Contents
Foreword Introduction 13 16
Chapter 1: Is Mental Illness a Serious Problem in the United States?
Overview: The Battle to Define Mental Illness Benedict Carey
Psychiatrists have no good answer to questions about where mental health ends and illness begins—and the boundary between these two states has become a battle line dividing the profession into two camps. On one side are doctors who say mental illness should include mild conditions that affect quality of life; on the other are experts who say definitions should be tightened so resources go to those who need them most.
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Yes: Mental Illness Is a Serious Problem Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Is a Serious Problem for Iraq War Veterans William M. Welch
Iraq War veterans are returning home with emotional as well as bodily scars—thousands are suffering from mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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Depression Takes a Serious Toll on Physical as Well as Mental Health Marianne Szegedy-Maszak
The human cost of letting depression go untreated is massive, since not only can depression hinder the human pursuit of happiness, evidence is mounting that it may increase one’s risk of diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Nearly 25 percent of American women and 10 percent of American men will be clinically depressed at some point in their lives.
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Teen Mental Illness Is a Serious Problem Jeff Q. Bostic and Michael Craig Miller
About one in twelve teens suffers significant depression before the age of eighteen, and about half of teens with untreated depression may attempt suicide—the third leading cause of death in this age group.
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No: Mental Illness Is Not a Serious Problem Mental Illness Is Overestimated in America Paul McHugh
Recent studies involving nearly ten thousand people found over half of Americans suffer from mental illness in their lifetimes. But these studies are flawed. The symptoms checklist techniques employed by these studies are simplistic, and tend to direct attention to human frailty rather than the strength and resiliency the vast majority of people invest in their lives.
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Mental Illness Is Too Broadly Defined Ashley Pettus
Over the last two decades, diagnoses of relatively mild mental disorders such as social phobia have soared. By medicalizing garden-variety unhappiness and innate temperamental dispositions (such as shyness), we may be diverting attention and resources from diseases such as schizophrenia and major depression, which remain undertreated and stigmatized across much of the world.
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Drug Makers Find New Markets by Publicizing “Hidden Epidemics” of Mental Illness Brendan I. Koerner
Pharmaceutical companies excel at making formerly obscure disorders cocktail-party talk—and making millions from the blockbuster drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
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Chapter 2: Are Drugs the Best Way to Treat Mental Illness?
Chapter Preface Yes: Drugs Help Treat Mental Illness A Combination of Drugs and Therapy Can Help Treat ADHD Linda Bren
Adults and children who take drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder need regular medical checkups because the drugs can be dangerous for those with certain medical conditions, and some have the potential for addiction and abuse. But such caveats aside, drugs can be an important component to treating ADHD.
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Antidepressants Can Help Treat Childhood Depression National Institute of Mental Health
A closely monitored regimen with an antidepressant can help children and teenagers suffering from depression.
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No: Drugs May Not Be the Best Way to Treat Mental Illness Drug Treatment for Mental Illness May Alter Children’s Brains Alison Motluk
The trend these days is to treat mental illness in children, as in adults, with drugs. But such drugs may alter the structure and chemistry of kids’ still-developing brains—at best providing a cure, but at worst trading a mild mental illness for a more serious one.
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Antidepressants Can Increase Suicide Risk David Stipp
Drugs like Prozac—prescribed to millions of people to treat everything from depression to shyness to anxiety to compulsiveness—have long been thought to work by restoring the natural balance of a brain chemical called serotonin. But now some believe the drugs may actually cause a brain imbalance in some people, which can lead to rare but perilous side effects like suicidal impulses and an extreme form of restlessness called akathisia.
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Chapter 3: What Are Alternative Treatments for Mental Illness?
Chapter Preface Exercise Provides Benefits for the Mentally Ill Abby Ellin
While it has long been known that exercise lifts the spirits of those without mental illness, experts increasingly recommend exercise for people with mental illness. It’s been shown to improve the psychological health of those who suffer moderate depression, and now newer research is also finding it helpful for people with conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and severe anxiety disorders.
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Cognitive Therapy Is Effective at Treating Depression The Economist
The largest clinical trial ever to compare talk therapy with antidepressants has found that talking works as well as taking pills—in fact it works better, if you factor in lower relapse rates. The study looked at a modern type of talk therapy called cognitive therapy, which trains people how to change negative thought patterns.
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Neurofeedback Training Can Help Treat Mental Disorders Jody Jaffe
A painless and noninvasive therapy known as neurofeedback training can essentially help to retrain brain waves. This approach can help treat disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, and obsessivecompulsive disorder.
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Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help Heal Mental Disorders David Servan-Schreiber
It is now believed that some mental disorders may arise from stress-related inflammation in the brain. Scientists say that omega-3 fatty acids may serve as a sort of brain fuel that helps protect the brain from inflammationinduced damage—and give relief from the symptoms of mental disorders such as postpartum depression and bipolar disorder.
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Chapter 4: How Should Society Respond to the Mentally Ill?
Chapter Preface The Stigma of Mental Illness Must Be Overcome Kay Redfield Jamison
Truck drivers, secretaries, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and government officials receive treatment for, and get well from, mental illness but the public never hears about these people—they remain silent about their experience for fear of being stigmatized. Society must strive to overcome the fear of discussing mental illness openly, and deal with it as the major public health concern it is.
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Involuntary Commitment Is Essential John Pekkanen
Legally, it is next to impossible to impose psychiatric treatment, and even the mentally ill who do not realize they are sick have total control over their care. Unfortunately, efforts to free the mentally ill from coercion have resulted in many remaining untreated—ultimately imprisoning them in their disease.
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Involuntary Commitment Is Unconstitutional Beth Haroules
In 1999 Andrew Goldstein, a 29-year-old man diagnosed with schizophrenia, killed a woman named Kendra Webdale by pushing her into the path of an oncoming New York City subway train. Goldstein had previously been dismissed by psychiatric facilities with no medication. Kendra’s Law—which allows judges to issue orders requiring people to take their medicine, regularly undergo psychiatric treatment, or both—was introduced by New York State governor George E. Pataki in response to this incident. Involuntary commitment violates basic freedoms of many people with psychiatric disabilities.
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The Insanity Defense Is a Legitimate Legal Approach Mental Health America
People with severe mental illnesses who commit crimes may lack an awareness of right and wrong, and may not comprehend the consequences of their actions. Such individuals need compassionate treatment, not jail time.
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The Insanity Defense Is an Unacceptable Legal Approach Deroy Murdock
Lawmakers should allow jurors to find defendants “guilty but insane”—with this approach the criminally insane experience long-term segregation from civilization. But the insanity defense and the “not guilty by reason of insanity” verdict do not do enough to protect society from mentally ill criminals.
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The Juvenile Mental Health System Does Not Work Sam Rosenfeld
Exceptionally punitive juvenile justice policies were enacted at the same time that the public mental-health system broke down. The end result of these two events is tragic—kids with mental illnesses are ending up in jail without treatment.
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The Managed Care Approach to Health Care Blocks Access to Mental Health Treatment Samuel E. Menaged
Good insurance coverage for mental illness—which is often invisible and so difficult to quantify and measure—is increasingly elusive in the current era of managed care.
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Screening Helps Prevent Teen Suicide Ellie Ashford
Like medical screening tests for hearing and vision, mental health screening can help identify vulnerabilities before they balloon into serious problems. Such an approach is especially helpful for teens, who may have trouble articulating emotional difficulties.
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Mental Illness Screening for Teenagers Benefits Drug Companies Alone Evelyn Pringle
Programs such as TeenScreen claim to receive no government or pharmaceutical company funding, but this is untrue. Such programs get their share of tax dollars and drug company money—and are quick to diagnose mental disorders that just happen to require drug treatment.
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Organizations to Contact Bibliography Index
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