Mental Illness : Mental Health

Mental illness is a serious public health issue, which is often overlooked in our society. In the United States, there are currently 1 in 5 people living with a mental illness, which accounts to 25% of the population (NAMI, 2016). Mental illness is considered a condition that deters a persons thinking, feeling, or mood (NAMI, 2016). This illness consists of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, autism, ADHD, just to name a few (NAMI, 2016). What usually triggers mental illnesses to occur is often due to genetics, drug use, abuse, trauma, stress, and so forth. Due to the individual’s condition, they are unable to function properly on a daily basis.

“Mental health is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” (Mayoclinic, 2012)

Forget all the stereotypes of mental illness. It has no face. It has no particular victim. Mental illness can affect an individual from any background and the black community is no exception. African Americans sometimes experience even more severe forms of mental health conditions because of unmet needs and barriers to treatment. According to the Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 20 percent more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. That’s why UGA third year Majenneh Sengbe is taking action as the co-founder of her upcoming organization Black Minds Daily.

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

Mental illnesses are generally characterized by changes in mood, thought, or behavior. They can make daily activities difficult and impair a person’s ability to work, interact with family, and fulfill other major life functions (SAMHSA, 2015). Contemplated early on in history, treatments for mental illness looked to cure the reflections of the anger of gods, demonic possession, sorcery, the evil eye, or an angry deity, responded with equally mystical, and brutal treatments (Nash, 2007). Attempts to treat mental illness date back as early as 5000 BCE as verified by the discovery of trephined skulls in regions of ancient world cultures (Porter, 2002, p. 10). Only a few realized that individuals with mental illness should be treated humanely rather than exorcised, punished, or banished. Psychiatry has come a long way since the days patients were shunned from society and shackled in asylums. Experiments and techniques for treating mental illness from ancient times to the turn of the 20th century have paved the way for the treatment plans used today.

In today’s society mental health has become something that is much more known to individuals and their families. Mental health is something that is as serious as a physical illness but it is still feared and misunderstood by many people including those who are diagnosed with mental illness (Stuart, 2012). Though you cannot see mental illness physically it inside the body and mind and can do just as much damage, if not more. There are many forms of mental illness that include; anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, eating

Mental health in Utah has and continues to be the forefront of concern for many throughout the state. The reasons it is such a hot bed issue is due the staggering statistics that come out every year showing Utah as one of the leading states for mental health issues per capita. One article in particular had a report that showed survey results done by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the NDSUH. They found that 22.4 percent of the Adult population here in Utah had a mental disorder in 2014 (CROFTS,2014 ). With the unfortunate trend of mental health issues being a problem in Utah, it comes without a doubt that other issues start to arise such as care for these individuals suffering from these problems. There are many agencies and programs as well professionals who fight everyday in hopes of curbing this epidemic but it is without saying that they too face dilemmas in their line of work. With the sheer number of problems as outlined above, Utah faces an uphill battle for the well being of its literal mental health. This calls for a larger number of professionals combating this epidemic. The questions of moral and ethical responsibilities now become a talking point. To begin I want to state that due to the complexities of the subject it would not be productive, in my opinion, to discuss why we have such a high level mental health issues in our state. The motive for exploring these concerns of patient confidentiality is because of what I believe to be the many

Mental illness has been the most overlooked issue in society today let alone within prisons. Researcher Lurigio (2001) explored studies from the 1970’s through to the 2000’s on the deinstitutionalization and restructuring of mental health laws that basically channeled the mentally ill into the corrections system. Often mentally ill offenders are released into community care. Lurigio emphasized that community based care “compartmentalizes” mentally ill offenders and creates limitations on whom they treat. This creates yet another gap within the corrections system for offenders to fall into. Those who require treatment may not get what they need because community care can only treat so much. These “missed” offenders are often the most serious and chronic.

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

Mental health as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productivity and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to the community” (Chaves, et al., 2014). Mental health in the elderly is a growing concern. Many elderly do not seek or receive proper treatment for their mental illness. This is, in part, due to several barriers that prohibit the elderly from seeking help. Mental illness in the elderly is brought up by several different factors, including

As many as 450 million people in the world are plagued by mental illnesses such as

Mental health. Mental health is a facet of health that has historically been associated with negative stigmas. Stigmas such as: “he’s weak”, “she’s dramatic” or “they’re faking it to get attention”. These views became so deeply rooted in the minds of many that they became truths as opposed to opinions. Unfortunately, such opinions have led to life difficulties, up to and including death. These difficulties were due to people feeling that their problem would not be taken seriously or that no one would understand or care about their issue or concern. Thankfully, in recent times there has been a large push to end the stigmas surrounding mental health. These movements have positively affected colleagues and friends, as well as, myself. These movements

Mental illness affects many people throughout the United States each year. Some people classify it as any psychiatric disorder that is the cause of untypical behavior. Many years ago, doctors locked up mentally ill patients in mental institutions and basically forgot about them. Medical professionals housed the mentally ill in different corridors of the hospital. Sometimes, they stayed in isolation and were in some type of restraints. Once government officials realized that neglect was getting out of control, deinstitutionalization became a hot topic. Deinstitutionalization started as a government policy that became a long-term trend to lessen the burden on professionals in mental treatment facilities. Its intent was to have fewer treatments in public hospitals and fewer people residing in the facilities. The deinstitutionalization movement began in the mid-1950s and government officials were hoping the process would improve the treatment toward the mentally ill (Lauer, 2014). Additionally, there were several drugs that helped the mentally ill and officials believed that those people would get better care by living in a community based environment. Moreover, it was another way to balance the government budgets. However, the impact on human service agencies, specifically community mental health facilities, prisons, and probation offices, was less than adequate because all of the unknowns and the social stigma attached to the mentally ill.

You’re walking down the street, passing hundreds of people as you go. Do you ever stop and think that every single person walking past you has their own story and their own daily struggles? Even the person next to you may have something about themselves that they have never told anyone. A statistic from the National Institute of Mental Health, or NIMH, stated that in 2010 7.4% of the population had some sort of mental or behavioral disorder. This means that around 510,600,000 people suffered from some form of mental or behavioral disorder in 2010 alone. Now, with all this information we must first ask, what is a mental illness?

During the middle ages, mental illness was generally regarded as nonexistent. There was nothing so wrong with a person that couldn’t be cure by bloodletting or prayer. This resulted in many, what can generally be referred to as, outbreaks of delusion and odd behavior, likely the result of untreated mental illness. One of these such oddities is the glass delusion, a peculiar mental illness that took hold of France from the early 1500’s until the 1700’s. The glass delusion is speculated to be a variant of schizophrenia (Placeholder1), which back then, would not have been diagnosed or even heard of. One of the most notable sufferers of this disease was Charles the VI of France. Charles was on the youngest king to ever rule (he began his kingship when he was only 11) and was generally well respected. He is often referred to as Charles the Beloved In the year 1392 Charles caught a “fever” whilst hunting with his men. The story goes that while on this hunting trip a stranger came toward Charles and his party. The stranger informed Charles that there was a traitor in his party of men and that he should “turn back”. Charles, reportedly, was unnerved and upset by this and he fell victim to a spasm of sorts-his body began to move irregularly and seemingly on its own. He lashed out and killed several of his men due to his paranoia over the situation. After, Charles would have these episodes regularly and they were always outlandishly violent. Soon, these episodes worsened to the point