 | Mental illnesses, or mental health, are issues that prevent a person from performing and functioning normally in society. Somewhere between 30 and 45 million Americans are afflicted with some form of mental health problem. Being able to identify some of the more commonly encountered illnesses is paramount to being a good helper.
Being familiar with the symptoms of common mental illnesses, including substance abuse, allows the human services helper to understand potential reasons why another person is behaving in a certain way and to suggest that the person seek the opinion of a medical or therapeutic professional about possible interventions or medications that might make their lives easier (p. 257)
Learning about mental illness is important for the care of your clients. Poindexter, Valentine, and Conway (1999) found that Often mental illnesses and addictions carry a stigma. That is, persons with mental illnesses or persons who are addicted to drugs or alcohol are blamed, looked down upon, and seen as undesirable members of society (p. 257) . Your client or your clients family may not want to disclose the presence of a mental illness to a human service worker or an agency because people with mental illnesses are discriminated against because of the stigma attached to their mental illness. It is important for human service workers to understand the stigma attached and advocate for the rights of their client, Poindexter et al. (1999) found that Discrimination can be a devastating side effect, resulting in not being able to obtain housing or employment (p. 257). Recognizing and understanding mental illnesses and the stigma it carries will help a human service worker educate the public about mental illness, and advocate for their clients rights. Poindexter et al. reminds us to think of the person first and the diagnosis second (p. 257). When you think you are ready, click on "Mental Health Challenge" at the top of this page. | | This site is being developed as a class project for a Human Services program through Western Washington University. For any comments on this website, please refer to the student communications page in Blackboard and email us from there. | |
