisted that they were

Mental and Human Health Service Professionals are people who work with individuals, families or couples in assessing and treating mental health issues. They work with a variety of people of every age and will also assist those with developmental disabilities, drug abuse, or some other physiological health condition. These professionals are dedicated and show enthusiasm for helping others while having compassion for any whom have a mental health issue. Some choose to pursue a particular area of interest, such as working with children and many of these individuals can obtain their M.D. in social work, psychology, or even counseling. A typical day for a mental health or human service professional will be quite busy; their days are filled with

It is with great pleasure that I offer my support for Mr. Stanley Cedant as he pursues his goal of becoming a Mental Health Counselor. In the two and half years since I have known him, I have gained so much respect for his admirable character traits and his high level of professionalism.

Do you remember when people ask you when you were little what you want to be when you grow up and you told them a few amazing careers. I fell in love with becoming a Psychiatric aide for some time now after watching moives. But also I would like to get experience to maybe become a CNA or nurse assistant or aide. Comparing and contrasting these two jobs will benefit me next year and get an insight for people if they want to know really what they do.

Even those disorders often considered the most serious and intractable have varied courses i.e. schizophrenia, psychotic disorders, and personality disorders. Long-term international studies of schizophrenia have found that over a half of individuals recover in terms of symptoms, and around a fifth to a third in terms of symptoms and functioning, with some requiring no medication. At the same time, many have serious difficulties and support needs for many years, although "late" recovery is still possible. The World Health Organization concluded that the long-term studies' findings converged with others in "relieving patients, carers and clinicians of the chronicity paradigm which dominated thinking throughout much of the 20th century."[25][non-primary source needed][26]

According to Ronson and Rosenhan, there is a question of whether sane individuals can be distinguished from insane individuals. They suggest that psychotherapists are too quick to label someone with a psychiatric disorder and in numerous cases they miss the mark. An inaccurate diagnosis of a mental disorder may cause a person to receive treatment they do not need, and possibly not receive the treatment that they do need. This causes countless problems for the patient, including difficulty acquiring a job, legal, personal, and social stigmas. Worse yet, Rosenhan (1973) said, “Having once been labeled schizophrenic there is nothing the pseudopatient [patient] can do to overcome the tag”.

On the other hand, there is a benefit of receiving a psychological diagnosis. For instance, an

"Judgements were obtained on 193 patients who were admitted for psychiatric treatment...attendants, nurses, psychiatrists, physicians, and psychologists -- were asked to make judgements. Forty-one patients were alleged, with high confidence, to be pseudo patients by at least one member of the staff. Twenty-three were considered suspect by at least one psychiatrist. Nineteen were suspected by one psychiatrist and one other staff member" (Rosenhan).

Sometimes psychotherapy alone may be the best treatment for a person, depending on the illness and its severity. Other times, psychotherapy is combined with medications. Therapists work with an individual or families to devise an appropriate treatment plan. (Psychotherapies, n.d.)