Neglect of Patient Care for the Impoverished with Mental Health Issues 

Introduction

Medicine has created a path to live healthier and longer lives. Medicine’s longevity and effectiveness has been seen throughout history, and it continues to improve and adapt to the changing world around us. Recently, the question of the importance of mental health has become a huge topic of debate, but ultimately mental health and illness is one of the largest contributions to some of the barriers seen for the advancement of medicine and medical technology. This issue has been pushed to the forefront considering how drastically mental illness has impacted our society. According to statistics found by the World Health Organization, “close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year, which is one person every 40 seconds… [these] are indications that for each adult who died by suicide there may have been more than 20 others attempting suicide” (WHO, 2016). This statistic is quite alarming, but it doesn’t even cover the vast majority of people suffering from serious mental illness or SMI such as Schizophrenia or DID. It’s challenging to grapple with the harsh reality of some mental illness, but at the same time, statistics like the one above emphasises the need to understand what factors into a person’s mental health and what treatment plans or prevention methods should be taken. Amongst a variety of other aspects and socio – economic issues, studies have shown that impoverishment is one of the leading factors that has led to the neglect and decline in patient care for people with mental illness.  

Acknowledging Mental Health

Generally, when talking about health and well being, most people think about physical health directly putting mental health on the back burner. The top of the 21st century shows a shift in the way people think about mental illness and how relative it is to the overall well being of society as a whole. Research done by social workers, but spearheaded by Stephanie Ewart, indicates, “ … that people diagnosed with mental illness live around 20 years shorter lives than the general population. The earlier mortality of people with mental illness has been linked to higher rates of physical illnesses, such as coronary heart disease. In addition, iatrogenic impacts on physical health such as the negative interaction of antipsychotic medication on metabolic processes have been consistently found” (Ewart, 2017). This research highlights how detrimental mental illness is to not only a person’s psyche, but also their physical health. This fact is supported by China Mills who writes on behalf of the Institute of Social Studies, stating, “perceptions regarding the importance of mental health are shifting at a global level. Once described as an ‘invisible problem’ in international development, mental health is now being framed as one of the most pressing development issues of our time … there can be no health without mental health…” (Mills, 2018). Together, this data necessitates not only the value of implementing quality mental health care, but a call to acknowledge that mental health goes hand in hand with physical health.  

Poverty’s Impact

With the realization that a good mental standing is vital to the advancement of people in our society, there has been an increasing interest in deciphering what aspects of life play a role in an inadequate mental health. Impoverishment is amongst the copious amount of socio – economic concerns that can be attributed to a decline in mental health. Data collected by E. F. Perese, writer for the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, proclaims “the greater the degree of poverty, the greater is the number of unmet needs of individuals with SMI [serious mental illness] (Wiersma, 2006). More unmet needs are associated with lower quality of life and with poorer health (Wiersma, 2006). Individuals with SMI living in the community have the same basic survival needs as those without mental illness, but they also have needs related to their illnesses or disabilities, … when unmet needs were measured among individuals with SMI, each unmet need had a negative correlation with life satisfaction” (Perese, 2007). What this goes to show is the impact that poverty has on someone with mental illness. The more impoverished a person is, the more challenging it is to obtain the resources and treatment plans needed to afford them proper and effective mental health care. 

Similarly, conclusions drawn by Jeffrey Draine, Ph. D, articulates that “in addressing social problems among persons with mental illness, researchers need to give more consideration to social factors that overlap the boundaries of mental illness and mental health. …Poverty is an important moderator of the relationship between serious mental illness and social problems and that this moderating role is not sufficiently accounted for in research, service planning, and policy. Poverty and its associated social disadvantage can also be linked to important mediating factors, such as decreased self-efficacy and coping” (Draine, 2002). The two journals clarify poverty’s influence on mental health, and assert that there’s a need to be focused on combating the social constraints that contribute to mental illness. 

What Can Be Done

Acknowledging that there is a relationship between impoverishment and mental illness is the first step in eliminating the negativity between the two. Mills reiterates this when stating, “ … the relationship between mental health and poverty, … [ is a] ‘vicious cycle’ … [where] mental ill health increases the likelihood of becoming, or remaining, poor (social drift), and/or that poverty increases people’s risk of developing mental health problems (social causation)” (Mills, 2018). The negative relationship between the two is an indication that there needs to be interventions that can be used globally to equitably provide mental health care to people varying in socio – economic standing. This is supported by Ewart, when she states, “… a range of government policies and broader social and cultural (mis) perceptions produce socioeconomic stratification and discrimination— may be a critical structural determinant of the physical health inequities for mental health consumers. Mental health consumer leaders and health-care providers will play an important role …  in current debates on inequalities in health” (Ewart, 2017). If the government made mental health a priority, by allocating funds for research and insurance plans, it would cause a shift in the way the general public thinks about mental illness. They will be more likely to talk about mental illness, opening doors for new research, donations, treatment plans. “Money makes it possible to take advantage of opportunities that could move a person toward recovery…”(Perese, 2007). Impoverishment creates barriers on the road to recovery. By working to eliminate these barriers, the relationship between mental illness and poverty could have a newer and positive connotation. 

Conclusion

Medicine is constantly evolving. With the newest technologies and the best  research teams, medicine is proving year after year that it is getting even more effective and efficient. In this current time period, there has been a greater interest in mental health and illness and its overall impact in the world. While mental health and illness wasn’t acknowledged as important in the past,  mental health is now known to be  detrimental to the overall health of society. For those who receive proper and effective care, their mental health can have little to no effect on their lives spans, for someone who isn’t afforded the same opportunities, a bad mental state can lead to a negative impact on physical health, and even cut years off their life spans. Among a plethora of other factors, impoverishment has a negative relationship with mental illness. Being impoverished doesn’t allow for a person to receive the mental health care they need, contributing to neglect and a worsening mental and physical health. To combat this, the relationship between impoverishment and mental illness has to be accepted globally. The government should acknowledge mental illness’s prevalence, and budget for appropriate and equitable care. There is no global health without acknowledging and combining it with mental health. 

References 

Draine, J., Salzer, M. S., Culhane, D. P., & Hadley, T. R. (2002). Role of Social Disadvantage in 

Crime, Joblessness, and Homelessness Among Persons With Serious Mental Illness. Psychiatric Services, 53(5), 565–573. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.53.5.565 

Ewart, S. B., Happell, B., Bocking, J., Platania-Phung, C., Stanton, R., & Scholz, B. (2017). 

Social and material aspects of life and their impact on the physical health of people diagnosed with mental illness. Health Expectations, 20(5), 984–991. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.12539

Mills, C. (2018). From ‘Invisible Problem’ to Global Priority: The Inclusion of Mental Health in 

the Sustainable Development Goals. Development and Change, 49(3), 843–866. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12397 

Perese, E. F. (2007). Stigma, Poverty, and Victimization: Roadblocks to Recovery for 

Individuals With Severe Mental Illness. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 13(5), 285–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078390307307830

WHO. (2016). Suicide data. World Health Organization.