Great question, let's take a look at the history of mental health in our country, the different types of mental health conditions, the problems, and solutions. This way you might understand why some people may need emotional support animals like you, Burly!

Ileana, why do people need emotional support animals? Is the mental health care system in the U.S. good?

Vocabulary to Know:

Mental Illness: This is the disorder of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

Anxiety: This is the fear/ anticipation of further danger or problems that is accompanied with an intense unpleasant feeling that can include physical symptoms.

Depression: A type of mood disorder that is characterized by a low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in most or all activities over a period of time.

Let's start by learning about the history of mental health.

Let's do it!

- Mental Health America was first discovered by Clifford Beers in 1909

- In earlier times many people believed mental illness was a form of punishment or demonic possession. 

- The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill was founded in 1979, and this was supposed to educate, support, and provide research services for people with serious psychiatric illnesses (Ibid, 2012).

- Many of the early treatments for mental illnesses were based as a way to fix societies perception of those illnesses instead of actually helping. 

History Of Mental Health

- Dorothea Dix advocated for medical technology that allowed us to view the actual psychological evidence behind mental illness. 

- Unfortunately when patients were experiencing symptoms of mental illnesses, they were considered shameful, and dramatic. This stigma remained common until the early 2000s (Baton Rouge Behavioral Hospital, 2022.)

- Once the 20th century came around we finally acknowledged that mental illnesses are real, and common. Doctors then started to treat these conditions.

History of Mental Health

Mental health in our country has come a long way. Once we were able to acknowledge mental health, we were able to go into the specific conditions. 

What are the different  mental health conditions we know about today?

Millions of people in America suffer from some sort of mental illness. Mental illnesses come about because of life experiences, genetics, family history of mental health issues, or brain chemistry (Community Health Network, 2022). Mental illnesses can affect anyone, no matter what race or gender. There are five specific mental illnesses that are more common in America today, but there's over two-hundred different types of mental illnesses that we know about. The five that are more common include mood disorders, dementias, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and psychotic disorders ( Mental Health Association in Forsyth County, 2022). Out of all the different types of mental illnesses, the one that most people suffer from in our country is anxiety/ depressive disorders (Pasadena Villa, 2022).

Different Types of Mental Health Conditions

Let's go over anxiety and how this disorder works. This disorder makes it more difficult for you to go about your day without overthinking situations. Symptoms of anxiety include fear, panic, nervousness, sweating, and rapid heartbeat (Cleveland Clinic, 2022). Anxiety has a major impact on your mental health, and can even affect your physical health, depending on the severity of it. Everyone gets nervous at times, this is normal and not considered anxiety. It's considered anxiety when. it hinders your ability to function, or significantly changes your response and emotions to certain situations. Thankfully there are some treatments to effectively control anxiety. There are multiple different forms of anxiety so it's important that each individual suffering gets a tailored treatment plan that will work for them. Anti-anxiety medications can help for a short term, but it's possible to build a tolerance to them. Psychotherapy, beta-blockers, and antidepressants are other options for treatment. 

Different Types of Mental Health Conditions

Now that we've discussed anxiety, let's go over depression. This disorder is more than just being sad, or having a bad week, instead it is much more difficult to snap out of. Similar to anxiety this mental illness affects your daily activities, and changes the way you behave, and think. Depression may make you feel like life isn't worth living, resulting in suicide. Symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness or hopelessness, loss of interest in doing normal activities, lack of energy, weight loss or weight gain, and unexplained physical problems (Mayo Clinic, 2022). Treatment for depression includes medications, electroconvulsive therapy, psychotherapy, and lifestyle changes (Smitha Bhandari, 2022).

Different Types of Mental Health Conditions

Learning about the most common mental illness in our country helps me better understand the severity of it, and how I can help!

I sure can, let's take a look at some of today's major issues.

Ileana, can you tell me about the problems with our mental health system today?

Problems with the U.S. Mental Healthcare System

Mental illness is a huge issue in our country, in fact one in five Americans ages 18 or older have some sort of mental illness (Adracare Team, 2021). About 800,000 people commit suicide every year, this unfortunately means that as of 2021, 1 person every 40 seconds is taking their own life due to mental issues. Approximately 47,646 of those suicides are in the U.S (CDC, 2021). In America we don't easily have access to health care professionals that can help treat these illnesses. If we were able to properly address and treat these conditions we would be able to reduce the high rates of substance abuse, physical  health problems, suicide rates, and family conflict in our country. 

Problems with the U.S. Mental Healthcare System

The top issues are lack of support, lack of funding, no minimum standards, and several other disparities that play their role in the problem. Psychologists and other mental health professionals who are there to help us also struggle with issues such as depression, substance abuse, and anxiety. Although they're trained to help others with these issues, they do a poor job at monitoring their own health as well (Psychology today, 2021). These professionals don't always receive the help they need due to the lack of access to help, and stigma which hinders their ability to help the general population. In several parts of the country, specifically rural counties, mental health resources are severely  lacking professionals such as psychologists, social workers, or a practicing psychiatrist. 

Problems with the U.S. Mental Healthcare System

Mental Health patients in our country also face cultural barriers that limit access to resources, and healthcare. Limited insurance access to those who can't afford it are preventing many patients who suffer from mental illness to visiting a mental healthcare professional (Sara Health, 2019). There is also a shortage in mental health professionals and in America we would need a little over 7,000 clinicians to fill the provider shortage as of 2019. Social stigma is also an issue on our country. Often people worry about what others will think of them, or it's not believable in their culture. This causes it to be more difficult to spread awareness about this issue.