The Issue Essay Example

The Issue Essay Example The Issue Essay The Issue Essay Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Journal 1 The Issue Poverty is a major cause for mental and psychological imbalance. Many poor people in the world are more likely to be affected by mental and psychological diseases. Psychological and mental conditions can also be aggravated by the conditions in which poor people live in. Majority of the poor people suffering from mental diseases are exposed to harsh living and social conditions. Many of them can barely cater for their treatment expenses. Most poor people cannot access health care centers and in most cases are abandoned by their next of kin. Poverty allows mental health to thrive; it presents a perfect case for people to suffer from mental illnesses. Poor people are faced with many problems. They are always anxious of what tomorrow holds for them. They are always faced with the challenge of providing for their families even when there is nothing to offer. They live in constant fear of not succeeding in their quest for a desirable livelihood. Poverty is characterized with a daily strug gle to survive, and the mental implications that come with failure are adverse. All these factors create very favorable conditions for mental and psychological complications. Poverty and mental health therefore represent a vicious cycle that ravages through society’s poor leaving an indelible mark in the lives of its victims. Children from poor families are more unlikely to get a decent education and usually perform poorly compared to their counterparts from well off families. Poor people who are mentally ill also suffer from a variety of human rights violations. Most of them undergo both sexual and physical abuse and face many forms of discrimination. Creating a favorable and comfortable environment for poor people suffering from mental illnesses will improve their welfare. Interventions in this case will go a long way in eradicating poverty as well as ensuring that mental illness is kept at check. Governments therefore need to intervene in this area of public health to deal with poverty as a whole, and ensure mentally ill people gain access to treatment. Mental heath professionals must ensure that they treat cases of mental illnesses among the po or with the deserved importance. Research Question How can the government and mental health professionals intervene to ensure that cases of mental illness among the poor reduce? The issues affecting mental health patients require policy intervention. The government and stakeholders in public health must act to ensure that people who are poor and mentally ill receive assistance. It is the sole duty of the government to provide accessible and affordable healthcare to its citizens. The government also has a duty to ensure that citizens live in good conditions. Mental health professionals too are obliged by the nature of their profession to participate in any initiative that might improve the welfare of mental health patients. An improvement in the conditions of living of mentally ill patients will benefit not only the patients but also the mental health profession as a whole. The interaction between mental health and poverty represent a vicious cycle that in turn affects a country’s economy and its development as a whole. It als o means that these people are at an increased risk of becoming poorer. The government needs to intervene in order to stop this vicious cycle. The government must put in place policies that will address the issue of mental illness in poor households. Government policy must therefore address the twin issues of poverty and mental health. Access to mental health care should be made easy and poor people should be assisted in seeking specialized health care for their mental health problems. This is a critical issue in health, wellness and psychology. Poverty affects the wellness of a person while mental health touches on both health and psychology. This research links well with my concentrations and will help focus attention on the plight of poor mentally ill people. It shall easily assist in finding solutions to the problems they face. Annotation Lipman, Ellen L, and Michael H. Boyle. Linking Poverty and Mental Health: A Lifespan View. Ottawa, Ont: Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO, 2011. Internet resource. In their book, these authors examine the issues presented by my research question. Their book studies the relationship between poverty and the psycho-mental health of youth. In this book Lipman et al, suggest that the mental effects that poverty has on the youth can sometimes extend even to adulthood. They argue that there is a strong relationship between poverty and mental problems among the youth and that compared to youth from well off families, they are most likely to develop mental problems. They say that mental health is not only affected by household poverty but also communal poverty. They add that mental health is affected by several factors that include familial conflicts, the mental health of the parents and social distress. Davis, Ann, and Phil Hill. Poverty, Social Exclusion and Mental Health in the Uk 1978-2000: A Resource Pack. London: Mental Health Foundation, 2001. Print. In their book, Ann and Hill clearly illustrate the existing relationship between poverty and mental health. They argue that, for policies that address these needs to be formulated, there is a need for the policy makers to understand the underlying effects of poverty on mental health. They propose a system that will grant the poor and mentally ill benefits that will enable them seek appropriate treatment. They also propose that governments must also address the needs of the poor and establish agendas for communities ravaged by poverty. They call for the establishment of poverty awareness education in the instruction of mental health professionals so that they may respond to such issues with the urgency and importance required. Davis, Ann, and Phil Hill. Poverty, Social Exclusion and Mental Health in the Uk 1978-2000: A Resource Pack. London: Mental Health Foundation, 2001. Print. Lipman, Ellen L, and Michael H. Boyle. Linking Poverty and Mental Health: A Lifespan View. Ottawa, Ont: Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO, 2011. Web. 28 January 2013.