Virginia Beach Community Analysis

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

The evolution of mental health treatment in America has been a long and arduous road with many ups and downs. In many ways, attitudes towards the disease towards mental illness help shape the evolution of treatment. In addition, trends in treatment and cultural understanding of mental illness influence national policy. In Mad in American author Robert Whitaker discusses the mental health care system its history, evolution, and the current state of mental health care in America. Whitaker explores the ethnicity of practices and questions the safety and efficacy of psychiatric

Statistics state that mental illness is estimated to be higher in blacks than in whites. One of the contributing factors to why blacks aren’t being cared for when they have a mental illness is because of the stigma that mental illness doesn’t exist within the community. According to Plowden (2006), “ African American men often differ in their presentation of depression and are often misdiagnosed. African American men are at greater risk for depression, but they are less likely to participate in mental health care.” This is due to the

II. Purpose of the Presentation and Thesis (with photo): There may be other coastal destinations in the United States, but Virginia Beach is both classic and classy.

Mental illness is an increasing problem in America. Currently about 26.2% of Americans suffer from a mental disorder. A mental illness/disorder is a medical condition that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, and ability to relate to others and daily functions. Mental illness can affect humans of any age, race, gender and socioeconomic status. However the care that is needed to effectively cure and help the people affected by the illness is not equal for everyone here in American, especially for African Americans.

Across the country, a steady increase has been noted in the number of patients presenting to emergency departments for psychiatric complaints (Zun, 2014). Patients also attempt to use their primary care doctors to treat their mental illnesses. The mental health care options for these patients are extremely limited, especially for minority populations such as African Americans and Hispanics. One out of four adults in America suffers from some form of mental illness, yet only one out of three of those affected receives treatment (Safran, 2009). Furthermore, patients are routinely misdiagnosed, receive poor quality of care, receive care from providers who have no understanding of their cultures and values, or are not even able to receive care in the first place (Sanchez, 2012).

According to the popular media report issued by CNN, latinos in general, have been struggling to find help for mental health issues amongst their ever growing population (Rodriguez, 2013). Even though Obamacare ensures affordable healthcare for 6 million latinos, it’s still not enough for the hispanic community who are suffering from mental illness to seek help (Rodriguez, 2013). The major fear in the latino community is the fact of being stigmatized when obtaining help from mental institutions and services (Rodriguez, 2013). Therefore, many community members refuse to seek help and the mental illnesses go unnoticed. And even when the mental illness are acknowledged, latinos are known for asking extended family members, the community, church leaders, and spiritual healers for help and treatment instead of admitting themselves at hospitals (Rodriguez, 2013). Many latinos feel apprehensive towards mental illnesses and therefore, searching for help seems like such a taboo in the community. Moreover, according to the National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health, Hispanics are a high-risk group for depression, substance abuse and anxiety. About 1 in every 7 Latinos has attempted suicide (Rodriguez, 2013). Therefore, this puts them more at risk because of the lack of efficient treatment and care for people suffering with mental illnesses in their community especially in this generation. Furthemore, many elderly Latinos in the population find this acculturation overwhelming

This pilot program is required to be implemented in not less than five Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs). The program includes community oriented veteran peer support networks that will provide peer-support training guidelines and the development of a network of veteran peer-support counselors that are trained and readily available to veterans. Also creation of community outreach team for each medical facility that will assist veterans transitioning into communities, establishment of an veteran transition advisory group to facilitate outreach activities, collaboration with community and government organization to help provide thorough services to veterans, and coordination with the VISNs to carry out an annual mental health summit to assess the veteran mental health programs an care and to develop new means to providing services (Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, 2015). Evaluation of the community outreach pilot program is required 18 months after its initial inception and the final report is required 90 days before the dissolution. The pilot program is for a term of 3 years (Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act, 2015).

As discussed in class, little advancement has been made in the field of mental health care over the past two decades. Rates of mental illness continue to be high especially among certain subgroups, but progress has been stunted by stigma and social environmental issues. Mental health disparities, like many other health disparities, are embedded within a trend of socioeconomic differences (Miranda, McGuire, Williams, & Wang, 2008). Racial and class disparities exist among those afflicted

Mental health illnesses affect everyone. It is highly prevalent affecting people of all ages, gender, cultures, and social groups. Attitudes towards mental health illnesses vary among individuals and often are highly influenced by the various cultures that the individuals identify with. Culture as a social concept can be defined as a set of norms, values, behaviours, and beliefs that are common and shared amongst a group of individuals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). Culture can be applicable to groups like Asians and Americans but also to groups of shared norms, beliefs, and values established within professions such as the culture of patients and practitioners. Culture provides these groups with structure and context to understanding their society and the world as a whole. Culture influence a wide range of aspects of mental health, including how mental health is perceived by the patient, how the patient will experience mental health stigma, and how they cope with symptoms of mental health illness. Additionally, these cultural influences impact the relationship between the patient and the practitioner in a number of ways.

Conversations regarding mental health can often be a difficult topic to discuss openly. The Huffington Post provided readers with the opportunity to understand mental illness and intersectionality in the article, 4 Black Women Writers Get Honest About Mental Illness and Race. This article provides a different perspective on mental health as it looks at mental illness through the intersectionality of race and gender. In the article, four black women participate in an interview to discuss their experience with depression, bi-polar disorder, and ADHD and how it affects their lives as both black and woman identified beings. Discussions of mental health in the black community are rare as there is a negative view of mental illness. Hearing

The stigma held against mental illness is so strong because it may affect their social standing. “Low income and less educated individuals are more likely to express concern about the reactions of friends and family if they got help for psychiatric problems” (Alvidrez, 1999, p. 517). Speaking about one’s problems is sanctioned enough with the Latino community; however, speaking to a stranger and potentially having an actual mental disease confirmed is far more insidious. It is considered to be an extreme violation of long standing traditions. According to Alvidrez’s (1999) study, “only 12 (6.6%) of women said that friends or family would be upset if they sought help for personal or emotional problems…in the belief that

Vadnais Heights, Minnesota is a city located near the center of Ramsey County. With a population of over 12,000, Vadnais Heights is just 25 minutes east of Minneapolis. This city started as just a small lakeside community of three families. It is now a thriving suburb, with convenient access to larger suburbs and the Twin Cities.

The city of Long Beach is a safe and calm neighborhood and it provides a very clean environment with a mixture of single family homes, condos, apartments, and industrial warehouses. The city of Long Beach is habituated by families, professionals and college students. However, as the sun goes down, Long Beach is well known for its extensive selection of nightlife options and entertainment such as restaurants, hotels, wine bars, and night clubs. Therefore, the city of Long Beach is frequently visited by a diverse number of people, which include homosexuals, transgender, and heterosexuals. This is the leading factor to the increased prevalence of syphilis among MSM, men having sex with men.

It is of almost no consolation that mental health is finally being recognized as an essential piece to the puzzle of overall wellness in the United States when intersectionality is not taken into account. Nationally, 56% of adults suffering from mental illness do not receive treatment and that number surges to a roaring 70% in Nevada specifically (“The state…” 1). The struggle of intersectionality for many is that while defending the rights and experience of one part of “self”, the other parts are often compromised (Crenshaw 179). A non intersectional understanding would be to assume that all of these adults suffer from the same barriers when it is found that one in five people are limited by cost alone.