Has Our Perception of Mental Health Gotten Better Today?
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Today, people are experiencing mental health issues more than ever before. About 1 in 5 Americans are experiencing mental health conditions today and it is becoming increasingly more important for them to seek help; More people are seeking treatments like anti - depressants, meditation or therapy to help them with their mental health problems and look at them in a more healthy way. In the past, mental health has always taken a back seat compared to physical health in society. Many people that experienced mental health problems or illnesses were shunned and ostracized by society. Mental illnesses were seen as something that could be cured like any physical problem. People were subjected to very harmful and abusive treatments to “cure” specific mental health illnesses and many of them did not work at all.
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Trephination was one of the earliest forms of mental health treatment. It required a surgeon to use a saw to remove a part of a patient’s skull. It also was a “cure” for headaches or demonic possession. Bloodletting and purging was done in as early as the 1600s and was first done by physician Thomas Willis. The basis of it was to correct the imbalances of the body by releasing and purging blood out of it. This was also believed to cure other health problems such as diabetes, cancer, smallpox, etc. Mental asylums were a treatment that was popular in the 17th century. These institutions were supposed to be a place where people with mental disorders get treatment. However, they were actually places that isolated patients from society and their families and subjected them to brutal and abusive treatments. Additionally, these asylums were often poorly run, overcrowded and had poor sanitary conditions. Another treatment from the 1940s and 50s was Lobotomy. It involves a surgeon cutting or removing the prefrontal cortex and frontal lobe connections in the brain of a patient. This was a treatment done to patients with more severe or harmful mental health problems. Most of these treatments are not used anymore by mental health professionals and physicians but they do show how mental health was perceived and treated in the past compared to now.
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Today, these treatments would be seen as abusive and barbaric to someone going through mental health problems. In general, people know more about mental health disorders and illnesses due to the increased research and scientific discoveries people have made. People know more about how to treat these issues and see them in a more healthy way. According to a 2015 survey by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 90% of Americans value mental and physical health equally. This shows how much mental health has grown in importance for people. Many celebrities such as Selena Gomez talk about their mental health struggles publicly and how they get through life with them. Overall, people are more aware of their mental health struggles and what they mean.
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With the increased importance of mental health, many people are more likely to reach for treatments to get the help they need. Depending on a person's insurance or social class, treatments can be expensive to receive. According to an Open Minds Intelligence Report, people spent up to $225.1 billion on mental health treatments and services in 2019. Mental health treatments are not as accessible as they should be. Everyone deserves help for their mental health struggles, especially with the stigmas going away as time progresses. Now that mental health is looked at differently, it is good that people feel more comfortable sharing their struggles and being vulnerable. Mental health should be just as important as physical health and treatment should be more accessible so people can get the help they deserve.
