Mental Health and Social Policy

Mental Health is defined as:

It is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’.  

 (WHO 2001:http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact220.html )

Here are Figures from NIMH for the incidence of the most common mental disorders in the USA.  Check out the website for more details on each disorder:

(NIMH 2001)  http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/numbers.cfm

• Approximately 18.8 million American adults,  or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, ¹ have a depressive disorder.
• In 2000, 29,350 people died by suicide in the U.S.
• Approximately 2.2 million American adults, or about 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year,  have schizophrenia.
• Approximately 19.1 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 13.3 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have an anxiety disorder.
• Approximately 2.4 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 1.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have panic disorder.
• Approximately 3.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 2.3 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
• Approximately 5.2 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 3.6 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have PTSD (Post traumatic Stress Syndrome).
• Approximately 4.0 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 2.8 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder).
• Approximately 5.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 3.7 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have social phobia
• Approximately 3.2 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 2.2 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have agoraphobia.
• Approximately 6.3 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 4.4 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have some type of specific phobia
• In their lifetime, an estimated 0.5 percent to 3.7 percent of females suffer from anorexia and an estimated 1.1 percent to 4.2 percent suffer from bulimia
• ADHD, one of the most common mental disorders in children and adolescents, affects an estimated 4.1 percent of youths ages 9 to 17 in a 6-month period
• Autism affects an estimated 1 to 2 per 1,000 people.
• Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia among people age 65 and older, affects an estimated 4 million Americans

 Current issues in service delivery.

*        Lack of funding from federal and regional sources.

*        Restricted treatment ­­­­options.

*        Lack of public and private priority in encouraging a continuum of care services that provide adequate transition between various service systems such as partial institutional, hospital, inpatient/outpatient, etc.

*        The restricted nature of services, (i.e. lack of bilingual counselors) speak to issues of social justice.

*        “isms” (e.g. racism, ageism, sexism) result in biased treatment.

Minorities and Mental Health Systems.   

A Report of the Surgeon General in 2001 has an easily accessible executive summary which gives the main findings of this comprehensive study:  http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/cre/execsummary-1.html

1. Minorities

• have less access to, and availability of, mental health services.
• are less likely to receive needed mental health services.
• often receive a poorer quality of mental health care.
• are underrepresented in mental health research.

        2.   Poverty and Mental Health.   Ethnic and racial minorities in the USA experience racism, discrimination, violence and poverty. People in the lowest strata of socio-economic status are two or three times more likely to experience mental disorder.

1. Racism and discrimination increase stress and thus increase the risk for mental disorder.
2.  Stereotyping and bias by clinical staff leads to  distrust of mental health services.  
3. Clinical environments that do not accommodate the cultures of people they serve may act as a deterrent to clients seeking services.
4. Minorities experience a greater disability burden not because their mental illness is more severe, but because they do not receive adequate services.

(Surgeon General 2001) http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/cre/execsummary-1.html

For the full report(Adobe Document)  see:  http://www.mentalhealth.org/cre/default.asp