Mental Illness And Absolute Poverty In The United States

Over the past years poverty has become more common in America, affecting millions of Americans. There are two types of poverty: absolute poverty and relative poverty. According to  Merriam-Webster (2017), Absolute poverty is not having any basic human needs to survive, in the other hand, relative poverty is not having enough money or resources like others in society do. Poverty is caused by lack of money, jobs, and education.

Poverty in the United States is getting in inferior quality every day and nothing is being done about it. Many people who want to help the poor, but no one knows exactly how to help them. A primary reason for people not taking action is because of lack of information that is provided about issues on poverty. Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. According to the U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday September 13th, 2011, the nation's poverty rate rose to 15.1% (46.2 million) in 2010, up from 14.3% (approximately 43.6 million) in 2009 and to its highest level since 1993. In 2008, 13.2% (39.8 million) Americans lived in relative poverty. In 2000, the

Poverty has many faces, various theories as to the cause, and a hodgepodge of ideas to tackle the issue. It is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic, and political elements. Poverty is defined as “the lack of necessities” (i.e., food, shelter, medical care, and safety), and the official poverty threshold is $24,250 (2015 guidelines) annually for families having two adults and two children (family of 4). This figure is computed at three times the income needed to eat according to a modest food plan. One thing not at issue, regardless of what measurements are used, is poverty is real, tangible, and affects millions of people worldwide. The intertwining of poverty and law has produced mixed results on reducing poverty. Census

According to the Mayo Clinic, a mental illness can be defined as a disorder, or multiple disorders that can all be on a spectrum, that can affect mood, cognitive abilities, and the way one acts. Mayo Clinic’s definition also includes the specification that, to be considered a mental illness, the symptoms generally effect a person’s ability to function in common life situations, all while causing quite a bit of stress. It becomes obvious that these types of diseases can be just as damaging as physical illnesses, hence the drastic need for treatment and continuing advancements in the methods of treatment.

Mental disorders can affect individuals in different ways. They can cause changes in an individual’s mood, behavior, and especially in their thoughts. This can greatly affect how an individual might relate to others, and also factor into the life choices that they make. Individuals who suffer from severe mental illnesses (SMI’s) are at a greater disadvantage than other individuals. Severe mental illness is defined at the federal level as “having, at any time during the past year, a diagnosable mental, behavior, or emotional disorder that causes serious functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.”1. These can include mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, bipolar

Like physical illnesses, mental illness is on a scale of severity. Although more than roughly 60 million Americans have some form of a mental illness a small amount actually seek or are given treatment. The statistic most often quoted is that one in four adults and one in five children will have a mental health disorder at some point in their lives. (What is Mental Illness? n.d.). The overall stigma that comes along with a mental disorder is still one of the biggest barriers that prevents those from obtaining treatment or retaining their treatment. “While there are over 200 classified forms of mental illness, the five (5) major categories of mental illness are: Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychotic Disorders, Dementias, and Eating Disorders.” (What is Mental Illness? n.d.)

This paper will draw on the inequalities on the basis of socio-economic position; gender and ethnicity have on mental illness. Firstly, most consistent finding across studies is that shown that disadvantaged levels of socioeconomic groups have a greater amount of associating with mental illness. The reason for that above is that there is two explanation which is Social causation and social selection theory explain that socioeconomic is associated with risk of psychiatric disorders. Dorhrenwend et al, 1992 investigated the relationship between social class and psychiatric disorders .Social selection is the idea that an individual health influence their social mobility and hence, their position in the social hierarchy (D.Blane et al...2014).

Deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill was, and continues to be, an ill-conceived concept. Mental illness is not theoretical, it is a very real and debilitating condition for the individual who suffers from such an illness. Mental illness is a disability which makes an individual unable to attend school, pursue a career, maintain a job or care for a family. Mental illness has ruined not only the lives of the people it has affected, but those who care for the victims of this disease. Mental illness is treatable with medication and the services of mental health workers, such as therapists. Mental illness affects not only adults but children. For example, thirty-one percent (31%) of homeless adults have a combination of mental illness. Approximately, one in five adults in the U.S. or 18.5% of the adult population experiences mental illness in a given year. Approximately one in 25 adults in the U.S. or 4.2% of the adult population experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities. Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 or 21.4% of youth experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13% of this age group. 1.1% of adults in the U.S. live with schizophrenia. 2.6% of adults in the U.S. live with bipolar disorder. 6.9% of adults in the U.S., had at least one major depressive episode in the past year. 18.1% of

The research describes the prevalence of mental health illness, the stability of mental health and its diagnoses over time, and whether changes in mental health levels predicted mental illness in a particular group. Change in mental health was strongly predictive of prevalence and incidence. When a follow up was done in 2005 from 1999, population prevalence of any of 3 mental disorders and levels of mental health appeared stable, but were dynamic at the individual level. About half (49.02%) of the individuals in the study sample were free of any mental illness in 1995, but stayed at or changed to moderate mental health in 2005. Change in mental health was strongly predictive of prevalence and incidence. The weakness in this article is that

Over the last few years, the amount of the known cases and prevalence of mental illnesses has increased in comparison to past records. The amount of mentally ill cases in the past remains unspoken about, but within the modern era the number has taken the international stage {1}. Nearly 61.5 million Americans suffer from common mental health issues such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and psychosis such as schizophrenia. For each of those serious illnesses, 14.8 million adults live with major depression, 6.1 million adults live with bipolar disorder, and 2.4 million people live with schizophrenia {4} (NAMI: Mental Illness Facts and Numbers). Furthermore, mood disorders have become common causes of hospitalization and those who live with illness die nearly 25 years earlier than the average. These numbers of major illnesses should raise a red

This paper will explain how poverty and mental illness go hand in hand. Mental illness seems to be a cause and effect situation. Sometimes mental illness causes poverty and other poverty causes the mental illness. This paper will also give possible solutions for the problem.

Throughout the module, I found myself extraordinarily frustrated, as I often do when considering politics, by the inability of policymakers, past and present, to meet the needs of mentally ill populations. Such frustrations leads one to question why the crafting and implementation of optimal policy is not possible. This paper analyzes the economic principles as sources of conflict in the political sphere that prevent the attainment of the perfect policy.

A mental disorder is a wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior. 1 in 5 adults experience a mental condition every year. 50% of mental conditions begin at the age of 14 and 75% by age 24. Recovery is possible especially when you start treatment early and play a strong role in your own recovery process. A mental health condition isn’t the result of one event. Research suggests multiple, interlinking causes. Genetics, environment and lifestyle combine to influence whether someone develops a mental health condition. A stressful job or home life makes some people more susceptible, as do traumatic life events like being the victim of a crime.

Mental illnesses are an issue that is very common in today’s society, and it is becoming more common to talk about it which allows for people to get help easier. Mental illnesses can affect anyone of any age, gender, race, or social status, and it is changing from a taboo topic to one that is being openly talked about and discussed. As a result of this, people are finding ways to get help earlier, and it is saving many lives.

As WHO (2001) estimated, about 450 million people around the world suffer from mental disorders, and mental disorders is therefore one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Studies have been contributing to the growing number of mental disorders for long. Although medical scientists attribute the causes to the physiological factors, social scientists often time argue that the socioeconomic development of a country, social classes, gender, and other social factors have impacts on mental disorders.