I agree with Albert Schweitzer in that "happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory." The reason why I agree is because I also agree with The Buddha in that "All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." I feel even in my life it is hard to not mourn for the past and in doing so I hold myself back from happiness. If anyone has ever seen "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," you will know what I mean when I say I wish I had that special pill sometimes where I wake up and a preselected event or memory has been erased from my brain. This "bad memory" and good health leads to happiness according to Albert Schweitzer and hence why I agree with him.
I am shocked to see that one in four families has at least one member with a mental disorder and that nearly 1 million people commit suicide every year.
I definitely agree that poverty and mental disorders are linked in a vicious circle. I did a presentation along with 3 other classmates in my PM 563 class about Downtown Women's Action Coalition which has Mental Health as one of its priorities for homeless women in Skid Row. When researching about homelessness and mental health, we came to a huge wall. There was not much about the homeless. We definitely have to thank the amazing work done by Dr. Cousineau in assessing health and mental health status and access to care for the homeless adults and children in central Los Angeles (https://blackboard.usc.edu/courses/1/20071_pm_565_41128/uploads/_285588_1/neglect_in_the_streets_part_1.pdf )
and the mental health needs among homeless people in central Los Angeles (https://blackboard.usc.edu/courses/1/20071_pm_565_41128/uploads/_285589_1/usc-homeless-mental-health-2.pdf).
Shocking facts about homelessness in Los Angeles County:
•254,000 men, women, and children experience homelessness in one year
•80,000 people are homeless each night
•Los Angeles has a higher rate of homelessness than most other U.S. cities and counties
•Total homeless: Metro & South LA
•Homeless families: South LA & South Bay
•Homeless singles: Metro & South LA
•Homeless youths: Hollywood
•Families–Headed by single mothers
•Average age is around 40 years & Women tend to be younger than men
•Race/Ethnicity–African Americans are disproportionately represented while Latinos, Whites and Asians are underrepresented
•Education–About half graduated from high school
–LA appears to have a greater percentage of homeless adults with a college education (10%) than nationally (2%)
•Employment & Income–Prior to becoming homeless, 75-90% were poor
–16% to 20% are currently employed
•Public Benefits–42% to 77% of homeless people do not receive the public benefits to which they are entitled
•57.8% are homeless due to fleeing from domestic violence
•25% are victims of childhood physical or sexual abuse – a predictor of future violence
•Drug abuse and prostitution increase risk of victimization
•Social alienation and isolation exacerbate trauma
Causes of homelessness:
•Lack of affordable housing
•Poverty
•Low-paying jobs & labor market changes
•Unemployment
•Mental illness
•Substance abuse
•Changes & cuts in public assistance
•Domestic violence
•Changes in family structure
•Prison release
•Chronic health problems
•Lack of access to affordable health care
Of all the causes of homelessness, mind and behavior health constitutes a majority of the reasons to homelessness.
This is more than enough to prove that poverty and mental disorders are linked in a vicious circle.
We as global health leaders need to not only consider mind, mental health, and behavior when developing solutions to increase health and wellbeing, but realize that mental disorders and illness challenge health in both developed and developing countries and that though many of the risks that we are exposed to are entirely controllable and avoidable (smoking, alcohol, and drugs) others go deeper into social context which are entirely uncontrollable and hard to fix (poverty).
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4 comments:
Amy, I totally agree... so much more needs to be done in terms of mental health, especially when it comes to serving the homeless. We too often pass a homeless person on the street without a feeling of responsibility or empathy, and especially without the slightest sense of what actually lead them there. During college I was a volunteer at the local homeless center. They catered to people who were trying to get back on their feet, providing them with continuing education classes, tutoring for their children, and mental health services to name a few. This is a serious issue that deserves so much more attention.
It really puts it in perspective when you just list all the numbers down... that is a HUGE population that is living in this condition. And I can't even imagine the impact that being homeless has on the mental health of these individuals. I also agree that there needs to be more done. thanks for your post.
hey amy, very informative post, especially on the homeless. they are basically the most unfortunate population we have in the US. there is so little follow-up with interventions. people with mental health problems don't need one-time care--the issues you listed are chronic problems that require extensive help to get them back on their feet. i totally agree with you that mental health is a huge component of helping the homeless.
I do agree with you about that quote, but the eternal optimist in me says that something good always comes from something bad, just depends if you are open enough to receive it. In general though, it seems that people forget that mental health is just as important as everything else. Instead we put ourselves through major stress every day (hello, driving in LA) and wonder why we aer so tired...Wouldn't it be great if we could have a world-wide mental health ME day? Just take the day off from our lives and relax:)
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