Mental Health in USA | Assignment-2

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH
Mental health in USA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Assignment 2
Introduction
The issue of mental health in the United States of America has been prevalent for a
greater period of time. There are many forms of mental health which are predominant in the
United States like Schizophrenia, anxiety, addiction, depression and others. It has been reported
that 46.4 percent of the adults in the whole United States have experienced some sort of mental
illness in their lifetime. The healthcare specified for the mental patients in the country are not
able to receive the appropriate care because of the public stigma attached to mental health
(Corrigan, 2016). In the United States, it is observed that individuals without mental illnesses
have lesser harrowing experiences in terms of gathering employment and housing facilities than
individuals with mental health (Stewart, Jameson & Curtin, 2015). In the following essay, the
social determinants which includes the social justice and equity will be discussed while also
establishing their contribution for solving the issue appropriately. Careful interpretation of the
epidemiology related to mental health and the analysis of the nurse’s role in providing the best
care to the patients are identified. Lastly, a reflection on the cultural competence of the nurse in
the Primary Health Care is supported.
Social determinants and social justice of health
The primary health care in mental illness has the primary goal of delivering efficient care
to its recipients. The treatment and the prevention of mental illness in the population is one of the
major aims of the health care department in the United States (Garg, Boynton-Jarrett & Dworkin,
2016). In the nation, there are individuals who belong to the lower economic background, and
hence are devoid of the advanced technologies which are incorporated for the healthcare of the

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patients. The Affordable Care Act is bestowed upon all citizens of the nation to improve their
affordability and providing necessary coverage for various mental health issues experienced by
the individuals (Essounga–Njan, 2015). If the individuals are not given appropriate medical
insurances, there is a high possibility that they may get inadequate treatment or may not get
access to medical healthcare at all. Because of the intensity of the mental health care for the
individuals and the need for regular follow-up with the therapist, the overall cost of the treatment
which are specific for each of the issues experienced by the individuals, the patient may not
possess the economic stability to undergo the treatment because of the high costs and follow-up
costs not being a considerable part of the medical insurance program (Creedon & Cook, 2016).
The social stigma associated with mental illness has a great influence on the treatment and the
considerable health outcome for the patient. It can be understood that patients who experience
mental health issues feel that their family members may look at them negatively and avoid them.
In addition, it is a common perception that they may get retracted and feel out of place if their
share their mental health concerns openly in the office premises while may also receive negative
treatment. The racial and ethnic groups in the nation have shared their considerate concerns of
facing racial disparities while accessing and receiving mental health treatment (Berger &
Sarnyai, 2015). It is the right of the individual to get unreserved access to healthcare systems for
their specific illness being experienced by them. It is defined that health equity is the
phenomenon which aims at decreasing the health specific disparities and providing fair
opportunity for reaching a positive health outcome. The individuals who are going to attain the
treatment, it is their right to attain the desired treatment without the chance of facing
disadvantage from the appropriate utilisation (Artiga & Hinton, 2019).

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Interpretation
The epidemiological studies that have been conducted for understanding the depth of the
mental health issue in the country have demonstrated that the disorders are largely observed in
individuals who are socially disadvantaged (Semrau et al. 2015). In addition, it is also prevalent
in individuals who are displaced from one area to another because of country-specific reasons
and who are exposed to conflict and violence. The economic system in the global scenario have
increased the wealth in all the countries globally while also reducing poverty considerably in
most of the countries (Burns, 2015). However, the economists have shared that despite the
presence of a rapid growth in the economy of the countries, there is a considerable deregulation
of the financial markets while the countries make an accelerated march towards the path of
development (Dieleman et al. 2016). In scenarios like these, the financial stability of some of the
countries have decreased remarkably which, in turn, led to collapses in the economy of the
nation (DeLong & Burger, 2015). Because of the diverse nature of the mental illness, individuals
are reported to experience either any mental illnesses or serious mental illnesses. It has been
reported in a recent survey conducted by National Institute of Mental Health that women have a
higher prevalence rate of 22.3% of suffering from any mental illness than men. It is also
observed that adults aged between eighteen to twenty-five experiences various mental illnesses
with a rate of 25.8% (Mental Illness, 2019). However, in the year 2017, 11.2 million adults in the
United States had been observed to be diagnosed with a serious mental illness while representing
4.5% of the total population. In this scenario as well, the women had a higher prevalence rate of
5.7% of experiencing serious mental illness. Younger adults who are around the age of eighteen
to twenty-five had a higher predominance rate of 7.5% than individuals of higher ages. The
population of United States houses individuals from various cultures while making it a multi-