For Those with Mental Illness, Access to
Care Part of Cure
By Brenda Brown-Grooms
According to the last census, there are
306 million people living in the United States. Twenty-two percent of the total
adult population (67,320,000) suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a
given year. Eighteen million adults in the U.S. have severe mental illness,
while another 43 million have less severe symptoms.
According to the Web site
HealthyPlace.com, mental illness is a disease that causes mild to severe
disturbances in thinking, perception and behavior. The site recommends that if
the disturbances significantly impair a person's ability to cope with life's
ordinary demands and routine, then he or she should immediately seek proper
treatment with a mental health professional.
According to MentalHealth.com, 47 million
Americans are without health insurance and 36 million live in poverty. 
For a text version of this table
click here.
The five major categories of mental
illness are anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, dementias and
eating disorders.
Anxiety disorders are the most common
forms of mental illness. The three main types of anxiety disorders are phobias
(extreme fear or dread caused by a specific object or situation), panic
disorders (sudden, extreme fear or dread for no apparent reason with symptoms
similar to a heart attack) and obsessive-compulsive disorders (sufferers try to
cope with anxiety by repeating words or phrases or engaging in repetitive,
ritualistic behavior, such as constant hand washing).
People with mood disorders (depression and
bipolar disorder or manic depression) may display mood swings (extreme sadness
or elation), sleep and eating disturbances, and marked changes in activity or
energy levels. Suicide is a concern for a person diagnosed with a mood
disorder.
Schizophrenia, believed to be caused by
chemical imbalances in the brain, is a serious disorder that affects an
individual's thinking, feeling and actions. Symptoms include hallucinations,
delusions, withdrawal, incoherent speech and impaired reasoning.
Dementia, unlike Alzheimer's (a kind of
dementia), does not cause death. It leads to loss of mental functioning, memory
loss and a decline in intellectual and physical skills.
Those with eating disorders, such as
anorexia nervosa (self-starvation) and bulimia (binging and purging), have
potentially life-threatening fixations on food and an irrational fear of being
fat. An obsession with exercise may be included.
Some common myths concerning mental
illness include:
- Children and young people do not have mental health
problems.
- People with psychiatric problems should be
institutionalized.
- Anyone with a mental illness can never lead a normal
life.
- Anyone who is mentally ill is dangerous.
- Those challenged with mental illness can never work in
important or responsible positions.
In fact, in this country, more than 6
million young people may suffer from a mental health disorder that severely
disrupts their ability to function at home, in school or in their communities.
According to HealthyPlace.com, the percentage of Americans who will suffer from
a form of mental illness in their lifetimes ranges from 1.4 (agoraphobia
without panic) to 16.6 (major depression disorder), and the average amount of
time, in years, until those people receive treatment ranges from three to 20
years (see chart on this page).
With proper care and treatment, a person
with a mental illness can recover and resume normal activities. Treatment and
care, however, take money and access. In addition to health insurance, the
availability and acceptability of services, cultural appropriateness, location,
hours of operation, transportation and costs must be met if a person with
mental health challenges is to survive.
Access means more than having health
insurance or the ability to pay for services. It also means that mental health
professionals and services must be available where a person lives. Further, it
means that those personnel and services are available in a culturally
acceptable context. For example, many parishioners of African-American churches
would not travel to a therapist's regular office but would see that
professional if he or she had an office in their or another church.
A potential client without transportation
to a clinic, or one who cannot afford to pay for it, does not have access to
proper care and treatment. That is also the case if that client cannot reach
the clinic during its regular hours.
Based on the aforementioned statistics,
anywhere from 22% to 65% of those with mental illness in any form, including
children, do not have access to proper care and treatment and thus cannot
recover from mental illness and resume normal lives.
Brenda Brown-Grooms is an independent
living coordinator with the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center in Roanoke,
Va. She is also an ordained Baptist minister. |
