Response to: What would you change about the mental health system after seeing “Skid Row”? (meaning resources for individuals with mental illness.) (King 2010) The film “Skid Row” was very insightful on the injustices of the mentally ill caused by the government. The film specifically highlighted the health system issues and how the lack of mental health assistance from the government has hindered progression and recovery of many people living on Skid Row. Thousands of individuals suffer from mental illnesses on Skid Row and many are living on the streets because of their mental illnesses and their inability to cope/ interact with the rest of the world. The government has done little to nothing to rectify the issue of the homeless and mentally …show more content…
For example, in class Ms. Giovenco discussed how veterans who turn to marijuana, because high amounts of prescribed medications make them feel groggy and dead are cut from their assistance from the government. By cutting veterans off from their probably means of survival just continues the cycle of homeless mentally ill on the street is unfair. If more physicians were concerned about the amounts of medications, they gave patients and more aware of the patient’s feelings on medications it could gain trust and dependence on the health system and possibly keep patients from straying away from treatment. In conclusion, if the government worked more towards establishing better conditions for people with mental illnesses instead of disassociating them from society there would less mentally ill people on the streets. The government has postponed solving the issue of the mentally ill and homeless population instead of creating an ethical and efficient way to deal with the situation. The film, “Skid Row” revealed many issues in health system and showed the difficulties people with mental illnesses have to go through. Observing the struggle of the mentally ill motivates me to want to make a difference even
Like all form of disparities, mental health disparities is a serious challenge for minorities’ communities across America. Individuals with mental health illness how do not receive adequate health care due to variations can be affected in many ways. When their mental illness progress without any diagnosis they can easily be perceived as a threat to society. In cases where crimes are committed, and they cannot prove they are mentally challenged they can be charge and send to prison without being diagnosed which could affect their condition due to the lack of treatment. Without eradicating or implementing policies to deal with mental health disparities the probability of legally or morally assuming that people with mental health challenges are
The social structural force of healthcare forces the Edgewater homeless avoid the hospital as much as they can, until they are at the sure point of suffering life threatening injuries. This is because if they were to check into the hospital and their injuries were not life threatening, they were forced to wait in the waiting room almost a full day without guarantee they will be treated. Consequently, after a full day of waiting they are always rejected and forced back on to the streets. Thus, they will return to the streets dopesick without
The purpose of their study was to establish a better understanding of the characteristics of the mentally-ill homeless adults. Upon the collection of data through a review of the archived shelter medical records of the 74 subjects included in the study, the researchers aggregated and analyzed the data, calculating the medication adherence rates for the previous 30days. Mental illness and substance use disorders in the study were identified in 67.6 percent and 44.6 percent of the participants respectively. These findings prompted the acknowledgement that homeless individuals suffering from mental illness that specialized transitional shelters serve constitutes of population whose psychiatric, social and mental needs are complex. Thus, the characteristics of homeless populations are complicated by the numerous needs that need systematic assessment and thoughtful addressing to enhance the likelihood of successful outcomes (Viron, Bello, Freudenreich, & Shtasel, 2014).
Did you know access to mental health care is worse than any other type of medical service? In “Cost of not caring: nowhere to go” Liz Szabo informs her audience of the unfortunate lack of mental institutions. While her essay was well written, logical and touching at points I feel as though her article could have been stronger. Firstly I’m going to summarize this article then address the weaker aspects of Szabos writing which include her: lack of organization, lack of specific sources, and a non-concise conclusion. Szabo begins by introducing her point that Americas Mental health system is not providing for those in need by jumping straight into her topic sentence “The mentally ill who have nowhere to go and find little sympathy from those
The topic of interest that will be presented in this paper will be that of Homelessness. Homelessness is a worldwide issue that affects the lives of many people. Although it is mostly found to be present in Third World countries, many citizens across the United States face it and are suffering from it as well. From families to veterans and even children Homelessness can happen to anyone as a result of many different events/for many different reasons. Through this topic we will be able to examine the McKinney Vento Act of 1987 and how it affects Homelessness in the U.S..
I used to work with a psychiatrist, most of our patients were homeless. One of the things I notice was that it was very difficult for them to comply with the instructions of their control medication. I remember some of the patients were verbally aggressive to the Doctor because her drug test came back positive and through the state of california Doctor are not allowed to prescribe medication to the patient. I really enjoy reading this article. I like how there are people who have the heart to advocate for the people who live in the streets and are being unfairly ticket and
The fact sheet #1 (2008), states that “despite the disproportionate number of mentally ill people among the homeless population, the growth in homelessness is not attributable to the release of seriously mentally ill people from institutions” (p. 240). The fact sheet #1 (2008), state that patients were released from the mental health hospital in the 1950s and 1960s while homelessness began in the 1980s as a result of changes that people face because of income and housing problems. The fact sheet #5 (2008), also state that people with mental health have problems carrying out their activities of daily living (ADL) “such as self-care, household management and interpersonal relationships” (p.
Homeless Homelessness is a major key issue that has been on our island for more than a decade. It hasn’t come to the point yet that it would get solve or anything. Many of our government officials does not clearly know where they are heading due to the twist and turns that they have been. Blaming the homeless is clearly not the issue but not really having to identify that it is the government that is creating this problem to be a more bigger and heated issue. If only they set aside a time to experience what they are going through, if only they look in the bigger picture, instead of building a rail that would only help a quarter of the population, if only they were able to empathize more --- I would go on from here but it is the ‘if only’ and the ‘what if’ that could have made a difference then we, [the people] would not have to go through this controversial.
We must value the importance of homelessness being a temporary state and acknowledge the redefinition of homelessness. As a society, we also must self-reflect and value our own standpoint in correlation to the research being done. Standpoint is not just determining or concluding the results to be one thing or another; but it is more complex and one must recognize that particular perspectives’ you won’t be able to fully understand unless you were in the same predicament or circumstances as the homeless. With all the research in the world, we do not understand how it feels to be in that situation, but based on empirical evidence, we can imagine how it
Their are around 500,000 mentally ill people that are put away in prisons and jails. In the documentary “The New Asylums”,Ohio's state prison system reveals the issues that are ongoing with mentally ill inmates. The major problem we have today is that no one is taking care of the people of these people. Most mentally ill people live by themselves with no family or friends to take care of them and they are off their medications. The mentally ill come in to prison on non violent offenses such as disturbing the peace, trespassing, etc. After leaving mental hospitals they usually end up on the streets and become homeless.
Montross, goes on to describing another issue that revolves around how psychiatric patients are treated. She discusses how patients that are brought to the emergency room, while psychiatric beds are not available, tend to be discharged without medications and an adequate follow up plan. In other words, these patients are just thrown back out into the streets (Montross pg 1407). This will result in the patient continuing to act out, due to their symptoms that relate to their condition, and then will end up back at the hospital. It is a never-ending cycle, and health care professionals, are not appropriately assisting these patients.
Apart from the physical impact of street living, people who are homeless are also the targets of stigmatization based on their homelessness and joblessness, and as such they experience segregation from the greater community. They are also more likely to experience emotional and psychological abuse and to have ongoing medical needs go
In her essay, she points that an individual should not be tagged as a criminal to the society due to his or her poverty. She also points that the government should provide more shelters to homeless, and that the government should help them to find a job in order to have them enrolled back in society. Unfortunately, the public housing, which is a support for poor families provided by the government, has been becoming an easy target for law enforcers to fine people that is in need. As Ehrenreich says, “The public housing that remains has become more prisonlike, with residents subjected to drug testing and random police sweeps”. It demonstrates the elephant in the room that the government wants to avoid such reality meanwhile people is suffering in public houses filled of diseases and filth.
Opportunities and difficulties must be confronted when tending to elements that impact change. Some of those issues are mentioned in this paper. Bringing change to the homeless mentally ill circumstance needs
The subject of homelessness is not universally discussed in society because many people are either ignorant or unwilling to get involved to help. Although it is taboo, every day people are faced with or see homelessness. Many times driving under freeway passes or through highly populated cities, the homeless population can be seen everywhere. California has the densest homeless population in the United States, which is Skid Row in Los Angeles. In the state of California, the effects of homelessness continue to be an ongoing challenge for not only citizens but law enforcement and elected officials.