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Post by Peter Hoang (MS3) on Jun 24, 2016 15:30:31 GMT -4
This article highlights a long standing problem with our medical system and society in which little is done to effectively treat and manage those with mental illness. These problem as well as many other issues that currently plague America are often not met with the adequate attention from our legislation. Now the policy makers are a big source of the problem, but I believe our society as a whole is also at fault for this. I think the key to bringing more attention and solutions for our mental health system is by trying to reduce the stigma of being mentally ill. It is such a taboo topic, that most just try to avoid or sweep it under the rug. If we don’t acknowledge its presence, how will there be enough noise made to ensure that those in government will even listen and be motived to take action. Anti-stigma campaigns would be one way to help. A great example is the “Time To Change” campaign in the UK. These campaigns include fundraisers, conferences, TV ads, and teaching sessions for the community, schools, law enforcement, etc. The more social contact and awareness there are between the mentally ill and “mentally healthy population” the greater the possibility in reduction of the stigma. This is the first and most important step before we can even expect a better legislative solution to form.
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Post by naqitaalexander on Jun 26, 2016 10:36:13 GMT -4
How to fix a broken mental health system
This article creates an acute awareness of shortcomings in public policy and health management in state health care systems. Following the author’s emotional journey from a very personal standpoint to the socio-economic realities currently faced on the global forefront is extremely eye-opening. Providing effective and efficient continuous healthcare for mentally ill patients should be equated to a basic human right. Instead, it gets watered down by the socio-political sphere to following the most cost savvy means possible. The so-called "awareness" is limited to only a few regions and selected key players. This, I believe could be largely owing to a lack of insight and education to the general population about the effects psychiatric diagnoses have on an individuals' cognitive function and their subsequent ongoing needs.
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Post by Joseph Moussa on Jun 26, 2016 23:18:08 GMT -4
Mental illness in America has been and will continue to be a problem, until we as a country focus more of our resources towards addressing this growing issue. People are living longer and with this, people will ultimately face more health issues as the age (including mental health issues). As this article states, mental health is one of the areas of health care which does not get the proper attention it deserves. Recognizing and understanding mental health has come a very long way in recent decades, however there is still much ground to cover. This article makes a very nice notion of placing mental health centers within communities, which I believe is a start on the right track. As with everything else, money and politics and the passing of bills needed to redirect our resources towards mental health proves to be an obstacle. As students who are less than two years away from choosing which residency we would like to pursue a career in, I believe much of the responsibility falls on us. We should keep in mind the many issues and hurdles our country faces with mental health, when carefully deciding our own career paths.
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Post by Rashmi Godugu on Jun 27, 2016 0:30:03 GMT -4
The author of this article brings on some really concerning points the main one being the lack of of facilities to take up mentally ill people so that they are not thrown back onto the streets. He mentions that having a mental illness and not being able to understand your own illness and recognize yourself for what it is can be so devastating. I feel as though a huge part of the the disconnect between patients that are mentally ill and the people that are able to provide care of them is the fact that sometimes we are not able to fully understand what it exactly is that the patient is going through. The author goes on to mention the tragic death of this son due to a lack of judgement from being unable to understand his illness. The author goes on to further say that the fact that there are not enough facilities to take on homeless and mentally ill patients is the root of the problem. It is really unfortunate that these patients many times walk into EM rooms to be treated on a short term basis only to be back on the street. The issue of insurance companies further challenges the lives of these patients due to low socioeconomic status that are many times unable to pay for their medications. It is really unfortunate that over the past couple years the problem of not having enough resources to help these individuals has only got worse. If the government is unable to step up and take action many more families like the author himself will have to suffer through many more lost lives.
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Post by loretta Akpala on Jun 28, 2016 10:11:41 GMT -4
The current mental health system is currently using a diagnosis and treatment model that does not produce the most effective outcome or results. As the years have gone by, the mental system has evolved in such a way that it does not cater to the specific needs of the patients and it's family members especially because it does not take into account that every patient is different and as a result an individualized diagnosis and treatment approach may be the best way of getting these patient and their loved ones on a faster and more sustainable road to recovery and also possibly allowing them to become proper functioning members of society. The current model is quick to dish out disability insurance and in some instances this makes the individual and their families feel a sense of lost hope with getting better. As a result, this can lead to shortened life expectancy over time. A gradual reboot of the current mental health system is important. We need to make the treatment and diagnosis models as individualized as possible so that these patients can go on to become proper functioning members of society and also have a sustained recovery and longer life expectancy overall.
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Post by Monique Mustafa on Jun 28, 2016 21:40:39 GMT -4
I feel deeply saddened to read the author describing how he lost his young son with mental illness just because of lack of policies related to mental health issues. There must be numerous such cases that go unnoticed each day. Its high time for all of us to realize that like any other physical illness, mental diseases need to be given equal importance infact even greater importance because a society cannot function effectively and efficiently if people with mental illnesses go undiagnosed and untreated. The patients with mental diseases face double challenge. On one hand there is the pain and struggle as a result of the disease and on the other hand they are challenged by the prejudice due to misconceptions about mental illness.The stigma related to mental illness should end now and we need to be a society that does not discriminate people because of this , but instead support them and accept them as we would for someone who is having any other physical illness. We definitely need new policies that will help people with mental illness to gain access to care and treatment.
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Post by Monique Mustafa on Jun 28, 2016 22:00:31 GMT -4
I feel deeply saddened to read the author describing how he lost his young son with mental illness just because of lack of policies related to mental health issues. There must be numerous such cases that go unnoticed each day. Its high time for all of us to realize that like any other physical illness, mental diseases need to be given equal importance infact even greater importance because a society cannot function effectively and efficiently if people with mental illnesses go undiagnosed and untreated. The patients with mental diseases face double challenge. On one hand there is the pain and struggle as a result of the disease and on the other hand they are challenged by the prejudice due to misconceptions about mental illness.The stigma related to mental illness should end now and we need to be a society that does not discriminate people because of this , but instead support them and accept them as we would for someone who is having any other physical illness. We definitely need new policies that will help people with mental illness to gain access to care and treatment.
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Post by Abhinandan Bhagat on Jun 29, 2016 0:21:40 GMT -4
This is an interesting article, I had no knowledge of the fact that we have such a shortage of mental health care facilities. The thought of locking up the mentally ill as convicts simply because there aren't enough hospital beds is disheartening. The thought of releasing acutely ill patients unmonitored where they can harm themselves and others is truly terrifying. This article mentions that there were policies created to replace psychiatric hospitals with community community health centers in an effort to improve the patient's lifestyle and be more cost effective. However, it's sad to hear that multiple states never built these new community centers and still closed down the psychiatric hospitals anyways. They did so to save even more money, not addressing the fact that patients would have nowhere to go.
As others have mentioned, there is a stigma behind mental diseases. Maybe not explicitly, but implicitly our society has negative feelings surrounding people with psychiatric conditions. We sympathize with those with physical illnesses, but we frown upon those with mental illness. It's sad especially because these patients have no control over their conditions and most likely inherited these problems. Unlike a lot of medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, lung cancer etc, where lifestyle factors play a crucial role in the inception and progression of their conditions. Furthermore, we underestimate the severity of patients with mental illness because we don't physically see the individual to be in mortal danger. However, we need to understand that psychiatric patients can be in dire situations and that they need care urgently just like a patient with chest pain needs care urgently. Having this sort of ideological shift can help us understand the need to invest more money into mental hospitals and community centers. That way we can avoid sending patients to jail or out onto the streets. What happened with Senator Creigh Deeds's and his son is a example of the type of consequence that can occur if we don't change the way that we think about our psychiatric health care system.
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Post by Erica B. Bortmas on Jun 30, 2016 20:02:41 GMT -4
After recently visiting New York City, I have never been more aware of how broken our mental health care system truly is. We stayed in the heart of Manhattan and the amount of homeless people living on every street was more than overwhelming. As I walked by their makeshift homes, I couldn't help but realize the immense variations of intense psychiatric symptoms and signs that were being thrown into the city air. Meanwhile, some city people keep with the hustle and bustle, moving quickly past these homeless folks, while others laugh, point, stare in confusion, or even make faces at these helpless people. This article describes my exact words and worries I expressed to my family and friends after my NYC observations of the homeless people on the streets. Our health care system is in desperate need of immediate change, especially when dealing with mental health care. How can we be sending psychotic patients home from the ER when the patient themselves along with their family are fearing a life could be taken?? How can we be so blind to these people's needs? I can't understand why heart disease, which is among the top killers of adults, gets so much funding and attention BUT we barely have any major mental health foundations that raise awareness and money for research on a primary disease that causes one of the leading causes of dead in the adolescents/young adults- trauma/violence. If we could intervene and have a better mental health care system, we could help prevent so many suicides, accidents, traumatic deaths, homicides, etc. I will always do my part to be an educator and promoter of awareness of mental health, as I truly care for those affected by mental health illnesses.
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Post by B.A (MS3) on Jul 1, 2016 7:51:21 GMT -4
The author's description of failure of the medical system to adequately meet the needs of individuals with mental health issues is correct and should be fixed. The article points out the apathy from much of the Congress on passing bills that could alleviate the situation for hundreds of people suffering from a mental illness who are homeless is also baffling and one which requires urgent attention in the United states. Mostly affected people are those of low socioeconomic status due to the health disparities in their communities as their cases have largely gone untreated. Other than the efforts of he government at finding solutions to the broken mental health system, it is imperative as individuals or collectively as a group to assist in recovery of the mentally-challenged by showing more compassion, better attitude towards them and also helping them get treated by all means best possible to get back to a normal life. Various means of mental health education and importantly campaign to help the mentally-challenged get better should also be employed by government and individuals to help fix the broken mental health system.
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Post by Ali Reza Ahmed on Aug 1, 2016 14:08:09 GMT -4
The best way to fix a broken mental healthcare system is to increase awareness and education related to mental health. There need to be efforts made by everybody to remove the stigma associated with mental illness. Furthermore, the U.S. needs more educated voters who would elect informed representative and politicians. There needs to be a bigger presence of physicians, nurses, and PHD's in government.
Mental health is a social as well as scientific issue, it requires a more nuanced approach when making legislation.
Movie recommendation: Michael Moore's documentary: Sicko
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