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Essay / Dangers of Budget Cuts in Mental Health Care - 1213
Continuing budget cuts in mental health care create negative and detrimental impacts on society through increased inappropriate care for the mentally ill, public violence and overcrowding in prisons and emergency rooms. The origins of mental health as people know it today began in 1908. The movement started was known as "mental hygiene", which was defined as referring to anything that preserved mental health, including maintaining harmonious relationships with others, and participating in constructive activities. changes in the social and physical environment (Bertolote 1). Due to current reductions in mental health care spending, appropriate treatment has declined significantly. The extent of inappropriate care provided to the mentally ill has increased the harmful threats of increased public violence against society. Funding for mental health care comes from a variety of sources. States generally derive most of their funds from Medicaid and general state funds administered by state mental health authorities. In 2007, 46% of funding came from Medicaid and 40% of funding came from state general funds (Honberg et al. 2). Overall, states routinely raise their budgets from state general funds, federal Medicaid, federal block grants, and private grants (Honberg et al. 3). States obtain many services that fall under the umbrella of mental health care and treat the mentally ill population. These range from acute and long-term hospital treatment to supportive housing. Other effective services used include crisis intervention teams, case management, assertive community treatment programs, clinical services, and access to psychiatric medications (Honberg et al. 6). These services support the growing population of people living in the middle of paper......Mental health concept. " World Psychiatry (2008): 113-16. Www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov. PMC Web, December 15, 2013. Cooper, Donna. “Cuts to mental health services could lead to more murders.” American Progress, July 31, 2012. Web, November 1, 2013. Nicole. “Mental Health Loses Funding as Government Shutdown Continues.” Forbes Magazine, October 10, 2013. Web, November 1, 2013. Honberg, Ron, Sita Diehl, Darcy Grutatardo and Mike Fitzpatrick. National Crisis Representative National Alliance on Mental Illness, March 9, 2011. Web, October 25, 2013. Jojic, Dr. Mirjana “Will Budget Cuts Threaten Mental Health in Your State?” November 10, 2011. Web. November 1, 2013. Lippman, Daniel. “State Mental Health Cuts Hit Low-Income Patients Hard.”.. 2013.