In dailies, media reports, blogs and the like, it has been purported that physical activity is critical to one’s health. However, mental health should also be given the same highlight as the former as it goes hand in hand with the latter. Both are closely connected. It is noted that a comprehensive mental health allows an individual the ability to keep himself physically healthy. Emotional issues and mental illness play a huge influence on one’s ability to embrace in keeping a healthy lifestyle. Just as we involve ourselves in an annual physical exam, one should also set aside time to have an annual mental check up.
We are living in a world ridden with mental concerns. We often see on TV about heinous crimes, drug abuse, suicide and what have you. All these ills of the society and more ties up to having a good mental state of being. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO), world leaders are acknowledging campaign for mental health and well-being, and the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, as health priorities within the global development agenda (2016). Despite the eagerness of WHO for the aforementioned campaign, several literatures exhibit barriers in achieving mental health. In fact, a recent bulletin longitudinal findings about the perceptions of detained youth about mental health services in Cook
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The responsibility for improving mental health transcends national borders, class, race, gender, ethnicity, and culture (NIH, n.d.). Due to these events globally, providing effective care has been affected globally due to various factors. One is attributable to decreased availability of medications and skilled health medical professionals. Insufficient mental health care professionals are more commonly seen in low and middle income countries (Saxena, Thornicroft, Knapp, & Whiteford,
Continuing budget cuts on mental health care create negative and detrimental impacts on society due to increased improper care for mentally ill, public violence, and overcrowding in jails and emergency rooms. Origins, of mental health as people know it today, began in 1908. The movement initiated was known as “mental hygiene”, which was defined as referring to all things preserving mental health, including maintaining harmonious relation with others, and to participate in constructive changes in one’s social and physical environment (Bertolote 1). As a result of the current spending cuts approaching mental health care, proper treatment has declined drastically. The expanse of improper care to mentally ill peoples has elevated harmful threats of heightened public violence to society.
In the United States alone, 57.7 million individuals suffer from mental illness. These illnesses range anywhere from mood disorders to anxiety disorders or to personality disorders and so on (The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America). 18 to 25 year olds make up about 30% of these individuals alone (Survey Finds Many Living with Mental Illness Go Without Treatment). These individuals require care from medication to psychiatry or even to confinement. However, of these 57.7 million individuals with mental illness, studies have found that less than one in three of these individuals receive proper treatment (Studies Say Mental Illness Too Often Goes Untreated).
Mental health disparities, “the power imbalances that impact practices influencing access, quality, and outcomes of behavioral health care, or a significant disparity in the overall rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality, or survival rate in a specific group of people defined along racial and ethnic lines, as compared with the general population” (Safran, 2011). Although there are many mental health care dipartites, I’m going to focus on the impact of poverty and lack of attention given to mental health. By advocating for a prevention, promotion, and intervention related to mental health, will aid in minimizing mental health disparities. Not only is it important to advocate on a macro level, but it is important to educate
Mental Health Funding Mental health is a subject a lot of people prefer not to talk about, which is a main reason that it is so underfunded. The severe underfunding affects not only the people suffering from mental illness, but also the government, the economy, and society as a whole. It is in the government's best interest to put more funding into mental health due to the health consequences on patients, including weight issues, drastic effects on bodily functions, and difficulties in pregnancy. As well as this
Mental health treatment can help some people recover from their illness and can alleviate painful symptoms, prevent deterioration, and protect them from suicide. It can improve independent
Janice Lloyd, health reporter for USA Today, states that of the 45.9 million people who reported having a mental illness, only 39.2 percent of those people said they received treatment. With those statistics, it calculates out to be that 27,907,200 people did not receive the proper care that they need. There could be a wide range of reasons why people did not receive treatment, but a large reason is the stigma behind mental illness. It causes the people struggling with a mental illness to be embarrassed of their disorder; sadly, I was one of them. I felt ashamed to admit to my friends and family about my depression because I was deeply afraid of how they might view me differently. After experiencing those type of feelings, it made me realize
Mental illness is very common in the United States society. The World Health Organization, the World Bank, and Harvard University have conducted the massive Global Burden of Disease study showing that “mental illness, including suicide, accounts for more than 15 percent of the burden of disease in first world countries such as the United States” (as cited
“ I WISH I WOULD JUST DIE ALREADY!” screamed Jane as she opened the pill bottle and hesitated to take them all. Jane had been showing these signs if depression that no one noticed. If her school would’ve screened the students for suicidal tendencies and mental illnesses they could’ve prevented her from getting that far. Screening helps people identify who may and may not be at risk of suicide. Schools should screen children and teenagers for mental illnesses and suicidal tendencies, because if it’s not treated it can worsen or cause other problems, provide more help, lower suicide rates.
The TED Talk referenced in this paper made some great points regarding health care for those who have mental health illnesses and how the life expectancy gap can be around 20 years less for those who suffer from a mental health disorder (Patel, 2016). Quality of Life (QOL) and the Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) are two things that classify burden of disease for those who suffer from illnesses, and not just mental health illnesses but also from medical disorders such as pneumonia. The main point of Patel’s TED talk was that the vast majority of those who need care do not receive it and the shortage of mental health professionals around the world has become a problem, and his solution to this is appointing lay counselors who are trained
According to the C.D.C ( Centers for Disease Control) the term mental health is commonly used in reference to mental illness. However, knowledge in the field has advanced to a level that completely separates the two terminologies. But even so mental health and mental illness are indeed in fact related, they represent different psychological state of mind with in a person. Mental health refers to our physical and emotional well being. Mental health is mainly all about how we behave, interact, and think. It c...
Mental health is just as important as physical health in a person’s life. Mental health is critical to a person’s well-being, their ability to live a productive life and to keep a healthy family and interpersonal relationships. Mental health does not just affect the mind it also affects people’s physical health. Some physical health diseases can cause a mental health disorder and vice versa. Mental health disorders are associated with the occurrence, development, and outcome of some of the today’s most chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. When people go untreated from a mental health disorder are at a higher risk for many unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol and drug use, violent behavior, and suicide.
Mental disorders are rapidly becoming more common with each new generation born in the world. Currently, nearly one in two people suffer from some form of depression, anxiety, or other mental health problem at some point in their lives (Editor). With so many people suffering from their mental illnesses, steps have been taken in order to get help needed for these people but progress has been slow. In the medical world, hospitals are treating those with physical problems with more care than those with mental problems. Prescription drugs can only do so much helping the mentally ill go through their daily lives and more should be done to help those who need more than medicine to cope with their illness. Mental health should be considered just as important as physical health because of how advanced physical healing is, how the public reacts to those with mental illness, and due to the consequences that could happen if the illness is not correctly helped.
Health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ and health promotion is understood as ‘actions that support people to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles and which create supportive living situations or environments for health’. In these definitions it is clearly standard that mental health promotion is an essential component of health promotion. Not only are there complex interconnections between physical and mental health, they share many
A young, teenage girl sits with her friends, talking, laughing, and making jokes. She seems completely normal and happy, even. What people don’t know is that this is nothing but a mask covering the loneliness that seems to run through her veins, and the unexplainable sadness that never goes away. She fears speaking of it, of admitting the uncontrollable hatred she feels for everything about herself, so much that she contemplates ending it all. The fact is, suicide is the third leading cause for death in people under the age of twenty-five. Our country needs to stop seeing this as a casual thing. Depression, anxiety, and suicide in youth are real and serious issues that we need to be more aware of in today’s society.
Today, the numbers of people with mental health issues are considerably high. The problem increases the national and global social and economic burdens as governments try to find means of empowering the people with the issue and solve the problem. Today, one in five adults in the United States has a mental health problem (“Mental Health Facts,” 2016). “Mental Health Facts” (2016) also states that the adults that received mental health services are about 60%. Only 50% of the youth with mental health issues received mental health services in the previous year. Further, mental health issues are also related to drug use and addiction. Of all the mental illnesses and disorders, depression affects the most people and has the biggest burden globally. Due to the increasing burden and the gap in service utilization, the mental health policy seeks to address several factors. Some of the key issues to address include early diagnosis of mental disorders, provision of appropriate and adequate intervention a particular problem, education and counseling for the family members, and research to help reduce the numbers and reverse the trend. Another key area of focus is the use of mass media to create awareness about mental health issues and help clear the