Chronically Mentally Ill
BSHS/302
May 7, 2012
Paula Krasselt

Chronically Mentally Ill
When discussing the Vulnerable Population, there are numerous sectors of people that would fall into this category. People who are homeless, victims of violence, struggling with substance abuse as well as children and youth, are all sectors identified with a vulnerable population. In this paper, I will be focusing on the individuals who are chronically (persistent) mentally ill. When dealing with any sort of vulnerable population it is important to consider that many of them will have co-occurring disorders. For example, many people who are substance abusers will often have an undiagnosed mental health issue that they may be self medicating for, or even a diagnosed disorder but have no insurance or way of getting the help him or her may need.
The history of Mental illness is hard to believe. Many people went through enormous misery coping with the illness, especially with the public beliefs towards the mentally ill population. People with mental illness were seen as possessed by demons or animal- like. Because of this, the mentally ill were treated horrifically. The mentally ill were often treated similar to what was seen in the movies. Humans were tied down or put into strait jackets, beaten and tortured in an attempt to try and release the demons that possessed him or her. “In 1900, Clifford Beers, a Yale graduate and young businessman, suffered an acute breakdown brought on by the illness and death of his brother. Shortly after a suicide attempt, Beers was hospitalized in a private Connecticut mental institution. At the mercy of untrained, incompetent attendants, he was subject to degrading treatment and mental and physical abuses (Mental Health America, 2012). Because of what Beers went through, he decided to help make a better America. His struggles “sparked a fearless determination to reform care for individuals with mental illnesses in the United States and abroad” (Mental Health America, 2012). Beers wrote a book on the struggles he endured while suffering in the institution. The book had a huge impact on mental health beliefs and paved the way for the mental health reform. “The actualization of the movement began that same year when Beers founded the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene” (Mental Health America, 2012). Three organizations joined together to form what is known as the National Association of Mental Health (NAMH) on September 13, 1950. Through the years, NAMH has been fighting for people with disabilities. In 1990, NAMH helped pilot the Americans with disability act. The ADA’s definition is as follows, it “protects mentally and physically disabled Americans from discrimination in such areas as employment, public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, and state and local government services” (Mental Health America, 2012). The way people treat mental health has greatly progressed in the many years. Currently, insurance companies are forced to include mental health as a medical disorder because of the “Mental Health Parity Act of 1996” (Mental Health America, 2012). Mental health will continue to progress as people keep fighting for the rights of people with disabilities.
When it comes to people with mental illnesses they face many social problems. One major problem that him or her may face, if dealing with a mental illness, is the social stigma. Many people have a negative attitude towards people with a mental illness. Some believe that when someone with a mental illness goes off their medication they will go into a psychotic break and those are the people who kill other people. Society does not help this issue; they also portray people with mental illness as being dangerous. Because of the social stigma, many people with a mental illness will not seek help. The number of mental health diagnosis has increased dramatically in the United States. Mental illness has a wide range, from mild to severe. There are everyday experiences that humans face and we are able to cope with the situation. Alternately, many people with a mental illness do not have the skills to manage certain situations. Dealing with a problem can be hard because sometimes someone with a mental illness does not know how to solve the problem or situation. Mental health problems affect the way you think, feel and behave (Mental Health Foundation, 2012). Some of the milder mental illness are anxiety and depression, but can also be serous if not treated. “Anxiety and depression are the most common problems, with around 1 in 10 people affected at any one time. Anxiety and depression can be severe and long-lasting and have a big impact on people’s ability to get on with life” (Mental Health Foundation, 2012). Some more severe mental illnesses are illnesses such as Bi-polar and schizophrenia “between one and two in every 100 people experience a severe mental illness, and have periods when they lose touch with reality. People affected with the disorder may hear voices, see things no one else sees, hold unusual or irrational beliefs, feel unrealistically powerful, or read particular meanings into everyday events (Mental Health Foundation, 2012). The stigma that people with mental illnesses are inherently dangerous is incorrect. It is quite the opposite. Most people with mental illness are not dangerous at all. Usually, the only person that someone with a mental illness is dangerous to is themselves.
When dealing with a mental illness there are many ways of help and intervention strategies. Some of the different kinds of intervention strategies that can be useful for someone with a mental illness are; individual psychotherapy, psycho education, self help and support groups, interpersonal therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Individual Psychotherapy is individual sessions between client and a mental health professional. The main goal is to help the client understand why they may be having the feelings he or she is having. One example is Talk Therapy. This therapy is when the client talks about the current or past problems. This kind of therapy may help the client understand themselves and their problems better. Psycho Education is another therapy used, it educates the client on their illness, helping them treat it, and teaching them how to recognize the signs of relapse. This therapy also may help the family of the person with the mental illness with coping strategies. Self help and support groups are also utilized for people with mental illness. Self help and support groups do not usually involve a professional, but can. This kind of therapy can be helpful because the person suffering the mental illness can see that he or she is not alone, which is a big problem with people suffering mental illness and is why a lot of people do not get treated. Interpersonal therapy is about the client and the relationships he or she has. It helps the client focus on if he or she is self-isolated, having trouble relating to other or getting along with others. Cognitive Behavior Therapy is one of the more popular therapy heard, it focuses on changing inappropriate or negative thoughts and replacing them with positive thoughts. Exposure Therapy is exposing the client to whatever he or she fears in a controlled environment. They are then taught the techniques to overcome that obstacle. Dialectical Behavior Therapy improves destructive behaviors, improves motivation to change, ensures that new capabilities generalize to the natural environment, provides a treatment environment that emphasized what consumers and therapist are best at, when working together, enhances the therapist’s motivation and ability to treat consumer’s effectively (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2001).
Mental illness is a serious problem that can be treated through therapy and medication. The social stigma that comes with mental illness is appalling, but through history people have gotten better at accepting illnesses. People are mostly afraid of what they don’t know and the only way for them to get better is for the mental health professional to keep educating the public.

References
Mental Health America. (2012). History of the Organization and the Movement. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net
Mental Health Foundation. (2012). What are Mental Health Problems. Retrieved from http://www.mentalhealth.org
National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2001, April). Psychosocial Treatment. Retrieved from http://www.nami.org