prevention of mental illness policies

Mental illness is a preventable and treatable illness that is experienced by a large number of people worldwide, but disproportionately affects people of color and individuals in poverty. Mental illness does not just affect those who are diagnosed with a mental illness but it also has an impact on those around the individual, including family and friends. However, the impact does not stop there; it affects all of society economically and potentially socially. An estimated 450 million people suffer from mental illness worldwide; as well as one in four people will experience one or more mental illnesses in their lifetime (World Health Organization, 2007). This means that a quarter (25%) of people in the world will have experienced mental illness at some point in their lives but may have recovered from their mental illness. In addition to that, the United States of America has the highest lifetime rate of mental health issues of any of the 17 industrialized countries, according to an epidemiological study done by the World Health Organization (WHO) (2007). Additional data shows that the United States has the second highest poverty rate out of 21 wealthy countries as well as having significantly high rates of income and wealth inequality, which is shown to be one of the highest risk factors for mental health problems (Shea & Shern, 2011, p. 5).
How is the problem defined?
The World Health Organization defines mental health, “As a state of well-being 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” (2013). In contrast with this, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) define...

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...ome point in their lives. The high levels of stress that many in urban areas experience can exasperate any predisposition that person may have to mental illness. Many people in these communities experience high levels of stress from a dangerous environment, discrimination, lack of jobs, violence, and potential exposure to maladaptive coping mechanisms to those stressors like substance use. This is especially true for many families who experience intergenerational transference of symptoms where children of parents with mental health issues take on similar features, such as a child of a depressed parent experiencing depressive symptoms. This is also true for issues of discrimination. Beyond that, this another stress factor that is often perceived by children and can cause the child to experience those emotions as well as depression, anger, or even oppositional defiant