Reading

I've been working on my paper for US History, and so I haven't had a lot of time to work on my paper for Friday. However, I bought this book yesterday called "Look Me in the Eye," about a man with Asperger's Syndrome. Reading the first chapter, it's obvious that the main character has difficulties functioning normally around people, but in no way is he severely impaired. When researching about Asperger's Syndrome, I found out it's similar to autism in that it has varying degrees of intensity. To what degree of impairment must a person be before a state decides that they require free medical attention? This is yet another question I need to look into before penning my paper.

Alas! More Progress!

Well, last night I forgot to blog because I was working on my proposal. My proposal is okay. I used an anecdote as my introduction! And it was all downhill from there. Writing my proposal, I realized what a vast topic I've chosen to write about. Health care is complicated. Mental health care is especially complicated. What is "mental health care" in the first place? What qualifies as a "mental disease?" When I chose my topic a couple of days ago, I forgot about degenerative disorders, like Alzheimer's. Are Alzheimer's and the like considered mental diseases? If so, according to my thesis, geriatric hospitals would need to be funded and possibly run by the government. That's a lot of taxpayer money. Furthermore, are learning disabilities considered mental disorders? When I wrote about mental health care, I was referring to health care for personality disorders. However, ADHD, ADD, and the like are technically caused by malfunctioning neurons in the brain and are therefore "mental diseases." But people with ADD can learn to cope with their problems. People with personality disorders, like schizophrenia, are continually plagued by the symptoms of their disease. These questions are vital to the understanding of my topic, and I only hope I will be able to make sense of the great topic I've decided to take on.

Progress

Tonight I read through the assignment more thoroughly to fully understand the project. I feel confident in my topic choice, and, even throughout this lengthy assignment, I know I will continue to find mental illnesses and their treatment interesting. I am able to relate to the topic at hand, having both a brother and sister that suffer from mental illnesses, and I have a somewhat broad knowledge of mental health issues. I'm excited to begin writing.

Paper! And Mental Institutions!

I'm completely and utterly intrigued by mental disorders, and so for my paper I'm going to write about the (lack of) health care in the United States for the mentally insane and the mentally disabled. The nonexistence of health care in the United States not only harms the poor and the unfortunate, it royally screws those with mental disorders and their families. Medical institutions, where patients can go to be treated, cost insane amounts of money, and medications, without the aid of health care, are a financial strain on families. Even "simple" mental disorders, like ADHD, can affect a family both financially and emotionally. The United States has a disgusting history of abandoning and mistreating those with mental disorders. Throughout the 1840s and 50s, Dorothea Dix led a campaign to reform mental institutions. Before her campaign, patients in such care had been kept in cages and tied to chairs, the medical workers untrained, not knowing how to cope with seizures and outbursts. Her strides improved the system, but such horrors were not completely eradicated. Electroshock therapy, as detailed in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," would become popular, a treatment now seen as inhumane. In today's society, good care is available, but not all can afford this care. PEOPLE magazine just last week featured an article about an old woman who has a son impaired by autism. Wheelchair-bound, her health is failing, but she cannot afford to put him into an institution, and so was pleading in the magazine for someone to adopt her son when she dies. It was horrifying to read. Two weeks ago, I saw a special on "20/20" that discussed a program in Nebraska that allows parents to drop off children that they are unable to care for at state hospitals. The program was intended for newborns, but families began to drop off their mentally challenged children, some as old as seventeen, so that the state could deal with the stress and money that comes with mental disabilities. Some children were bipolar, others were autistic. The program showed a woman struggling with the decision to give up her young son. She ultimately is forced to, after her son has another angry, violent fit. In my paper, I intend to discuss the past of mental health care, the present, and what needs to be changed.