Most Americans are suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression according to the new studies. Primarily, those who are affected the most are low-income earners without proper medical insurance that can facilitate their treatment. According to the federal government record, the period between 2006 and 2014, about eight million people demonstrate serious psychological distress that required medical attention. The research indicated that three percent of adult Americans suffer from various forms of mental illness. Individuals that are diagnosed with severe psychological distress were found to be three times less likely to access general health as compared to people who do not suffer the condition. According to the health survey conducted by the United States’ Center for Disease Control, most Americans undergo various conditions that subject them to stress and depression. At least three quarters of respondents who were asked how they feel about certain situations of life confirmed that they feel restless and helpless on many occasions.
The survey by the center for disease revealed that the recent increase in cases of mental health is due to the financial fallout that was felt in 2007. Some individuals were worse hit by the recession beyond recovery. They are people who had good jobs and owned enough resources to take care of their families. However, the economic disorientation deprived them of all that. The feeling that they would start investing and building resources a fresh makes them feel stressed and depressed.
Judith Weissman of New York University Medical Center said that the government should make mental treatment more accessible to help in solving the increasing mental cases in the country. She added that this would help in saving the next generation, which is more exposed to mental illness following the hard economic life they are likely to face as they try to make a living. There should be a change in healthcare policies that encourage access to mental illness therapy. The increasing victims of mental health should be countered with the increase in health practitioners in the same field. The research indicated that that three in every ten Americans lacked healthcare coverage as compared to two in every ten people without serious psychological issues.
Mental illness is caused by disruptions or disturbance of a person’s life that affects the normal functions of their brains. It is associated with stress and depression that may result in the loss of life if not attended to in the right time. Other significant effects of mental illness include disability, pain, and loss of freedom. An example is given in the summary of the article above, where those who lose their jobs and resources due to the recession in the United States suffered psychological distress and depression.
The state of mental wellness depends on the status of mind of an individual and the environment where he or she comes from. It is evident that the cause of mental illness is the disruption of people’s lives that affect their emotions. As such, the government should ensure stable economic state to reduce hard economic times that exerts pressure to the lives of many. The increasing cases of mental illness should be a challenge to put in place mental healthcare facilities and increase the number of mental therapists to help in managing the situation.
Work Cited
Newsweek. "More Americans Than Ever Suffer From Mental Health Issues". Newsweek, 2018, http://www.newsweek.com/recession-mental-health-depression-anxiety-585695.
