Mental Health Disparities Research Paper

I. Problem Failure to provide successful treatment alternatives to the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and the unequal opportunity to receive proper mental health care treatment in the U.S has resulted in the overrepresentation of the mentally ill in U.S jails and prisons. Mental health courts have shown they reduce recidivism, long term treatment plans over incarceration, as sentenced by traditional criminal courts is a clear step in the right direction. (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2008)The expansion and creation of more mental health courts in necessary. However, there is need for improvements in the innovation to better serve their clients ethically and effectively. II.

When it comes to seeking mental health treatment there are many aspects that impact a person’s approach toward seeking health care, such as socioeconomic status, race, gender, and age. Not to mention, African Americans are more likely to be affected by mental illness due to the fact they tend to have less advantages than Whites. Additionally, African Americans already also tend to have negative attitudes toward seeking care, due to their doubt of White

About 29 percent of the mentally ill incarcerated in 1992 were held with no charges against them. They were waiting for a bed at a hospital, psychiatric evaluation or transportation to some kind of psychiatric hospital. The mentally ill do not have adequate access to mental health services in jails; about 1 in 5. A lot of the mentally ill are arrested for misdemeanors. The mentally ill are also incarcerated for less serious charges than those who do not have a mental illness.

POSITION PAPER ON MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA 1. The Air Force should do more to eradicate the stigma associated with airmen who seek help and receive mental health care. Mental health treatment has carried a significant stigma in the general public and among military members. The Department of Defense and the Air Force have taken significant steps to improve access to mental healthcare and remove the stigma associated with mental health treatment. Current Air Force mental health screening options are ineffective and inefficient.

Mental health is recognized as a principal determinant of individual well-being and family relationships in today’s society. Most psychiatric disorders begin in childhood or adolescence, increasing the risk for poor physical health, problems in social relationships, reduced psychological well-being, and financial difficulties. There have been studies to suggest that, across the life course, mental disorder prevalence varies significantly according to race and ethnicity. In a study conducted by (Barrett, D. and Katsiyannis, A) the authors used a sample from the S. Carolina Juvenile Justice Agency to examine the question of race differences in repeat offenders.

Television has a significant impact on people’s perspectives on mental illness, and gender identification and roles, and how they apply to us (Holtzman & Sharpe, 2014). There is an underrepresentation of women living with mental illness on television, and an underrepresentation of women on television generally (Signorielli, 2009), Alluding to the aforementioned Cody quote, female roles in prime-time television are often reserved for secondary roles of ‘girlfriend’, ‘wife’ and ‘mother’ – they are not supposed to be characters. This point is echoed in a study by Holbert, Shah & Kwak (2003), which states: Numerous content analyses attending to depictions of women on television provide strong support for the basic claims that women are often treated

I did not know a mental hospital can teach us so many profound lessons. In this busy world, if we share with others a little bit more, connect to others a little bit more, understand others a little bit more, mental hospitals and mental patients will lessen a lot. Do not always chase money, status, and ephemera but forget that these things can leave us when we are behind the gate of a mental hospital or under the ground. We should learn how to love and be loved; how to give and given, how to respect what we have and be respected from others. Moreover, mature means shedding a cover of a kid to dress another costume of an adult.

Background and overview of the survey The survey used in this paper is from a comprehensive set of different surveys in a project on terminally ill cancer patients and their informal caregivers. The project aims to examine the effect of mental health on patient’s comfort at death and caregiver’s bereavement adjustment. The selected survey was used to collect data of chronically distresses of bereaved caregivers after the death of their beloved ones at the follow-up study one year after the baseline study. The survey was designed based on the Inventory of Complicated Grief – Caregiver version (Prigerson et al, 1995; Prigerson et al., 1999) with Cronbach’s α= .90 or above (Beery et al., 1997; van Doorn, 1997).

Stigmas. A word that is commonly used in the world. A word that is commonly stuck in many people’s minds. When the words mental health illnesses come up, some if not most people feel incredibly uncomfortable or even threatened (Davey, 2013). Eventually this could lead to a “discrimination towards people with mental health problems (Davey, 2013).

In order to improve recidivism and increase positive experiences in rehabilitation more programs need to be available to mentally ill offenders. However, the programs must be altered in order to provide the best possible outcome for the type of mental illness being treated. This could become a difficult task because not all mental illnesses are the same and there is a lack of funding for the improvements and additions of programs in correctional settings. It may be more effective and efficient to look at others options for mentally ill offenders that are non-violent.

However, about 70 per cent of those diagnosed receive no treatment nor seek the appropriate medical help for their mental health problems and illnesses (Thornicroft, 2008; Schomerus & Angermeyer, 2008). Evidence has demonstrated that the most compelling reasons for this are: lack of knowledge about mental disorders and illnesses; ignorance about available access to assessment and treatment; stigma and prejudice against those suffering from mental disorder or illness; and, anticipated discrimination against people diagnosed with mental disorder or illness (Thornicroft, 2008). Among these, stigma and discrimination have been recognised as the major deterrents or barriers to help-seeking and social inclusion for people with mental health disorders (Semrau, Evans-Lacko, Ashenafi & Thornicroft,

Although some people believe the guns are the issue and that we need more gun control, I believe we need more psychological help because mental health is worsening and access to care is getting more difficult, we should be rethinking the Baker Act, defining mental health and obtaining weapons. Studies show that mental health is worsening and the access to care is getting more and more limited. “For the past 20 years, studies have consistently estimated that almost half of all individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder are receiving no treatment for their mental illness at any given time. According to recent estimates of NIMH, this means that approximately 3.5 million such individuals are receiving no treatment,” says Mental Illness Policy Org. Many people don’t get treatment for many different reasons, some people are

According to Christopher G. Hudson, Ph.D., Salem State College, the lower the person’s socioeconomic status, the higher is his/her risk for mental disability and psychiatric hospitalization. There is a correlation between SES and the likelihood of developing a mental disorder (Hudson, 2005). This can be an enough reason why the government should pay for the mental health services of patients. There might be poverty-stricken-mentally-sick individuals that don’t get enough treatment because of the lack of sufficient budget to receive medical care. In addition, both the public and private health insurance programs must include services in mental health.

Healthcare providers are not doing enough to treat these people and help them to become functioning members of society. Mental health needs to become affordable to all people. While, leaps and bounds have been made in the last 10 years with the expansion of Medicaid and the ACA, there is still a lot needed to be done. The current White House administration is looking to eliminate both the ACA and Medicaid both of which benefit the care for mental health. With these large cuts proposed by President Trump, the coverage of mental health will be completely eradicated.

However, there is still a long way to go before all individuals within the country will have equal access to mental health care. Looking at the research referenced above, it is clear that there are major discrepancies in access to mental health for individuals with low income, certain illnesses and conditions, minorities, and the unemployed. As mental health access and insurance continues to expand and progress, advocacy measures should be taken to ensure that the individuals mentioned above gain access to the care that they