Introduction
Mental health is an essential component of the life of the country’s population, the general indicators of which affect the economy and image. The government needs to ensure that people with mental health problems have free access to counseling and medicine. In addition, it is necessary to provide the population with mental disorders with a comfortable and efficient place to stay and receive treatment. It will ensure a positive outcome for both patients and caregivers, as performance measures influence motivation.
Moreover, an efficient healthcare system, especially in terms of mental health, is an indication of a strong economy. In order to effectively analyze the problem of the population suffering from mental disorders, it is necessary to find out the causes and influencing factors. Thus, poverty, violence, and disadvantaged living conditions negatively affect the level of mental health of the American population.
Literature Review
The problem of poverty in the disadvantaged strata of the population is crucial as it forms a vicious circle in terms of the impact on mental health. Thus, according to Ridley et al. (2020), people living in poverty are often prone to depression and anxiety, which distracts them from their earning methods. As a result, one cannot improve one’s material condition, and one’s mental health deteriorates. If the problem is ignored, it can lead to significant deterioration and the appearance of severe issues with the mental state.
Moreover, studies show that the inability to meet the basic needs of middle-aged mothers in America worsens their mental health (Cardoso et al., 2021). These include difficulties with accessing food, housing, and basic health and hygiene needs. As already indicated, the deterioration of the mental state leads to the inability to improve the financial situation, forming a vicious circle. Besides, it formulates the gender stigma interfering with accessing mental health treatment.
Speaking about the prevalence of mental health issues in the chosen population, namely America’s poor layers, one can single out several aspects. For example, according to Loni et al. (2019), schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety disorders are the most common in poor rural America. It is due to the fact that patients often do not have access to adequate anxiety treatment at the initial stage and resort to excessive use of alcohol or drugs.
Against this background, anxiety increases, and new, more severe disorders, such as schizophrenia, appear. Moreover, it formulates how the mental health of the target population has been impacted by the chosen area of concern, namely, poverty. Not having sufficient resources for treatment, consultation, and therapy, the person resorts to more accessible and cheap methods of deceptively alleviating the condition.
Further, the problem of the impact of poverty on the mental health of the poor in America is expressed in terms of immigrants. Millions of immigrants from nearby and distant countries travel to the US each year in search of a better life (Beech et al., 2021). However, as Beech et al. (2021) state, only a small proportion of those who arrive receive decent social security, including access to health care. The rest of the immigrants are faced with difficult living conditions or the need to live on the street without access to income, health care, and improvement of mental condition.
As a result, there is an increase in cases of psychological disorders, alcoholism, and drug addiction among such a population. In turn, it increases the level of crime, negatively affecting the surrounding areas and thereby worsening the population’s mental health. The impact on the mental state of the surrounding population is formulated by the fact that one cannot feel safe being in a highly criminal environment.
It is also worth mentioning that poverty can negatively affect mental health, not only immediately. Bad financial conditions can have negative consequences for a person after some, in some cases, a significant amount of time. Thus, according to Huang et al. (2020), adverse childhood experiences, including living in poverty, can have negative impacts on the individual in adulthood. Moreover, it can be expressed even if a person in adulthood has a significant income and favorable social living conditions.
Indeed, in such a case, the impact can be mitigated or eliminated due to unhindered access to effective treatment. However, if barriers to access to medications or mental health therapies persist in adulthood, childhood poverty can cause severe psychological distress. These may include anxiety, irritation, or restlessness initially, up to depression and suicidal thoughts as the disorder progresses.
The problem of a vicious circle and the impact of poverty on mental health was considered by many researchers, including not only modern ones but also those decades ago. As a result, it can be noticed that the principle of this problem has not changed much. Thus, according to Knifton and Inglis (2020), poverty, both in childhood and adulthood, can lead to psychological disorders.
At the same time, being a rich person, a sudden psychological breakdown can lead to poverty as a person loses the ability to function normally and maintain social contact. Consequently, having fallen into unfavorable social conditions, a person faces increased mental health problems. Interestingly, Knifton and Inglis (2020) also argue that in some cases, a person with a mental disorder can break out of poverty. However, it is infrequent and can be the result of erratic behavior and criminal activity.
When discussing what else could be interfering with accessing Mental health treatment, several factors can be singled out. All of them are related to poverty in one way or another, but they have different principles of action for receiving mental health services. Thus, Santiago and Miranda (2012) argue that many low-income adults and families do not receive treatment due to logistical, behavioral, and systemic barriers.
Logistical barriers prevent access to mental health treatment due to the problematic delivery of medicines or personnel to a particular territory. Behavioral barriers are articulated by healthcare representatives’ inappropriate behavior toward poor people, which is associated with a lack of motivation and unprofessionalism. Finally, systemic barriers include the inability to monitor compliance with human rights and moral standards. These may include discrimination based on race, religion, gender, or social status.
Discussion
However, the state is trying to improve the situation through some actions to help with this problem societally. These include various social programs to provide the poor in America with free mental health care. In addition, programs are being created to provide drugs, counseling, and therapy to those who need them but do not have access.
Besides, attempts are being made to solve this problem with the help of charitable foundations and events. Speaking of what the literature on the subject suggests in general, research includes the fact that poverty has an impact on the mental health of Americans. In addition, one can highlight research strengths, namely relying on evidence-based practices such as surveys and data mining.
Further, speaking about what ideas I have for solving these problems, I can designate several options. First, it is necessary to partially change the essence of the healthcare system since it forms a barrier for the poor (Santiago & Miranda, 2012). Thus, in the absence of financial resources and health insurance, one does not have the opportunity to receive urgent or ordinary adequate assistance.
Hence, it is necessary to build the infrastructure so that the unprotected segments of the population have free and quick access to effective medical services. To avoid inconvenience and the spread of, for example, some infections, these may be separate centers where all types of urgent medical services, including mental health services, are provided. In addition, it is necessary to develop programs based on public resources to help low-income families in the aspect of mental health. These may include financial assistance since, as already indicated, the inability to meet basic needs worsens the mental state.
Conclusion
To conclude, it is worth noting that the problem of the impact of poverty on mental health formulates a vicious circle. Poverty has been found to worsen the mental state of America’s underprivileged population, and the worsened mental state poses a barrier to earning money. Moreover, the poor may face discrimination based on race, religion, or gender, thereby deteriorating their mental health.
To solve this problem, special assistance programs based on public resources should be introduced. It is important to provide financial assistance to people suffering from mental disorders, as poverty worsens their mental condition. Finally, the high level of crime that occurs as a result of poverty worsens the mental state of not only the individuals involved but also the surrounding population.
References
Beech, B. M., Ford, C., Thorpe, R., Bruce, M. A., & Norris, K. C. (2021). Poverty, racism, and the public health crisis in America. Frontiers in Public Health, 9. Web.
Cardoso, L. F., Scolese, A. M., Hamidaddin, A., & Gupta, J. (2021). Period poverty and mental health implications among college-aged women in the United States. BMC Women’s Health, 21(14). Web.
Huang, Y., Liu, H., & Masum, M. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences and physical and mental health of adults: Assessing the mediating role of cumulative life course poverty. American Journal of Health Promotion, 35(5). Web.
Knifton, L., & Inglis, G. (2020). Poverty and mental health: Policy, practice and research implications. BJPsych Bulletin, 44(5). Web.
Loni, C., Natoya, H., & Shanita, B. (2019). Integrating social justice advocacy into mental health counseling in rural, impoverished American communities. Professional Counselor, 9(1), 20-34.
Ridley, M., Rao, G., Schilbach, F., & Patel, V. (2020). Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms. Science, 370(6522). Web.
Santiago, C., & Miranda, J. (2012). Poverty and mental health: How do low-income adults and children fare in psychotherapy? Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(2), 115-126.