Response Posts MH Week 1

Response Posts

Instructions

· Explain why you agree or disagree with at least two other classmates’ responses

· Provide at least two examples and one credible resource to support each response

Courtney Spina

7/7/21, 12:48 PM 

NEW

Top of Form

The mental health system in our country today is severely broken. Our country doesn't know or understand how to come to terms with mental illness and how to appropriately treat this major issue. Prior to watching the videos, my thoughts were mental health system is broken. However, after watching the two videos it solidifies my thoughts that it is truly broken. Mental health has been a long standing major issue especially not only in our country but also in the state. Our country doesn't provide enough resources. They "try" their best but often the social stigma of "crazy" or "psycho" is what our elected officials like to cover up with a bandaid for short term. I feel like our country is really behind on this issue. For example, there has been several tragic mass murders that have resulted from untreated mental illness such as Sandy Hook (" Rampages shine harsh light on broken health system", n.d). I understand that the mental health system is complex however I feel that our nation needs to use taxpayers dollars more appropriately. Majority of the time, mental illness is something that often gets cut. But, if "cutting" this major problem out is eventually going to have a snowball effect and have a bigger mess on our hands than before. The social stigma of mental health is what is hurting our country. I understand that people were put into institutions against their will however President Kennedy helped alleviate this issue which helped one problem but didn't fix the entire issue. We often try to identify the problem before it occurs. According to an article by USA Today (2013), parents often are seeking help for their children but, they often are turned away, told their child isn't "sick enough" and get told that they have "lost control" of their child. The result is often a child taking their own life, someone else's life or institutionalized.

A final and major issue on mental health illness is there is no place to send people. According to the video, " the homeless mentally ill", the government released its reigns from St. Elizabeth's and is not being used to its full capacity. It is really disheartening to hear that this asylum is being used from a range of community based programs to high-priced condominiums. This is the reason why our system is broken. We don't use the resources we have appropriately. Today, there isn't enough facilities to help those in need in Minnesota. The facilities are Rochester, Hibbing, Duluth, or Willmar. Often many patients have to travel as far as Fargo to receive care (Baldus, 2017). I hope that eventually this major issue will be fixed but I think the country is far from it.

Beels Kpelo

7/7/21, 9:08 AM

Top of Form

Many signs of progress have been made since 1960 to correct principles that were deemed fundamentally flawed. There has been a significant departure from the way mental health patients were accommodated. In this country, most mental health institutions have relatively private rooms and access to the milieu to interact freely with their peers. They also have several phone booths within the milieu where clients can communicate to their families instead of what we had in the '60s. In addition, patients in those institutions currently have access to a newly formed department in each mental health facility called client rights advocate. This department handles complaints from clients and works on them to ensure their rights and privileges are honored and enforced to dignify the client and rid the workforce of stereotypes.

Currently, we have begun to see the integration of mental health services into primary health care and the erosion of stereotypes in discussing mental health issues. In contrast to the prevalent views in place before, now we have a concerted effort in the health care sector to address mental health issues without being shamed. The mental health system in the country now is not broken. However, there are still areas that need improvement, just like every human institution. Still, overall, we can say the system is on a path that will ensure continual improvement to the previous one.

 

Bottom of Form