The definition for positive mental health is widely debated by psychologists and other doctors. There is not just one single definition that’s completely accepted by everyone, but there are many aspects that are agreed upon. These can include the acceptance of one’s strengths and weaknesses, having a balanced and positive outlook on life, working towards one’s potential, and independence in making decisions. People who don’t have these characteristics or positive mental health are often said to have a mental disorder. A mental disorder is defined as a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that’s associated with distress or disability. This definition contributes to the belief that mental illness should be treated like physical illness …show more content…
Anxiety disorders can include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and panic disorder. People with these anxiety disorders often face many panic attacks, which involve symptoms like a faster heart rate, sweating, dizziness, chest pains, and feelings of choking or suffocation. They can even cause people to believe that they are insane or cause people to attempt suicide (“Mental Health). The most common mood disorders are depression and bipolar disorder. Depression has many different forms and many different symptoms, but the most common are feelings of hopelessness, loss of interest in activities, having little to no energy, and in some cases, suicidal thoughts. Depression has a huge impact on a large amount of people everyday. More than 24 million take Prozac, which is an SSRI, or a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, that is used to treat depression. In Canada, more than one million people each year suffer from a depressive disorder, and depression is believed to be the cause of 60%-90% of suicides (Chidley). Experts have not been able to definitively point out just one thing that causes depression. The most widely accepted cause is an imbalance in the brain. Through studies, experts have found that people with depression often have an imbalance of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Another popular belief …show more content…
To start off, mental illness should be treated like physical illness. Insurance companies should start to treat mental illness more seriously, and should start to cover mental illness as fairly as they treat physical illness. The government should also take action to make mental health treatment as common and accessible as physical health treatment is. More mental health facilities should be built around the country and the globe, especially in places where not many mental health services are available. Furthermore, a global medical community and health organization should be launched by psychiatrists and psychologists. This organization would work to spread general awareness about the importance and significance of mental health, and would also work to initiate a change in treatment standards for mental health. Organizations like these, created by mental health professionals, could be the start to minimizing the stigma of mental illness and could encourage more people to start seeking treatment
provide good care and treatment for the people who are suffering from a mental illness
Mental healthcare has a long and murky past in the United States. In the early 1900s, patients could live in institutions for many years. The treatments and conditions were, at times, inhumane. Legislation in the 1980s and 1990s created programs to protect this vulnerable population from abuse and discrimination. In the last 20 years, mental health advocacy groups and legislators have made gains in bringing attention to the disparity between physical and mental health programs. However, diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses continues to be less than optimal. Mental health disparities continue to exist in all areas of the world.
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.
Mental health can described as being the psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment; this refers to our mental and emotional well-being. Once hearing that someone is mentally unhealthy, or has a mental illness, usually their first reaction is one of concern, fear, or confusion.
Mental health is being aware, accepting yourself, and striking a balance in all aspects of your life like social, spiritual, physical, economical, and mental (Association, 2001). Mental health can be described as our positive interactions with the context and events in our life, and having the ability to cope with life’s stressors. Mental health problems can begin at anytime during your life (CAMH, 2010). In fact anything can make it difficult for an individual’s ability to interact effectively, and may lead into a mental health problem (Association, 2001).
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).
Due to the endless efforts and research of certain foundations and individuals, the ideas and functions of mental health have improved significantly. The advancements made in the field are impressive and without them, humankind would not be the same. Yet then why do only fewer than eight million people who are in need of help seek treatment? National Mental Health Association, 2001. The history, stigmatization, and perception of mental illness are some of the many reasons behind that alarming statistic.... ...
In today’s society there is a greater awareness of mental illnesses. With this greater awareness one might assume that there would be a substantial increase in government involvement or funding in the area of mental illness treatment. Unfortunately this isn’t the case in the U.S. today. There are hundreds of thousands of people with mental illness that go untreated. These potential patients go untreated for many reasons. These reasons are discussed in the Time article “Mental Health Reform: What Would it Really Take.
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 all, and that treatment can have negative side effects. Other groups of people believe that mental illness is a very serious affliction and should be treated as a disease through a combination of counselling and medication because people suffering from an untreated mental illness are a danger to themselves and society as a whole. This debate is a popular one, discussed everywhere from the medical field to the dinner table, and it is such because of the numerous lives it affects on the well-being of fellow members of society and the economy. People suffering from mental illnesses are afflicted with anything from delusions, to manic periods, to periods of deep emotional darkness due to experiences and brain chemistry (Johnson). Due to the negative effects untreated mental illness has been proven to have on the human well-being and society as a whole, medication should most certainly be seen as a valid and sometimes necessary way to treat those who suffer from mental illnesses.
The topic that I have chosen to discuss is “Mass incarceration in the world past and present.” This topic is pretty relatable for most individuals, because of the amount of incarcerations over the past few decades taking individuals away from their families. This is one topic that I have never really looked into to find out the reasons behind mass incarceration. To most people this topic is not one that many may find interesting, however after researching the topic it is one that is interesting and very important. Throughout this paper we will hit what exactly mass incarceration and some of the official data that shows the numbers of incarceration over the few decades and how it increase or decrease over the years. Next, we will discuss the
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2011, mental health is a state of well-being in which every person recognizes 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 own community. Moreover, there is no health without mental health. On the other hand, mental illness has become a significant worldwide health issue in recent years; more than 450 million people suffer from mental disorders (WHO, 2010).
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.
It is deeply alarming that ignoring mental health is systematically ignored as an important part of health promotion. This is shocking because, in theory, mental health is recognized as an important component of health, the close link between physical and mental health is recognized, and it is generally known that physical and mental health share many of the same social, environmental and economic components. We know that facilities dedicated to those with mental health problems are more vulnerable to the resources of physical diseases in many parts of the world, and it is essential that mental health promotion should not be equally affected
We should treat all forms of mental illness like they are physical illnesses. Positive mental health helps a person realize their full potential, cope with stress, work productively, and make meaningful contributions to the world around them. Those that have positive mental health have better working immune systems, positive attitudes, and good physical health. Those that suffer with
The dictionary definition of mental health is, “psychological well-being and satisfactory adjustment to society and to the ordinary demands of life, the field of medicine concerned with the maintenance or achievement of such well-being and adjustment” (Dictionary.com). In other words, mental health is the way people deal with their feelings and how they act throughout their day. Mental diseases, such as depression, could cause people to think of going through the day as a chore and could become really upset at the idea of having to continue to get up and do the same thing over and over again. Mental illnesses cause people to look at life differently or see good things through a different eye.