ding, person caused a crisis.Now doctors use

ding, person caused a crisis.Now doctors use

ding, “Will work forfood,” but the people who give them money know they are not mentallycapable to work. Mental illness is a growing problem in society, yetsociety may be the reason for the growing number of the mental ill people.Before the more modern society, mentally ill people could have fit in asfarmers and minor labors.

Today the work force has become more complex dueto education. People with severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia,bipolar disorder, and major depression may suffer the inability for socialrelationships, which reduces the person’s ability for employment (Tessler9).A movement began in the sixties to get as may people with mentalillness out of state hospitals and into the community, often for economicreasons, by state mental health departments and managed care companies(hospitalization being the most expensive form of treatment).

This putsthe burden on the community and families of the mentally ill if familiesare available or willing (Neugeboren 98). When treatment is going onoutside an institution, the issue is where is the mentally ill person isgoing to live. Families, whom take on role of housing provider, find it tobe a costly burden. The worries and distress of a crisis or mostlyattempted suicides seem to be the consequences to the families.Alternatives to living with families, is putting the person in a halfwayhouse. These halfway houses are usually in rundown neighborhoods, andmentally ill persons wondering the streets without supervision.

Before advancements in anti-psychotic and anti-depressive drugs, themental ill where put in hospitals for years or sometimes their whole life.Now doctors have come out with new drugs that help regulate mood andthought. In many ways these drugs have been a success, but in many caseswould worsen a mental illness. This is due to improper doses or the wrongdrug.

Determining the right drugs and doses has its own problems. At times,it is difficult to tell one mental disorder from another. For instance,some people with symptoms of schizophrenia exhibit prolonged extremes ofelated or depressed mood, and it is important to determine whether such apatient has schizophrenia or actually has a manic-depressive disorder ormajor depressive disorder (NIMH). Secondly, there is no set diagnosis formany of these illnesses like a blood or urine sample that can tell if aperson is pregnant or has cancer. Therefore, it’s based on an opinion of apsychiatrist. The psychiatrist tries to determine the right drug and doseto use. Sometimes the psychiatrist gets it wrong making an illness worsedue to the drugs’ side effects.

Yet, the use of drugs has been one of thebiggest successes. Historicity people gave the mentally ill people opiumand a plant called Rauwolfia used to calm when the person caused a crisis.Now doctors use the same drug in Rauwolfia, under the trade name Serpasil,for the same purpose (Mckown 2).As doctors do their best to help the mental ill, it seems as thoughthere may be no solution to the mental illness problem even a cure for somemight not be enough.

Why is cure not good enough? Well, finding a solutionwould mean having control over an individual, but how well can a personcontrol someone else?