Problems of Mental Illness and Treatment Chapter 3 Problems of Mental Illness and Treatment

Mental Illness as a Social Problem Many people with physical problems were classified as mentally ill until mid 20th C. Social institutions are under strain in dealing with the enormity of the problem The severely mentally ill who cannot take care of themselves The social impact of deinstitutionalization

Table 3-1: Ten Leading Causes of Role Impairment Days

Suicide and Mental Illness Suicide ranks Third as the cause of death for young people Second highest cause of death among college students Young males are three times more likely to commit suicide than women Mental illness is a major contributor of suicide

The Social Construction of Mental Illness Defining Mental Illness The Medical Model Mental Illness as Deviance Mental illness as problems with living Biological basis of mental illness Mentally ill are often treated as deviants Labeling someone mentally ill

Table 3-2: Categories of Psychological Disorders

Table 3-2: Categories of Psychological Disorders

Mental Disorders & Illnesses Classification of Mental Disorders Diagnosis or Label? Mental Illness Among Combatants in Afghanistan and Iraq Distinction between incidence and prevalence of mental disorders

Mental Disorders & Illnesses Social Class and Mental Disorder Mental Disorder and Urban Life Other factors Race Sex Age

Figure 3-1: The Vicious Cycle of Poverty and Mental Disorders

Institutional Problems of Treatment and Care Methods of Treatment Nonmedical Forms of Treatment Primary form of nonmedical treatment is talk therapy Psychotherapy Client-centered therapy Hypnosis

Figure 3-2: Needs of People with Mental Disorders

Figure 3-3: The Impact of Deinstitutionalization

Changes in Mental-Health Treatment and Care Lack of treatment Most patients with a mental disorder do not receive treatment A variety of institutions and approaches, all working together, are necessary

Treatment Institutions Mental Hospitals 19th & early 20th century mental care meant being committed to a mental hospital Erving Goffman Rosenhan study – placement of pseudopatients in mental hospitals The sane patients could not be distinguished from the insane patients by the hospital staff

Treatment Institutions Community Psychology Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963 (halfway houses) Community psychology movement Social conditions & institutions need to be taken into account in treating the mentally ill Psychologist and psychiatrists should play a role

Treatment Institutions Community Psychology Halfway houses are the mainstay of community based treatment Cost shifting and the subsidizing of mental health treatment Public vs. private forms of treatment

Treatment Institutions Deinstitutionalization is a function of: The discovery and use psychotropic drugs in treating mental illness Expansion of federal health and welfare programs Community based mental health approach

Deinstitutionalization and Homelessness Mentally ill among the homeless Thirty to sixty percent of the homeless are Thought to suffer from severe mental disorders

Social Policy A central theme of the politics of mental illness is parity Eliminating the discrimination inherent in insurance policies- physical & mental illnesses Policies of coordinating the efforts of treating the mentally ill Politics and patient rights