Mental Health Research Paper

Introduction to the Problem The history of mental illness comes from a misinformed part of humanity and is representative of the trends and attitudes towards mental health today. In the Middle Ages, the mentally ill were considered possessed by demons and treatments were mostly rooted in superstition and religion. The problem was considered moral and there was a severe negative attitude surrounding mental illness until the 1800’s, when large psychiatric state hospitals started providing healthy and safer living conditions for mentally ill patients.
However, in the mid 1960’s, new laws in Congress started a deinstitutionalization of these hospitals across the United States in an effort to promote better treatments through community care programs. This has amplified the problem, leading to fewer places to house mentally ill people. Over the years this has led to a higher percentage of mentally ill people that are homeless. Also, there is a strong connection between the homeless population and substance abuse disorders. Although the United States takes a moderately progressive approach to mental illness, its stigmatization and discrimination …show more content…
Starting with mental illness, it is defined as a wide range of mental health conditions or disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder. In the United States one in four people have anxiety disorders while 20 percent have a serious mental illness (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Statistics [SAMHSA], 1998, p. 116). Psychiatric hospitals are hospitals that specialize in the treatment of serious mental