Many believe that children are being over-diagnosed with a mental illness. Many children are being misdiagnosed because there is not enough testing done. The main mental illness that people believe is being overdiagnosed is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder otherwise known as ADHD. ADHD is when a child has a chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness. At Least 4.5 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD under the age of 18, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( True ADHD 1). Out of the 4.5 million children being diagnosed, studies show that 900,000 children are being misdiagnosed. In the United States, more boys are shown to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls (Insel 1). …show more content…
Supporters argue that there needs to be more research and clinical trials. The funding for mental health is decreasing as the years go on. More and more people are being misdiagnosed and not properly treated (National Debate 1). If the government were to increase the funding for mental health many people would benefit to it. Also many would argue that mental health treatment needs to be more affordable. Many people diagnosed with a mental illness are living in low-income areas and may not have insurance. Health insurance is expensive and many people with a mental illness can not afford it and not be treated. Laws have been passed on both the federal and state levels requiring insurance companies to cover more mental health costs in their plans. Many people will try and apply for Medicare; the federal government assisted health …show more content…
Studies show that children in lower-income areas are more likely to be misdiagnosed with a mental illness. Studies also show that children in low-income areas are more at risk to have a mental disorder due to the lack encouragement and trauma they may have dealt with. Many children in low-income areas are exposed to high rates of crime, violence, delinquency, substance use, abuse, and poverty. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), 21% of low-income children and youth ages 6 through 17 have mental health problems (NCCP, 1). In 2011-2012 school year almost 45% of children did not receive proper treatment for their mental illness. Children in low-income areas will go with treatment and being properly diagnosed. If a child is not properly diagnosed, and treated they will be set up for failure. Up to 80% of children in low income areas do not receive mental health treatment. Also, 85% of children in low-income areas in need of mental health services in the child welfare system do not receive them. Children in low-income areas are suffering due to lack of support, lack of funding, and lack of the ability to receive medical care. More children in low-income areas are being misdiagnosed then in any other
You don’t have to come from a poor family or be homeless to suffer from a mental illness. For instance, some very well-known people have suffered from the various disorders. This is to further illustrate, that not only poor people, or people from broken homes suffer from these mental disorders that the disorders don’t care about how much money you make or who your parents are. It also could care less about what race you are or what church you belong too. If you are young or old if you work on wall street or ride on the back of a garbage truck picking up the city’s trash. It can strike anyone so let’s take a look at a few of these people well known
Again, the children suffer the most. ADHD has dramatically risen in diagnoses, whether it is a
Mental Health Funding Mental health is a subject a lot of people prefer not to talk about, which is a main reason that it is so underfunded. The severe underfunding affects not only the people suffering from mental illness, but also the government, the economy, and society as a whole. It is in the government's best interest to put more funding into mental health due to the health consequences on patients, including weight issues, drastic effects on bodily functions, and difficulties in pregnancy. As well as this
Mental healthcare has a long and murky past in the United States. In the early 1900s, patients could live in institutions for many years. The treatments and conditions were, at times, inhumane. Legislation in the 1980s and 1990s created programs to protect this vulnerable population from abuse and discrimination. In the last 20 years, mental health advocacy groups and legislators have made gains in bringing attention to the disparity between physical and mental health programs. However, diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses continues to be less than optimal. Mental health disparities continue to exist in all areas of the world.
Samaan, R. A. (2000). The Influences of Race, Ethnicity, and Poverty on the Mental Health of Children. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 100-110.
If the United States had unlimited funds, the appropriate response to such a high number of mentally ill Americans should naturally be to provide universal coverage that doesn’t discriminate between healthcare and mental healthcare. The United States doesn’t have unlimited funds to provide universal healthcare at this point, but the country does have the ability to stop coverage discrimination. A quarter of the 15.7 million Americans who received mental health care listed themselves as the main payer for the services, according to one survey that looked at those services from 2005 to 2009. 3 Separate research from the same agency found 45 percent of those not receiving mental health care listing cost as a barrier.3 President Obama and the advisors who helped construct The Affordable Care Act recognized the problem that confronts the mentally ill. Mental healthcare had to be more affordable and different measures had to be taken to help patients recover. Although The Affordable Care Act doesn’t provide mentally ill patients will universal coverage, the act has made substantial changes to the options available to them.
The documentary, Shadow Voices: Finding hope in Mental Illness, was a great introduction to some of the stigmas and issues that patients with a mental illness and their families face. What impacted me the most was learning about the financial burden that mental illness places on families as well as the unfair judgement from the community that their family faces. The documentary addressed the financial burden that patients with mental illness incur as a result of health insurance companies lack of recognizing mental illness as true disease. Prior to watching the documentary I was unaware of the unending cycle that patients may fall into. During the film, an individual with a mental illness, said she was forced to quit her job so that she could receive adequate insurance coverage to cover her medical bills, but because of her unemployment she wasn’t able to cover her other living expenses.
Nine percent of children who are between the ages of five and seventeen are diagnosed with ADHD in the United States (CDC). About 3 million kids that are on ADHD medication are prescribed Ritalin or Adderall. Most people and psychologists see ADHD as a true disorder, then theres those who think the complete opposite. Are children being overmedicated and over diagnosed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?
“Insurance companies often cover mental illness in a more limited fashion than physical illness” (Christensen). The lack of mental health care provided for the mentally ill has been a growing issue in the US during the previous years, and there has been some progress. For example, there has been the Mental Health Care and Parity Law of 2008 that was enacted so that the insurers would cover mental illness just as they would cover other illnesses. In addition, the Affordable Care Act was enacted to enforce that the insurers abide by the rules. Unfortunately, that hasn’t helped much, hence: the sneaky behavior of insurance companies. This sneaky behavior seems to be unnoticed by the government the majority of the time unless the patient or his family decides to file a lawsuit. Until then, insurance companies have been constantly bending rules and finding loopholes to not pay insurance for mental illness.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders. ADHD is a broad term, and the condition can vary from person to person. There are an estimated 6.4 million diagnosed children in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The condition is also known as attention deficit disorder (ADD), though this is considered an outdated term. The American Psychiatric Association released the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) in May 2013. The DSM-5 changed the criteria necessary to diagnose someone with ADHD.
Most parents do not want their child to be labeled as “Special” or “ADHD”. Why? These labels are used as in relating to a disorder. While, some parents would self-blame themselves, as being bad parents. Researchers have been working on the causes and triggers of this disorder, yet they have not found a cure. The cause for ADHD has no connection to bad parenting, schools or medicinal drug use, or sale.
Most of the time there are many people out there who can afford to attain health insurance or have insurance but their insurance doesn't cover mental health. The poor are the one's who gets hit hard the most. The American Health Care Act doesn't want to expand anymore money towards mental health. Mental health treatment services need to be maintained but also expaned in order to keep the country's mental health needs. Melissa Warnke explains, "The House and Senate verisons of Trumpcare would both phase out funding for that expansion and cut Medicaid spending by almost a trillion dollars over a decade." (Warnke,1) By decreasing Americans access to treatment will just make them suffer even longer. Warnke says, "between 70% and 90% of individuals who have access to medication and/or counseling treatments for mental health issues see a significant reduction in symptoms." (2) If Trumpcare goes into effect, your only option are to be rich or maintain physical and mental health throughout your life. Treatment should not just be for the wealthy. This will just lead to suicide because there will be no help. Advocates for people with mental illnesses have urged the government
The NSDUH reports that individuals with a mental illness is more like to also have a chronic health condition and are more likely to use hospitalization and emergency room treatment (NSDUH, 2014). According to SAMSHA (n.d.), 50% of Medicaid enrollees have a diagnosable mental health condition. Individuals with a diagnosed mental health condition have health care cost that is 75% higher than those without a mental health diagnosis (SAMSHA, n.d.). For an individual with a co-occurring disorder the cast is nearly three times higher than what the average Medicaid
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder also known as ADHD, is one of the most common childhood psychological disorders and can continue through adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed in 6-7% of children. The rate of diagnosis is similar between countries. Although is it not known why boys are about three times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ADHD.
The effects of poverty can affect a parent’s mental health that can directly impact children. Mental health problems that parents in poverty face can be related to the stress of not having enough money to care for the children. Other mental health problems, like depression, can als...