SW and Mental Health EB policy and practice, Mignon, S. 2020 Flashcards
Social work in the mental health system
The concept of mental illness suggests many different and disturbing images and stereotypes
media depictions often attribute crimes of violence to those persons whose behavior is out of control due to a raging mental illness.
however mental illness is often a private kind of suffering for individuals and their families
mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being
it affects how we think feel and act
it also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices
mental health is important at every stage of life from childhood and Adolescence through adulthood
factors that contribute to mental illness include biological factors such as genetics, brain chemistry and maybe related to the family history of mental health problems, also life experiences such as childhood abuse and Trauma are also associated with mental health problems
stress
mental disorders, like mental health impact a person’s thoughts, feelings, moods, and behaviors.
for persons with mental illness, their disorders are chronic lasting their entire lifetime
other individuals may function well most of the time, yet have periodic episodes of mental illness that are challenged for them and others
in reality mental health cannot be separated from physical health and mental disorders are underestimated due to failure to appreciate the connection between other health conditions and mental illness
globally MH
the World Health Organization estimates that approximately 300 million people worldwide suffer from depression while 60 million people worldwide with bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia is estimated to affect 23 million people
it is very difficult to determine the number of people across the globe who live with constant stress as well as the Myriad health conditions that negatively impact Mental Health
MH varies by state
It is very difficult to generalize about mental health care because access to Services varies widely by state,
research from 2018 stated that the states with the lowest rates of access to mental health care and the highest rates of incarceration are among the poorest: Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi
states with the highest rates of access to care found in Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, and Minnesota
lack of health insurance can directly limit access to mental health care
what is MH?
mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being
it affects how we think feel and act
it also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices
mental health is important at every stage of life from childhood and Adolescence through adulthood
factors that contribute to mental illness include biological factors such as genetics, brain chemistry and maybe related to the family history of mental health problems, also life experiences such as childhood abuse and Trauma are also associated with mental health problems
Self-stigma
Self-stigma is defined as the mentally ill taking on the stigmatizied attitudes toward themselves
An individual’s choice to disclose mental illness can be empowering and inspiring or, alternatively, negatively and self-deprecating, and depending on the circumstances
types of insurance
Private pay insurance
Government insurance - for the most need
Public system - is funded by payroll taxes
Hybrid model - paid through payroll taxes (so govt pays your bills), and still owned by a company (ex: germany and sweden)
Social workers in mh system
Social workers are the largest group of professional providers of mental health services in the U.S.
Typically, social workers are not perceived to be those implement mental health policy
To change this perception they must strive to develop and expand their expertise and power in the arena of mental health policy
SWs can also support their clients by participating in formal policy developments
A short history of MH policy and treatment in the U.S.
MH policy and tx were formulated in ways that reflected historical events, the development of fields such as psychiatry and social work, and political and financial realities and incentives
MH tx has primarily been within the purview of state and local governments with little national attention or support (which means the mentally ill do not necessarily get the services they need, as tx decisions are not necessarily made by clinicians but rather by politicians and bureaucrats
1770s mh
In 1773, the first person was admitted to the public hospital for persons of insane and disordered minds in WIlliamsburg, VA.
Asylums grew and experiencing overcrowded condition in the 1850s
Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the dec of inde, was the first to advocate for moral treatment of the mentally ill and brought these ideas to the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia
Dorthea Dia (1802- 1887), a strong opponent of the cruel treatment of patients in asylums, such as caging patients and painful use of restraints, helped develop the state funded mental hospital to care for the mentally ill
Mental asylums and hospitals were complex organizations that cared for a varied of patients who were “inadvertently thrust upon them by a society seeking solutions to novel problems which grew in part out of rapid social and economic change.”
1850s mh
The 1850s to 1860s brought the decline of moral treatment and the additional growth of large custodial institutions
The mid 1880s saw the development of biological psychiatry-the view that abnormalities in the brain are responsible for the development of mental illness ideas first developed by Wilhelm Griesinger in Germany
Some believed that the the main cause of mental illness was religious excitement” stemming from an individuals experience of overpowering religious emotions
Toward the end of the 19th century, asylums became increasingly known as “state hospitals.”
early 1900s
At the beginning of the 1900s, both psychiatry and social work were seeking professional identities and respect for their expertise and were slowly coming to work together
At this time another important effort began to reform treatment of the mentally ill, known as the mental hygiene movement.
Clifford Whittingham Beers published a book titled The Mind That Found Itself: An Autobiography, it was a firsthand account of psychiatric hospitalization revealed the physical abuse and appalling conditions he and others experienced, his work led to reform
Shell shock - became a defined term, due to the return of World War I (1914- 1918) soldiers
The American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers was established in 1922 as a part of the American Association of Hospital Social Workers, and became an independent association in 1926
The National of Association of Social Workers, began in 1955, with the merging of seven social work organizations, including the American Association of Psychiatric Social Workers
1930s mh
The 1930s brought very significant contributions from Sigmund Freud regarding the understanding and treatment of mental illness
The 1930s also brought major advances in mental health care, including the lobotomy and electroconvulsive treatment, both were introduced about the same time
Dr. Vegas Moniz, a portuguese neurologist, began to offer lobtomoy in 1935 know then as the leuctomy
Approx 50,000 lobotomies were performed in the U.S. mostly between 1949 and 1952 (in the U.S., highest number of lobotomies of any country in the world)
ECT was first developed in 1938, it was intended to induce seizures that would provide relief from symptoms
1940s mh
In the mid 1940’s, professionalism was already developing in the social work field
There were calls in the 1940s for SWs to engage in mh research
Pres Harry Truman provided fed funding for with the National Mental Health Act
Albert Deutsch wrote The Mentally Ill in America, published in 1949, which stated the MH america is not a high priority and that more funding was needed to address mental illness
1950s mh
In 1950s brought the height of psychiatric institutionalization as well as the beginning of deinstutionalization and its consequence
