Evolution of Social Policies in Mental Health in the US - Essay Example

Introduction Mental health is an issue of concern in our society currently and so was it in previous times. Mental health problems had been looked upon with various connotations within different cultures. Many cultures have been viewing mental health as a punishment from God or a demonic possession. In ancient Indian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman literature mental illness was portrayed as a personal or religious problem. However, as time progressed people started to learn more about psychology and how humans think and behave in a specific environment. In ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Roman writings, mental illness was categorized as a religious or personal problem. Hippocrates who lived in the 5th century is the pioneer who treated mentally ill with methods which was not rooted in superstition or religion. Negative attitudes towards mental illness persisted into the 18th century in the United States, leading to stigmatization of mental illness, and unhygienic (and often degrading) confinement of mentally ill individuals. Since then the mentally health had been evolving and at present it has reached a stage where comprehensive policies underlie mental health treatment particularly in U.S. In this paper, the evolution of social policies with regard to mental health in U.S will be looked in to. The social, economical and political factors that have contributed to the evolution will be explored. The current policy, goal of the policy and its relevancy with the welfare and state would be analysing. Also whom the policy serves and its universal characteristics will be examined. Mental health in U.S Mental health in U.S has been progressing ever since the beginning of 20th century. The Mental Health America which was founded in 1909 founded by Clifford Beers has changed the lives of mentally ill people. The U.S governments formed throughout these years have been proven to contribute largely to the welfare of mental health system in the country. Many research and lobbying effort have undergone to revive and upgrade the mental health system in U.S. The National Mental Health Act passed by Harry Truman 1946 gave rise to National Institute of Mental Health and have allocated funds from government for the research, treatment purposes. Moreover, The Mental Retardation Facilities and community health centre was passed by the Congress in 1963 which gave a new dimension to mental health system. In 1979, the National Alliance for mentally ill was formulated All these changes have given enormous support, education, advocacy and research facility to population with serious mental illnesses. Apart from this, the social welfare programs have contributed at a greater level to enhance the mental health care access. It is noteworthy that, even from 18th century; the country had been developing mental hospitals to accommodate the issue. It is maltreatment of the mentally ill people was the reason for the launch of much mental health institution in the early 18th century. Mental health evolution perspective The mental health evolution has been a long journey and had been a result of many social, political and economical factors. Socially mental ill people are a downturn to the society and can affect the overall health quotient, harmony and prosperity of the country. In earlier times, mentally ill people have created many problems to family members and always accounted for isolation and violation in family. In such cases, the person was a hindrance to the family and the society as they created tension, havoc and instability in social atmosphere. For this reason, there occurred a need for keeping these patients away from family in a separate condition where they could be observed and treated. Ultimately, this need gave rise to mental asylums and hospitalization of mentally ill people. According to (Tatokvsy) “The first hospital in the U.S. opened its doors in 1753 in Philadelphia. While it treated a variety of patients, six of its first patients suffered from mental illness. In fact, Pennsylvania Hospital would have a pivotal impact on psychiatry”. As time progressed, the medical experts started to probe into the consequences of mentally ill people on society like violence, depression to family and anxiety. So the government made more attempt to support the family members and contain the patients through education and moral support. Also many studies were conducted to understand the mental disorders from other perspectives like environmental influence, social influence and cultural factors. So the mental health evolved to be a broader concept and many policies were formulated to protect and treat the patients in order to secure a harmonious society. Mental evolution which happened in America was also due to political factors. It is a fact that mentally ill people normally have a tendency to commit suicide. One well known example would be the suicide of famous artist Vincent Van Goghin 19th century. So, mentally ill people committed suicide, even succumbed to alcohol and violence which was a welfare issue. Welfare of a society is directly linked with the political constitution of a country and this very well changed the mental health scenario over the years. In early 19th century, many people ended their lives and the reason for these was known to many and this was definitely a loss to society, economy and country. As per ( CDC) “Suicides could not be adduced as evidence against the changes in the welfare system. If people are dying as a consequence of the implementation of measures cannot count as evidence that the legislation has detrimental effects”. The welfare of people was largely connected to politics as the aim of the government is to obtain a healthy population with good economic and social status. When people are mentally ill and are left untreated then the social unity and cohesion will come to an end. For this reason, the government made policies and strategies to treat mentally ill people and took initiative to study mental disorders to make the life of mentally ill people better. People make a country and politics is all about governing people hence it has a contribution in evolving mental health in U.S. Other than social and political factor, economical aspect also influenced the way in which mental health got transformed over the centuries. The economy of a country is stabilized by people and when people are less potential it can damage the country .A mentally ill person cannot be employed or earn income which means the GDP of the country is going down. So in such a case, it is highly necessary for the government and other organisations to pay close attention to treat and support mentally ill people. People with mental disorder often are unemployed, isolated and keep their family in poverty and debt. In such a situation, government had to work towards the betterment of mental patients and this resulted in many policies and departments for the revival of mentally ill people. Mentally ill people can cause economical downturn by lacking education, employment, income and poor health. According to (Fischer ) “Demand for mental health services is likely to increase as a result of unemployment, personal debt, home repossession and other fallout from the recession” So social , political and economical factors has changed the way mental health evolved along these years”. Current Mental Health policy in U.S In American there are over 11.5 million mentally ill people and they suffer from depression, bi- polar and schizophrenia mostly. So, the country is vigilant when it comes to mental health policies. Lately, there had been introduction of many policies which has given new dimension to mental health arena of the country. Last year, the U.S government passed Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act which means improved programs will be launched to consider mental health and substance use disorder. A resolution was also made regarding National Post Traumatic Disorder awareness and also amendment was made in policies regarding sexual trauma among veterans. One of the prominent strategies introduced by the government is the funding offered by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMS) which is around $ 32 billion to the National Institutes of Health. This means the country does not want to fall behind other emerging countries like India and China who invest largely in scientific research. NAMI also supports the President’s BRAIN initiative which is also an organization researching on neuron mapping. Currently, the American Government spend around $113 billion on mental health and the new strategy concentrates more on prescription drugs and outpatient treatment. Another contribution to mental health is by the Medicaid. As per (Garfield 4) “Medicaid is the largest payer, accounting for 28percent of total expenditures, while private insurance paid for 27 percent and other state andlocal funds account for 18 percent of these costs in 2005”. The community mental health centres act of 1963 has shifted the mental health scenario by treating more patients in community centres rather than state run – psychiatric institutions. The Affordable Care Act proposed by the government has created more mental health mandates, by requiring all insurers who sell on the exchanges to include mental health treatment in their benefit packages. Such comprehensive strategies brought about by the government serves many people in the society. Mental health strategy of American where they provide support for Latino families is advantageous to Hispanic community where drug abuse and poverty is high. These people can get advanced with such strategy and lead life in a better way as many youth both male and female are subjected to drug abuse and violence at large. Also, the mental health coverage for veterans is an honour given to people who have contributed the American society enormously. They need support with mental problems at an age where they get less of financial and emotional support. The adult and population are also given considerable importance by American Mental Health Policy as they need more support with emotional and behavioural problems. As per ( CDC 3) “Percentage of adults aged 50 or older who reported that they ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ received the social support that they needed”.In America, teenagers and adults are more succumbed to drug abuse and depression rather than elderly people. Lastly, the funding given to the mental health research institute encourages the scientists and medical experts to be innovative and study the subject related to mental health with more confidence and support. However, with all these benefits the mental health policies of America is flawed in some ways. The problem in America is that youth and adults are the one who are more affected by psychological problems. The problem with mental health services are that they are not structured or organized enough to serve the right people as they need it. The youth and adults in America face serious mental illnesses and they need multiple services and support to recover. According to ( Honberg) “ Necessary services frequently involve medications, intensive inpatient and outpatient mental health treatments, substance abuse treatment, housing employment supports(for adults ) and educational service and support ( Youths). Unfortunately, these are inaccessible and unavoidable for unaffordable people and also the stigma prevailing in the country is a deterrent to the mentally ill people seeking treatment in the country. The mental health service in the U.S is often fragmented, inaccessible and unco – ordinate and hence it can be blamed upon the inefficiency of mental health policy of America. One of the examples, for this is the mental health and substance abuse needs an integrated treatment which is lacking in America. The integrated treatment system is not established due to the fact that it can give way to erosion of valuable funds. Also many mental health centres fails to respond to the patients when they are in crisis and it is unfortunate the police are the one who responds to crisis rather than mental health service centres. Also many mental health centres have fewer facilities like lack of sufficient bed or staff to meet the meed of the patients. So these facts show that the mental health policy of America is not at its best phase. But the mental health policy of America doe reflect some values like basic International standards and human rights norms, empowerment of individuals and community ,independence, financial stewardship and innovative spirit. This is because the mental health policy of America considers the human rights and freedom and does not attack the personal life of people unlike other countries. Also the new policies of the American mental health sector include all community and individuals of the society like the youth, women, veterans and minority communities. It is also interesting that the Government allot many funds to the research and scientific purpose and hence is realistic and evolutionary and maintains the innovative spirit. Now when we speak of mental health policies, there is a profession which intricate with subject. It is the social workers who work in alliance with mental health department and patients. Social work professions have values which go hand in hand with mental health policy values. Like social work professionals need to understand the necessity of privacy and personal freedom and human rights. Also they need to look at independence which means giving space to patient when they are being treated or emotionally supported. Social workers connect more emotionally with patients and hence this is a value which precipitates in both policy and social work profession. Practice .As per(NASW) “Social work practice consists of the professional application of social work values, principles, and techniques to one or more of the following ends: helping people obtain tangible services; counseling and psychotherapy with individuals, families, and groups; helping communities or groups provide or improve social and health services; and participating in legislative processes”. Conclusion Mental health is an issue worldwide and many mentally ill people do not get the right treatment and support at many occasion. America is a country which has a comprehensive strategy when it comes to mental health issues. The mental health policy of the country has evolved since early 19th century as it has more broader views, facilities, service and educative programs to treat the mentally ill people better. There are many social, political and an economic factor which has paved way to the evolution of mental health policy in unites states. On social ground, family isolation and violence had been a factor, on political grounds suicide had been and human welfare has been an issue while economical terms mentally ill people were unemployed and uneducated. All these factors had made the United States government to revive and model the mental health policy to bring about better out of mentally ill people and their families. The mental health policy of America does offer adequate funding for research purpose which makes sit innovative. Also it has provisions for youth, adults, veterans and minorities of the community. Also more community based mental health care practice is being introduced by the American government as a part of comprehensive mental health policy. Still it has its flaws like any policy as it does not offer multiple services to treat young and adult population who have serious mental problems. Also there is no integrated treatment facility to serve substance abuse disorders. However, the mental health policy has its values which go in co – ordination with social work profession like human right and freedom standard, personal space, independence and innovative spirit. Finally, it could be said that mental health policy of America can be best if it consider few changes in the coming years. Work Cited Fischer, Mark. "Why mental health is a political issue." http://www.theguardian.com. The Guardian, Web. 23 June 2014. . CDC, . "The State of Mental Health." The State of Mental Health and Aging in America 12.3 (2006): 1-12. Print. Garfield, Rachel L. "Mental Health Financing in the United States." Overview of Behavioral Health Care (2011): 1-46. Print Honberg, Ron. "Flawed Mental Health Policies." http://www.aca.org. CT Feature, 2005. Web. 24 June 2014. . NASW, . "PRACTICE STANDARDS FOR THE PROFESSION OF SOCIAL WORK." http://www.nasw nys.org. NASW, 2014. Web. 24 June 2014. . Tartakovsky, Margarita. "The Birth of the Mental Asylum." http://psychcentral.com. Psych Central, 2011. Web. 23 June 2014. . Read More