Failing Mental Health Care System in Georgia
For every four Americans, one will have to face some sort of mental illness at least once, (Spencer A-8). In fact, more Americans suffer from schizophrenia than from HIV/AIDS. In Georgia alone, an estimated 623,000 individuals suffer with major depression, (Spencer A-8). Along with depression, 242,000 are afflicted with some form of bipolar disorder and around 93,000 with schizophrenia. This has then resulted in extreme overcrowding of local and state hospitals mental care units, (). Low funds, lack of qualified staff, and even civil rights violations have all plagued Georgia's mental care facilities within the past few years. Georgia's mental healthcare is in complete chaos, "It's not just failing, it's broken," (Spencer A-8). Despite the large numbers of mentally ill patients in Georgia, local and state elections rarely touch on the failing healthcare system geared towards mental health. Many believe that this issue fails to take prominence within elections based on the idea that very few individuals suffering from mental illness, who are the very individuals being failed by the Georgia healthcare system, do not actually financially contribute to political campaigns within the region, (Spencer A-8). This then create
s a vicious cycle where would-be politicians and legislators fail to truly acknowledge the withering George system in place for its masses of mentally ill patients. Over the past six years, this has resulted in scandals leading to 136 deaths within mental health care facilities. Activists are infuriated with the complete lack of change in Georgia's psych wards. The National Alliance on Mental Illness began drafting their own legislation in 2007, legislation which failed to completely take hold within the promises of Georgia politicians, (Richards 1). After nothing was improved, the Department of Justice was forced to open an investigation into the nature of the problem, including violations against patient's civil rights. Politicians are often discouraged in bringing light to the issue based on fear of loosing votes because of such massive spending on the mentally ill, (Spencer A-8). In fact, Regional Hospital/Atlanta was found to have exceeded its 46 patient limit over 94 percent of the time, (Judd & Miller 18). Numerous attempts to rectify such conditions within mental care wards have resulted in very little improvement. Such efforts have included the new Disaster Mental Health Website, launched by the Department of Human Resources (DHR), which "contains information, recommendations, and guidance on how to handle personal and community crisis situations, as well as how to bounce back from a crisis," (Georgia Department of Human Resources 2008). Unacceptable conditions within care wards are a direct result of too little funding for a large operation, "Horrible conditions exist because there is a lack of money overall and lack of organizational capacity-including training and competitive wages for qualified personnel," (Spencer A-8). Yet despite such well intended help, it is truly up to Georgia natives to help ease the situation, "It means helping people struggling with illnesses that are no fault of their own. Patient incidents within the hospital itself had increased from 36 incidents to 80 between the months of May to June. The horrid conditions revealed in this inspection only add on to a separate investigation the hospital is currently in the middle of with the U.
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Acceptance Essays
