Mental Health: The Road to Hell in the US

Abstract: The healthcare system in the United States is suffering from many concerning issues. The current crises are having unfavorable effects on not only the affordability of healthcare, but also the quality of care. The mental health of Americans is suffering in many ways that include extremely destructive behaviors. These include but are not limited to epidemics of suicide and drug overdose, increases in murder rates and mass shootings, substance abuse, domestic violence and surprising numbers of mental disorder. This article intends to demonstrate the systemic influences on this epidemic of mental illness. How it Began: In the 1970s there were many breakthroughs in medication for severe mental illness. The need for beds in sanitariums was decreased significantly. People with mental illness could then live with their families without the constant fear of being a danger to themselves or others. This was an obvious, large, favorable effect; that began a quest to cure mental illness, with the encouraging potential of these breakthroughs. How it Developed: Through the decades, the initial condition of qualified professionals sustaining this quest in it's practice failed. Increasing financial pressures cut budgets for healthcare; and this seemingly inexpensive solution became the "go to". The expectation that it would continue to have the same favorable results wasn't exactly a great expectation; but it was contingent on being properly maintained. Psychologists use combinations of therapies in treating their patients; and this fell by the wayside as mental healthcare was seen to be more and more expensive. This observation of expense was a product of increases in cost of living. Regulatory agencies have little to no oversight; when it comes to conflict of interest. This is because neither does the Supreme Court. Over time both have become populated with former business and legal professionals from large companies. This essentially left most markets unregulated. The healthcare market was not an exception. The DSM-5 is a book of mental disorders that was employed toward the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Unregulated healthcare services began to allow GPs to use this material to prescribe medication without the supervision of an MD-PHD. This was in contrast to the previous approach of combining therapy with medication; that prevents the medication from only masking the root issue. This was in a time when treating symptoms was taking precedent over treating the actual illness. Increased financial strife in the US resulted in more pressure for affordable healthcare; and cutting costs was the common strategy. Too many were allowed to be medicated without the therapy for the illness itself. Quality of care was obviously suffering greatly; and of course the evidence was to be found in the mental health and behaviors of the population. Financing Mental Health: Mental health can only be financed from a long term strategy. Understanding the impact that the financial strife has on the population, when economies reach growth maximum is imperative to such a strategy. This is because it has far reaching effects; throughout the system. Any industry requires customers for the businesses that compose them. Normal conditions provide customers for mental health resources; as life is fraught with many challenges that have unfavorable effects on human psychology. This suggests that it is a necessity to begin with. When systemic issues begin to take a toll on the public's mental health, the industry should be expected to enjoy growth. This is demonstrably the case; as it has been observed over the past several decades. Where industries are incentivized to grow through legislation that protects their investors, there also exists an incentive to sustain the increase of customers. This is an explanation of how it is good for business to keep a population in need of treatment. This is also expressed in the development of healthcare in the US. In order to form a strategy against this unfavorable outcome, the understanding of the costs associated with an unhealthy population is required. It's important to see the impact on other industries and how it continues to increase the overall cost of healthcare in general. The short term gains begin to be seen as paradoxical when the long term consequences begin to become apparent. Mental healthcare becomes even more expensive as insurance is impacted, as crime increases and even as the need for it increases. This is just the nature of the systems that we have created. Feedback loops of expenditure keep increasing the expenditures on mental healthcare. There cannot be an industry for mental healthcare that is expected to grow, for the sake of stockholders, without the expectation that it would eventually have a negative effect on the population's mental health. The corporate model will fail us all; not only with public health in general, but also with investment in it, as the consequences are quadratic as well. For a healthcare industry to achieve it's goal of healing the sick, a strategy to keep itself as small and agile as practical is required. This opposes what our current systems do; and the regulations that once existed were of course defeated by it's approach. Healthcare industries have to be remodeled; or they just will not function as intended. It just has to be funded some other way.