Mental Health Issues In Society

Mental illness and substance abuse disorder are now considered a major problem in society due to the stigmatization evinced with the mentally ill and the issues surrounding the health and criminal perspective as a vast percentage of people with mental and substance abuse disorder will eventually be in contact with the police, or they have been previously incarcerated.
According to the World Health Organization (2001), 25% of people in the world will suffer from a mental disorder at some point in their lives, and approximately 450 million people currently suffer from mental health. In Canada alone back in 2002, roughly 2.6 million individuals, or 10% of the overall population, reported symptoms consistent with mental health disorders (Statistics Canada, 2003). In 2012, in the Canadian criminal justice system, approximately one in five contacts with the police involved someone with a mental or substance abuse disorder (Boyce, Rotenberg & Karam, 2012). In many instances, people suffering from mental health and substance abuse disorders face discrimination and stigmatization from fellow citizens, health practitioners, social workers, and sometimes, even with police officers. Society itself, also suffers financially from mental illness, as it costs about $51 billion per year. The cost "includes health care costs, lost productivity, and reductions in …show more content…
Coleman, D. Cotton, 2010, p.4), mental health professionals should engage more and help the criminal justice system in such cases, and also in educating the public. Mental health and criminality is a huge societal problem as it affects every part of the society; the public, the criminal justice system, medical and health system, schools, workplaces, and