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Social Progress in Mental Health

“The problem is that the brain is exceedingly complex.”

By Claire PetersPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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The American mental healthcare system is the subject of considerable controversy. Edmund Higgins at Scientific Americanseems convinced that many of the current treatments for mental health disorders are insufficient, especially, when considering the lack of scientific advances in prescription medications.

“The problem is that the brain is exceedingly complex,” wrote Edmund. “Behavior, emotions, and cognition are manifestations of networks of cells that are turned on or off at the right time.”

According to his article, many experts remain stumped when it comes to altering specific brain cells to the exclusion of others. That means modern medicine won’t solve our problems anytime soon.

“Prevention could be the best response,” according to Anthony F. Jorm, a psychiatric researcher at the University of Melbourne, and most of us probably couldn’t agree more.

Many people are ignorant of the cumulative cost generated by our deteriorating mental healthcare system. Thomas Insel at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) highlighted the fact that the US expenditure for mental healthcare was a whopping $147 billion—and that was a decade ago. Updated figures are certain to be astronomical, and the cost of treatment is frequently absorbed by taxpayers. The point isn’t to fixate on those lost dollars because they weren’t wasted. Anyone suffering from a mental health disorder deserves the best care possible. The goal should be to design an accessible and affordable support system without compromising its overall quality.

Simply ignoring the dilemma when things are already out of hand is a recipe for disaster. Our national incarceration statistics are a prime example. Alisa Roth at The Guardian published a report last year revealing how America’s jails and prisons are quickly becoming overwhelmed with inmates suffering from mental health disorders.

“Across the country, correctional facilities are struggling with the reality that they have become the nation’s de facto mental healthcare providers,” warned Alisa. “[And] they are hopelessly ill-equipped for the job.”

That is unsurprising for those of us familiar with the mechanisms that drive the prison system.

There are apparently very few incentives for our institutional policymakers to fund serious mental healthcare for supposed serial criminals, which makes the situation even more preposterous. Many of the crimes committed by those afflicted with mental illness are those of survival (e.g., grocery store theft or breaking-and-entering). In other words, they might have been preempted with universal countermeasures and social safeguards. We can use clinical counseling as an illustrative case.

Harriet Brown at The New York Timesrecommended cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as one of the most effective methods of treatment despite being rarely utilized by psychotherapists. CBT could theoretically be publicly subsidized and made more widely available to everyone rather than being subject to premium insurance coverage or outrageous out-of-pocket costs. Those are unnecessary barriers that, when combined with social stigmatization, ultimately dissuade people from seeking the help they desperately need. No singular approach is guaranteed to address our crisis, and evidence would suggest that more aggressive tactics are required if we’re to curb future catastrophes.

The soundest strategies are usually those that emerge locally. Cities have a major advantage by virtue of their population densities alone. Suffice it to say that finding a compatible therapist in Washington, DC or San Francisco would be much easier than in Crawford, Alabama. All municipalities have an opportunity to assist their residents and compensate for market failure where applicable.

Debates over the merits of psychotherapeutic intervention have been largely settled. The American Psychological Association (APA) declared psychotherapy effective in a 2012 resolution. Similar to climate change policy, progress has less to do with science and more to do with the public image. The onus is on society to help motivate change—some amongst us might refuse while others will have to muster their mettle.

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