Pre Existing Conditions Of Mental Illness Essay

I’ve always been passionate about understanding others; stepping into their shoes and seeing, thinking, and appreciating the lives they live. I think it is important to take that extra step and see things from a different point of view. It is the only way to achieve a true understanding. I believe in this philosophy so much so, that it’s one of the main reasons I have this blog; to give others a glimpse of a life with mental illness. I’ve been in treatment for 2 months and 26 days and I think it’s time for another peek into my brain.

As Americans it becomes natural to undermine those with a mental illness. As a fact, many adults and children deal with mental illness each and everyday. There are many stories that have been told to Americans about depression, anxiety, along with bipolar disorders, with the outcome usually being a negative consequence. For the 1 in every 5 citizens that deal with a mental illness each year. Americans have neglected the fact that many adults and children deal with mental issue(s), the citizens that refrain from getting help; their well being can suffer detrimental effects, there is not a lot of awareness either taught in school, or in public perspectives, American’s stigma has perfected their

Imagine paying $500, $600, $700, or $1,000 monthly for health care insurance only to realize these payments were for naught. The health care insurance provider that received these monthly installments has decided whatever is ailing you will not be covered due to a pre-existing medical condition. What if you couldn’t have the luxury of health care insurance at all due to the basis the health care insurance provider has concluded you have a pre-existing medical condition? These are the dilemmas facing millions of Americans

The purpose of this essay is to explain the definitions of mental health, mental illness and psychiatric disability, using bipolar disorder as an example to illustrate these points. Bipolar disorder will also be used to explain the concepts of the medical and social models of disability, highlight the influence these two models could have on people with the disorder and the experiences they might encounter. There will be a focus on some of the experiences a person suffering from mental illness might have in society, the effect these experiences can have on an individual and the influence of stigmas and stereotypes. This leads to the final discussion point, the action of self-disablement. This section discusses how a person with a mental health issue can be influenced by labels, stigmas and stereotypes, and how this can stop them from seeking help and achieving their goals.

The following essay will begin by demonstrating what is understood by the concept of mental health. It will attempt to identify different explanations for the underlying issues causing mental illnesses and it will then centre around a case study focusing specifically on one mental health problem. A description of what the causes and effects of the chosen illness will be given and information on the available treatment will be presented. To round up the assignment a brief explanation of the chosen case study will be included with an attempt to distinguish the common issues identified and how they relate to the literature information provided throughout. In this assignment, the case study chosen will target depression.

Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) is the country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping all people live mentally healthier lives. With more than 320 affiliate nationwide, we represent a growing movement of Americans who promote mental wellness for the health and well being of the nation, every day, and in a time of crisis (2007 Mental Health America). As an organization, Mental Health America has been around for nearly a century. We began work in 1909 when Clifford W. Beers, a young business man who struggled with a mental illness and shared his story with the world in his autobiography “A Mind

People who are not depressed or have never come to contact with clinical depression, are more often than not inclined to judge someone who is clinically depressed and call them dramatic, self-indulgent, or even worse tell them that they are just “under the weather.” Diagnosed clinical depression is not something that one can just shrug off, in fact it’s a disease that will cause the mental health state of an individual to decrease. Though depression isn’t something one can physically see like the flu, depression causes the patient to feel the effects as if it were a physical disorder. These symptoms include but are not limited to, fatigue, muscle aches headaches, etc. Though sadness can also cause an individual to feel these symptoms, sadness is temporary. Whereas depression, lingers and tends to become part of the patient’s everyday life, like a best friend. Though everyone at some point in their lives will experience sadness, the underlying question of why some people experience sadness that leads into full on depression remains. The article titled “Sadness, Depression, and Avoidance Behavior” by Allan M. Leventhal, primarily discusses an explanation to why some individuals are more prone to depression and subsequently will become clinically depressed, and why others are not. Furthermore, the article offers a clear separation between sadness and depression.

This unit aims to provide the learner with knowledge of the main forms of mental health problems according to the psychiatric classification system. Learners also consider the strengths and limitations of this model and look at alternative frameworks for understanding mental distress. The focus of the unit is on understanding the different ways in which mental health problems impact on the individual and others in their social network. It

A mental disorder is a disease that can cause mild to severe disturbances or impairments in behavior or mental wellbeing. These effects may result in the inability of the individual to effectively cope with the demands and pressures of everyday life. There are more than 200 types of different mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, dementia, and schizophrenia, among many others. However, in this paper the main focus will be placed on depression and anxiety.

It not easy to determine how many people suffer from mental illness. This is due to the changing definitions of mental illness and problems classifying, diagnosing, and reporting mental disorders. There are social stigmas attached to mental illness, such as being labeled "crazy," being treated as a danger to others, and being denied jobs or health insurance coverage. These negative connotations keep many sufferers from seeking help, and many of those in treatment do not reveal it on surveys. Some patients do not realize that their symptoms are caused by mental disorders. Even though more is being learned about how the brain works a lot of information has still yet to be discovered, thus mental health professionals must continually reevaluate how mental illnesses are defined and diagnosed. The Surgeon General 's report estimated that roughly 20% of the United States population was affected by mental disorders and that 15% use some type of mental health service every year. Community surveys estimate about 30% of the adult population in the United States suffer from mental disorders.

Research Stimulation Task: The evaluation of mental illnesses to those that are being diagnosed serve as a basis to alter their way of living, that is to make effective and positive changes. Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health condition disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behaviour. It is irresistible to act upon knowing the illness you hold and what level it is in the spectrum, and the clarity of your reactions becomes intuitive to society.

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

Just last year 1 in 5 Americans suffered from mental illness. Everyday Americans and people in other countries are suffering because of mental illness and they should be treated to matter the cost. Mental health has just as much effect on the body as does physical health. Which that comes to my essential question. Should health care companies cover mental health treatment? One side says yes because that would help millions of people with getting treatment because the cost is too extensive for them. But on one side of the claim some people say that the cost is too severe to cover everyone’s mental health treatment through insurance. Nevertheless, It is extremely essential that no matter the cost that people are being treated for their mental illnesses. Many people are suffering from unfair treatment from insurance companies with mental health issues to prove that I will talk about that people really do suffer, that mental health patients really do want help and lastly that it is legally deemed to be treated the same insurance wise.

Personality disorders are very defined and recognized in today’s society. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association provides common language and standards classifying mental disorders. The DSM is used by many people in varying disciplines in the USA as well as many other countries. In times past, people with disorders may have been outcast from a community or even persecuted. However, in our current culture the pendulum has swung in the other direction. It almost seems that there is a trend to explain all behavior by a mental disorder. This results in needing to disprove that certain people are not displaying a disorder, rather acting within a normal human emotion or

The social model of mental illness emphasizes the social environment and the roles people play. Thomas Scheff maintains that people diagnosed as mentally ill are victims of the status quo, guilty of often unnamed violations of social norms; thus the label "mental illness" can be used as an instrument of social control. I agree with Scheff's analysis, and I strongly concur with the view Thomas Szasz takes on the notion of mental illness. Szasz argues that much of what we call "mental illness" is a myth; it is not an illness, but simply "problems in living", troubles caused by conflicting personal needs, opinions, social aspirations, values, and so forth (Szasz 13). It thus follows that the widely