Benefits Of Reforms To The Mental Health System

Do you think having a mental illness should result in the withdrawal of your rights? Reforms to the mental health system have certainly progressed care over the years but institutions are still stigmatized which could be due to the reforms still in progression. Early institutions neglected the proper care for patients, sometimes leading to them worsening. Although care has greatly improved, there are still some institutions where patients are insufficiently treated. The mental health system has come quite a way but an increased budget and improved inpatient conditions could lead to a better recovery rate while also subsiding the stigma.
Dating back to the early 19th century, mental institutions have neglected giving the proper care to patients
Many hospitals did not have enough beds for patients and were understaffed which could be the culprit for these neglectful facilities. “There is no shower in the infirmary and senile ward… only two bathtubs for approximately 65 patients.” (Maisel: 1) Mental institutions were overloaded with more patients than their allotted limits. These excess patients were a barrier for reforms towards proper care. Increased budgets for institutions along with expanding the number of care facilities would be a tough challenge but was truly the only fix for the growing problem in mental institutions. “These finding suggest that even though the majority of adults have some form of health insurance coverage, there are significant limitations on coverage for mental health services.” (huffington post: 3) This could suggest that many people suffering from illness do not seek help because of expenses. What state are patients in when they finally seek help? Could their illness have progressed too far? Maybe this could explain the excessive sedation and restraints. “Timothy’s law is a New York State law requiring health plans that issue group insurance providing inpatient benefits to cover inpatient and outpatient mental health services for adults and children.” (Timothy’s law: 4) Ensuring patients will increase the number of people who seek help when they believe they are suffering. This could decrease the number of
In attempt to solve problems of overcrowding, more hospitals and staff are being introduced. Other reforms have been unforced to improve various other areas, such as budgets,insurance,and treatment costs. Despite the improvements that have been made to better the mental health care there are still large advancements to be made. In 2007 a new law called Timothy’s Law was induced. This reform “[provided] inpatient benefits to cover inpatient and outpatient mental health services for adults and children” (“Empire Plan Info..., Text 4). This law subsided some of the barriers such as costs, insurance, budgets, access, attitudes and legislation; preventing the seek for mental health treatment. As noted in “Seven facts about America’s mental health-care system”, new laws have been implemented that “might change access to mental health, although significant barriers still remain” (Sarah Kliff: Text 2). Timothy’s Law improved all of these barriers on mental illness, however there is still need for large