The Need for Better Mental Health Care

IntroductionMany individuals who woke up this morning regarded that they should become neer done so at all(a). There argon those who ar about to go to bed praying that they release for non have any more tomorrows to face. While some who ar at work, sitting through their classes at school, or fixing their childrens lunches are wondering what have become of their lives and what more potential does the bleak future offer.In fact, there are those whose family and friends are mourning already, never quite understanding wherefore an apparently healthy human being would end his own life. One common thread get in touchs all these people and events psychical depression. This paper looks at the need for more mental health care serve in order to better help people suffering from this condition and thus provide swear for them and for their families.Gravity of Mental IllnessFew individuals realize the gravity of a mental illness such as depression in an early(a) humans life. For s ome, the state of being down in the mouth is a choice, and a soulfulness cannister easily snap out of it if only they would think positively and cut all the drama. Mental illnesses barely like depression, is a aesculapian condition, an actual disease of the mind that is not easily fixed with simple will power.People sick with flu or colds are not asked to cure themselves, hence, why should depressed individuals return their sufferings alone and without any care? It is a relief, nonetheless, that depression is not anymore new. Millions of individuals have it and millions are to a fault seeking the necessary treatment and medication to get on with their lives. However, recognizing and acknowledging the enigma, as opposed to ignoring it, is the first shade towards recovery.From the early philosophers, scholars and scientists perspectives, depression is a mystery caused by unknown powers in the universe. Based from early accounts, depressed or melancholic people demonstrate biz arre behavior, in which nobody could pinpoint the reason behind. Symptoms stretch from extreme sadness and lack of zeal in life to drastic mood changes. With the gradual germinateing of modern scientific processes and correspondence among experts, specialists were able to define depression, identified its symptoms, and tried to discover its causes and remedies.Mental Health FacilitiesTraditional psychiatric hospitals and private psychiatrists and psychologists have been unable to meet the growing need for mental health services. The trend has been to develop local mental health clinics that offer the services of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, family therapists and others.Emergency help is rendered to persons with acute mental disorders as well as to persons with chronic emotional problems. Short-term counselling and psychotherapy are ordinarily provided. Programs are planned to deal with problems involving school, family, marriage partners, dru g and alcohol abuse, and adolescence. Night clinics and suicide prevention centers are often schematic if a need exists. A person in need of immediate aid is frequently helped by phone hotline services, manned by counsellings and others, such as trained volunteers.Many non-traditional facilities have been established to meet the needs of local area. An example of such a facility is a psychiatric twenty-four hourslight care center which was developed in a sparsely populated rural area in Michigan. Lacking funds to support a traditional psychiatric day care center, a psychiatric nursing consultant sought lay volunteers and used facilities in a community church to assemble up a class.This program was designed to maintain and support persons referred by the local hospital psychiatric service and the community mental health center out patient service. The nurse spent two hours one day a week as a group therapist. She also acted as a consultant to the volunteers. The program succes sfully met its objectives. It has grown from one group and one volunteer to tercet groups and thirty volunteers.Person-Centered TherapyPerson-centered therapy is differentiated from other forms of therapy because of its focus on the importance of the therapeutic relationship for effective therapy (Josefowitz & Myran 2005). The person-centered approach was founded by acclaimed American counselor and psychotherapist, Carl Rogers (Kirschenbaum 2004). Early during his career, Rogers witnessed how stubborn a client could become and all together reject therapy even if it is for his betterment.He hence saw that patients could resist even the most skilful therapist intervention if such intervention is against his wish or purpose. Rogers realized the loopholes in the popular practices of his times for failing to incite effective client participation. He pondered on a new approach based on his understanding that it is the client who knows what hurts, what oversights to go, what problems ar e crucial, what experiences have been deeply buried.Rogers was the first to employ the non-directive approach. It was a unique method where the counselor does not question, interpret, advice, suggest or offer any directive remarks on the patient, he only listens. The therapist carefully reflect the patients thoughts back to him, with the idea of helping him realize his issues and then decide on his own the direction of his self-actualization.It was this non-directive method that applied the initiative that persons going into psychotherapies are not helpless individuals at the mere leniency of their psychotherapists designs. Clients can wilfully determine how their treatment should go because they are responsible clients who knows what aspects of their lives and personality need to be treated. His method has such respect for its patients that it assumes the key to a persons self-actualization lies on the person and not on external influences (therapists or counselors). One of Rogers important ideas that still have its impact straight off and is crucial to the personal approach is that a counselors attitude is as important as his techniques (Kirschenbaum 2004)Depression as a Mental Health IssueDepression is one of the most prevalent mental health medical cases in the United States today with about 18 million Americans or 9.5 percent of the population affected. The problem of depression is not to be taken lightly, nor set aside as sheer caprice of a problematic person. Medical institutions including the United States National Institute of Mental Health declare it as a serious real illness, not just because of its prevalence, but also because of its effect on the lives of the afflicted individuals. Monetary expenses is a give fact when seeking treatment for depression, yet the heavier costs are those that c oncerns the pains of the individuals, the drudgery they have to face everyday, and the corresponding effect of the situation to their friends and loved ones .Depression has already been discover since the ancient times, even during the prehistoric times. Real efforts to comprehend depression were only apparently undertaken during the time of the Hellenistic Greeks. Later part of history revealed that the growth of psychiatric or psychological science was hampered due to orderlinesss closed mindedness and lack of concern for the mentally ill. Nevertheless, with the sporadic studies now and then, it was discovered that depression was once called melancholia and scientists made quite commendable documentation of the symptoms they observed among melancholic persons (Hollon, 2002).The causes of depression are often summarized into the three classifications of neurobiology, ingredienttics and environment. Neurobiological factors pertain to the abnormalities in neurotransmitters and hormones that affect mood, manner of handling stress, and perspective of traumatic situations. Genetics, as the name implies, refers to the inheritance of pote ntial depression-causing gene traits within the family.There is no solid proof of the existence of this gene so far, although there are relevant studies made to suggest that genetics may indeed consort a role. Besides the number of cases of within-family depression speaks for itself. The last factor, triggers environmental depression brought about by emotionally taxing events that are not easily forgotten or set aside, so that it comes to haunt the person and affect his normal life. Depression may also be learned when the thought of powerlessness is so internalised. The person feels depressed with that thought that whatever actions will not merit any change or improvement.ConclusionHealth Plans generally fall into three categories based on how they are organized to deliver/pay for care. HMOs (Health guardianship Organizations) deliver services through provider networks and may use a members base care provider as a gatekeeper to more specialized services. PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations) generally allow access to any provider, with some cost savings to a member for using providers in the network. subvention plans are traditional insurance products with defined cash payments, and no network limitations.At present, prevalent types of Health Plans are HMOs and PPOs (Health Plan). Effective policy and decision-making cannot be made in a vacuum, and is committed to providing the most comprehensive info possible. Taking that into consideration, public Health Plan performance must be well studied and its selective information analyzed. The HMO as well as other health care delivery systems must unite in order to address this issue since they are all important and adequate means of health care for many consumers with mental health problems.REFERENCESBeck. A. (1967). Depression. Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania Grnblatt, E. (2006, November 3). Depression New depression seek has been reported by scientists at Ludwig Boltzmann Institute. Genomics & Gen etics Weekly. Retrieved Feb. 8, 2007 http//proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1151092561&Fmt=3&clientId=11123&RQT=309&VName=PQDHollon, D.S., Thase, M.E. & Markowitz, J.C. (2002, November). Treatment and Prevention of Depression. Psychological Science, 3, 39. Retrieved Feb. 8, 2007 at http//proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=233500451&sid=5&Fmt=2&cli entId=11123&RQT=309&VName=PQD