Screening for Mental Health

Ingrid came into the office to apply for public assistance and to get a mental health screening. Ingrid and some individuals like her suffering from mental illness and are often unable to provide self-care, think clearly, relate to others, and cope with the demands of daily life. In the United Sates, nearly twenty-seven percent of adult suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder, about forty percent suffered from a mental illness from moderate to severe, and about twenty-five percent suffered from mental illness (Martin, 2013).

It is estimated that one in every five youth experience mental illnesses that interfere with their everyday routines (“NAMI”). Mental health in the United States is a growing epidemic that needs to be solved. Youth with mental illnesses may never know that they have one; screenings for mental health are not something a lot of people take advantage of. Schools are a place where youth develop the most. In order for this to happen, society needs to make schools feel welcoming and provide support for those who need help. While some people do not believe mental illnesses exist, schools should require mental health screenings in order to prevent future violent situations, educate their staff, and do more to make students feel comfortable.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among fifteen to twenty-four year olds. Also, between a third to fifth of children ages three to seventeen are affected by mental illness. That means six to ten students in an average class of thirty are affected by mental illness. To reduce these numbers people have come up with suicide prevention programs. Two examples of these programs are TeenScreen and Sources of Strength. These programs can easily be put into schools to help prevent suicide and teach students about mental illness. Schools should educate students on mental health and illness to help prevent suicide.

Statistics show suicide to be the third leading cause of death among 13-19 year olds, with approximately 6000 suicide deaths each year (Dickinson 1999). Because of statistics like this, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) researchers are vying to find interventions to help prevent suicide among children and adolescents. However, until then, the best prevention appears to lie in early diagnosis

The Mental Health Screening Form-III (MHSF) could provide useful information to help assess the appropriate level of care according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). The MHSF is a versatile assessment that can be given to the client to answer or the clinician can orally give it to the client (Center for Abuse Treatment, 2005). The assessment covers a range of mental health illnesses that can prompt additional questions for the clinician to find out more information.

The structure of our program is to work with school sites in order to train a core group of students on how to identify the risk factors and warning signs of suicide. The goal is for the students to ultimately be a link to a trusted adult or resource on campus for a student who may be contemplating suicide. Once students are trained we work with them to create schoolwide campaigns which focus on raising awareness to help resources that are always available when needed.

There is a high prevalence of mental illness in America and rural communities are certainly not exempt. (NAMI, 2013) In fact they may have a higher incidence that often goes unreported as well as untreated. Mental illness can include emotional problems, depression, traumatic brain injuries, schizophrenia and other mood disorders. There is a general lack of services available in Vermont for those who suffer from mental health disorders; rural areas present their own unique set of challenges. Rural Vermont areas usually lack public transportation. In addition, many people in the community needing to access services do not have the financial resources

The Georgia Straight studied more than 120 coroner's reports and found that 90 percent of police-related deaths involved mental illness, drug, or alcohol. It is easy to think of medical test as black and white, but it is not all that simple. A mental health assessment provides a doctor a total depiction of how well one may feel emotionally and how well one is able to ponder, reason and recollect cognitive functioning. Mental health screenings in schools are placed in effect to prevent harm to children, and provide a blue print of a child's mental health. The article, "Mental Health Screenings in Schools Can Harm Children" is about how mental illness screenings harms children more than it aids them. Writer, Nathaniel S. Lehrman thinks that

According to Insel (2013), the brain begins to change before behavioral symptoms emerge. This statement immediately grabbed my attention and I began to ask myself what if mental illness can be detected early. How would early detection change and shape the lives of individuals suffering from a mental illness? Clinical testing would need to be conducted to determine the biological foundation of mental illness. Once this is fully researched and understood, this may present the possibility for early detection. This research deserves more focus and attention. For many years researchers studied symptoms of mental illness and worked backwards to find a diagnosis. Once a diagnosis was given, treatment was recommended. Unlike medical illness

It has been estimated that 1 in 5 adults suffers from diagnosable mental health problems (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics in Quality (CBHSQ), 2015). These mental health problems can be disabling, severely affecting one’s ability to function, and causing increased health concerns resulting in early mortality (Mechanic, 2012; Walker, 2014). Even so, mental health treatment has been shown to be an underserved area of healthcare (Kesslar, Chui, Demler, Merkangas, & Walters, 2005). Nearly a third of those who are insured currently lack coverage for services related to substance use disorders and mental health treatment, including the inpatient crisis intervention and stabilization. The lack of health insurance coverage creates

The first thing we need to do is to be well informed about the “Silent Epidemic” of youth suicide.Suicide is Preventable.” This is what everyone should be looking out for if you have a friend or family member gives out any of these signs or concerns. Mostly four out of five completed suicides give clear warning signs of their intentions. This means that, if we learn the signs and know how to respond, we have an opportunity to assist 80% of those teens who are contemplating suicide.

A very common form of intervention that is used for suicide is school programs. That can look different from school to school, but it is really just a way fro schools to provide awareness about this issue. This program is typically seen in the schools right after a student has committed suicide. According to Szumilas and Kutcher (2011, p 20) there are two types of intervention methods, which focus on the whole school. Those intervention programs are counseling interventions for family and friends and then psychological debriefing. More specifically for the teachers, schools will provide suicide prevention training and workshops to help teachers to notice suicidal signs and behaviors. School-based programs are one of

Although when it comes to the risks, some psychologists argue that these risks can be avoided in some easy steps. They believe that the outcome of a surgery is dependent on a patient’s satisfaction and that a patient could avoid the risks by consulting their surgeons before the surgery. In order to decrease the risks, these psychologists suggest the patients to discuss the “risks, benefits, limitations and expected results for each procedure undertaken” with their surgeons (Ericksen and Billick para. 11). To be clear, in order to have a successful surgery, the patients should know what they are looking for and what factors could prevent them from being satisfied. Further, a discussion regarding the patient’s motivation, goals, as well as other information can help the surgeons or advisors determine if a patient is capable of undergoing such surgery and how their results might be. These psychologists also believe that psychiatric screening is helpful to the patients to optimize patients’ satisfaction and outcome. By using this method, the surgeons can point out the integral part of patients’ motivations and help them if the expectation is way more unattainable. Even though these risks can be avoided, there is still a need for careful decision about this surgery because there is no guarantee that consulting surgeons will automatically help the patients get what they want and that “patients may never be fully prepared for the mental and emotional costs of cosmetic surgery”

There is no doubt that psychological testing help to diagnose mental illnesses and to recognize educational deficiencies to better address them in turn. However, we should always be aware of social issues that might arise due to their implementation. A particular concern regarding assessment and tests at school are its usefulness. Assumptions underlying several tests of nowadays might be fundamentally wrong and instruments resulting test far from being correct. Nevertheless, tests may still be valuable as long as they offer information that leads to better predictions and comprehension that cannot otherwise be attained.

Suicide can be described as a process which includes thoughts of death (killing one’s self), to the actual act of carrying out the suicide attempt. In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death among our young people (McWhirter, McWhirter, McWhirter, & McWhirter, 2017). Approximately 16% of youth have thoughts of suicide, 13% will attempt to develop a plan, and 8% will actually carry out this plan every year (McWhirter et al, 2017). Every day, five young people under the age of 20 commit suicide; every 6 hours, a young person completes suicide (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Within a single high school classroom, there will be an average of three students that attempt suicide (CDC,