Despite its exposure through media, mental illness still remains misunderstood. Several people believe it is not an important issue. Should mental illness be taken as seriously as physical illness? Yes, mental illness should be as concerning as a physical illness because the mentally ill can harm themselves or others, affected employees could have a decline in productivity as a result, and loved ones and their families are negatively impacted by mental illness. In complex and severe cases, people with mental illness can harm themselves or others. In recent news, the shooter in the Parkland shooting, Nikolas Cruz, was evaluated for mental illness. According to the 2016 Florida Department of Children and Families report, Cruz struggled with depression, ADHD, and autism. Employees affected by mental illness could produce poorer quality of work and have declining productivity. 18% of the employed reported experiencing symptoms of a mental health disorder in the previous month, according to the results from the U.S. National Comorbidity survey; however, employees are often reluctant to seek treatment for symptoms out of fear of jeopardizing their job (health.harvard.edu). Employees that remain untreated could continue to reduce productivity in the workplace. It is …show more content…
Mental illness can eventually result in physical complications. For instance, anxiety sufferers can have accompanying rapid heartbeat, chest pain, upset digestive system, lowered immune system, sleep problems, and fatigue (Healthline). Eating disorders pose a threat too. People with eating disorders may binge and purge or may not eat. Patients may have a low heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to heart failure. Purging or vomiting depletes the body of important chemicals, wears down the esophagus, and reduce teeth enamel, which promotes tooth decay
Mental illness plagues one out of four American citizens. Mental illness varies greatly from person to person. The spectrum of mental illness includes many illnesses including, depression and anxiety as well as some more serious illnesses such as Down syndrome. All mental illness plays a role in how this person is going to function in society. These individuals have unique needs and individual strengths that need evaluated for proper care.
Since it has become more understood better treatment plans have been created. There a various therapies and medications that can help manage mental health. However, there is an estimated 50 million people in America that has a mental disorder(s) and sadly only about 10 million will receive mental healthcare. Why is this? This happens simply because mental illness does not care who you are and how much money you do or do not have in the bank. Mental illnesses can effect anyone and it can be anyone of the numerous different psychological disorders. When mental illness effects a person it disrupts their whole life, this would include their daily living as well as effecting how preform at work. Take for instance, if they work a production job it can cause them not to make production. If they cannot function well enough to work at their required performance, then this could and probably would lead into them being fired from their job. Without a job they would not only lose their income but they would also have say bye-bye to their insurance plan as well. This would leave them without and mental healthcare. Did you know that if 50% of those with schizophrenia, 25% of those with anxiety disorders, 33% of those with depression are currently receiving successful treatment and the likely success rate will be around 80 to 90%? A number of people with
Those who push themselves to speak out and seek help end up feeling worse than before due to discrimination in the workplace, as the average per person cost of lost employment due to schizophrenia and related illnesses for those ages 45-64 is £19,078, while costs for those aged 15-44 were just under £30,000. Because of something out of their control, their entire lifestyle has to be sacrificed in order to try and get the help they need. This also influences other individuals in similar situations to keep quiet about their illness to prevent losing their job or becoming a victim to discrimination and bullying in the workplace. It is bad enough for adults to go through this but what about
In final analysis, mental illness is not being taken as seriously as an disease or a
According to chapter twelve in “Work Accommodation and Retention in Mental Health” employers have an economic and a social interest in the mental health condition of their workers. There is recognition that the workplace environment can either help or hurt the productivity of long term employment which is why there has been a shift from a medical to social model of workplace health. As stated by Perez and Wilkerson “Fifty percent of those who miss work because of mental or emotional problems will take either 13 or more days off, or will never return to their jobs” (as cited in Work, 2010, pg. 295). Large multinational corporations like Johnson and Johnson have adopted ideas of keeping the workplace healthy with an understanding of the
To eliminate the partial representation of mental illnesses, television media needs to focus on all sides of this illness. The media needs to show that attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a legitimate disorder with effective treatments.
Many people believe that mental illness affects certain ages, religions, races, genders, or income levels more than others do but that is not the case ("NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness | Mental Illnesses"). There are many forms of mental illnesses that affect people, such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and borderline personality disorder. These illnesses come from a variety of different factors and conclude in ...
The discussion of mental health is slowly being brought to the social surface to create a more inclusive society for those dealing with a mental illness. However, those with a mental illness are continuously being affected by stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination by those who simply don’t comprehend the complexity of the human brain (Glaser, G.2017). As more people become mental health activist, they are exposing the plethora of issues surrounding the overall mental and physical stability of those who are negatively affected by the social construct of what it means to be normal.
There are so many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of the ones that would cause people to have physical symptoms as well, but that’s untrue, there are many more that you would never know anyone has if you were to see them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s ability or behavior. Symptoms of a mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a decreased ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that damage the person’s ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by a mental illness. In the United States alone about 3% of the population has severe mental illness and to add to that number about 40% of people will experience a type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illnesses can go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is so much more available to help people recover from their symptoms than in the past.
Corrigan argues that clinical diagnosis might exacerbate the stigma of mental illness. In Corrigan’s study clinical diagnosis adds groupness for the collection of people with mental illness which worsens the level of prejudice (Corrigan 34). Corrigan states that this ultimately leads to overgeneralization, as there is an assumption that all individuals diagnosed with the same mental disorders behave the same way (Corrigan 34). According to Corrigan the stereotypic description of mental illness perceives to the public that, people with diagnosis are not likely to recover from those disorders, which can lead to pessimistic attitudes from the public (Corrigan 35). Corrigan suggests that one of the solutions is to understand the diagnosis dimensionally rather than the traditional categorical diagnosis (Corrigan 36). Another solution Corrigan suggests is for the mental health providers to have individual contact with people who are recovered from mental disorders as they are living a life that challenges the stigma (Corrigan 36). The final solution Corrigan suggests is to replace assumptions of “poor prognosis with models of recovery” (Corrigan 37). Corrigan mainly focuses on the stigma of mental illness in independent living and work settings. One might wonder how the stigma of mental illness can influence in university settings, where the average age of people influenced is younger than people in work settings. Universities must use variations of education and contact in their initiatives in order to effectively reduce the stigma of mental illness.
Having an illness can have an affect on an individual either physically or mentally. Anyone can be a victim of a mental illness such as, children 's, adults and senior citizens, it is not rare. There are hundreds of different types of mental illnesses and with more to be discovered in the near future. Struggling to accomplish a certain assignment or not being able to speak properly, can all be signs of someone who is suffering from a mental illness. Major depression, autism, anxiety and Schizophrenia, are just some disorders that can affect an individual’s state of mind, and over time if not not cured, it could become highly dangerous, but medications and therapy play a key role in controlling it. For some individuals enjoying life becomes
Why is there a cloud of judgment and misunderstanding still surrounding the subject? People with a mental disorder or with a history of mental health issues are continually ostracized by society. This results in it being more difficult than it already is for the mentally ill to admit their symptoms to others and to seek treatment. To towards understanding mental illness is to finally lift the stigma, and to finally let sufferers feel safe and accepted within today’s society. There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed.
Mental disorders are rapidly becoming more common with each new generation born in the world. Currently, nearly one in two people suffer from some form of depression, anxiety, or other mental health problem at some point in their lives (Editor). With so many people suffering from their mental illnesses, steps have been taken in order to get help needed for these people but progress has been slow. In the medical world, hospitals are treating those with physical problems with more care than those with mental problems. Prescription drugs can only do so much helping the mentally ill go through their daily lives and more should be done to help those who need more than medicine to cope with their illness. Mental health should be considered just as important as physical health because of how advanced physical healing is, how the public reacts to those with mental illness, and due to the consequences that could happen if the illness is not correctly helped.
Increasingly, good mental health in the workplace is an issue being raised. Job stresses are being recognized as affecting work performance and also an individual’s over-all well-being. There is a lot of information available about how to promote good mental health in the workplace but perhaps insufficient initiatives actually being used. Providing employees with information promoting good mental health alerts them to the problems but may not achieve the solutions. Within the larger society good physical health is overwhelmingly accepted as the first step to good mental health. Can mental health issues in the workplace be addressed in the same way, by
Mass media “references to people with mental health problems found more than four in ten articles in the press used derogatory terms about mental health and nearly half of press coverage related mental illness to violence and crime” (Esseler, 244). This is causing for people to look down upon the mention of mental illnesses and many times ignore the importance of confronting this issue. Therefore the importance of removing this stigmatization is crucial. Education allows to make more informed decisions and then changing the perception of mental illness can lead towards policy changes toward the improvement of mental health (Sakellari,