In the early 1900s, those
thought to have a mental illness were housed in private sanitariums. Government
would house the “criminally insane” in state prisons staffed with
Psychiatrists. The medication prescribed was used to keep patients calm.
Those who scored low
on IQ tests were deemed to be “retarded” and were housed by government in
secure buildings and staffed with Psychiatrists.
One of the summer jobs
I did when I was in college in the 1960s was as a Therapist at St. Louis State
School and Hospital. We had 700 patients who had been diagnosed “retarded”
living in buildings on the site. The cost of patient care was paid in part with
their Social Security Disability checks and the State made up the difference.
Our hospital housed bed patients with severe conditions like Hydrocephaly and
Microcephaly; The dorm buildings housed patients who were mobile. There were
women’s dorms and men’s dorms. These groups were further separated by the
severity of their conditions. None of our patients were dangerous. The Downs’
Syndrome and some other patients were educable and attended school. We moved
some patients who could take care of their own needs to cottages.
Downs’ Syndrome
patients were often kept at home with their families and they did better. Since
the 1960s, many other patients with disorders like schizophrenia and bi-polar
manic depression have been released to live at home and take their medication.
Many States have closed their institutional mental hospitals. Some of these patients
have joined the homeless population.
Today, we are dealing
with addiction and PTSD and have problems with mass shootings by terrorists and
disturbed individuals. The pressure is
on to revisit our loose mental health policies.
The cost of treating addiction
is high and uncertain. Addiction can be
cured, but relapses can result in multiple confinements. States are legalizing
marijuana use and this “gateway” drug could result in cocaine, methamphetamine
addiction. Opioid addiction is also on the rise.
Addicts will not
change unless they want to change. Treatment can include bouts of homeless
shelter confinement.
Funding mental illness treatment needs to be done
carefully. Just throwing money at the problem will encourage poor quality
treatment programs and extend the illness.
Funds for Treating Individuals with Mental
Illness: Is Your State Naughty or Nice? New study reveals dramatic eight-fold
difference in percentage of state funds allocated to helping mentally ill.
(Read full report)
The most generous states for mental health are
Maine, Pennsylvania and Arizona. The stingiest states are Arkansas, West
Virginia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Delaware.
(New York, NY, December 12, 2017) Mental Illness
Policy Org released the first study to rank all fifty states based on the
percentage of state-controlled funds each state spends on mental illness.
States that spend a higher percentage of their budget on mental illness are
ranked as generous and those that spend a lower percentage are ranked as
stingy. This study found the most generous states in mental health spending are
Maine, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
The stingiest states are Arkansas, West Virginia,
Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Delaware. The most generous states, Maine
and Pennsylvania (5.6%), allocates eight times more as a percentage of total
state spending than the stingiest state, Arkansas (.7%).
Percentage of Total State Expenditures
Allocated to Mental Illness
1. Maine 5.6
2. Pennsylvania 5.6
3. Arizona 4.8
4. New York 3.9
5. New Jersey 3.8
6. New Hampshire 3.7
7. Montana 3.5
8. Vermont 3.4
9. California 3.2
10. Maryland 3.1
11. Minnesota 3.0
12. Connecticut 2.8
13. Nevada 2.7
14. Oregon 2.7
15. Kansas 2.6
16. Michigan 2.6
17. Missouri 2.5
18. North Carolina 2.4
19. Iowa 2.3
20. Washington 2.3
21. Alaska 2.1
22. New Mexico* 1.9
23. Ohio 1.9
24. South Dakota 1.9
25. Tennessee 1.9
26. Georgia 1.9
27. Indiana 1.8
28. Colorado 1.8
29. Virginia 1.7
30. Mississippi 1.7
31. Nebraska 1.7
32. Utah 1.7
33. Hawaii 1.6
34. Wisconsin 1.5
35. Alabama 1.5
36. Illinois 1.5
37. Rhode Island 1.4
38. South Carolina 1.3
39. Massachusetts 1.2
40. Texas 1.2
41. Florida* 1.1
42. Wyoming 1.1
43. North Dakota 1.1
44. Delaware 1.0
45. Louisiana 1.0
46. Oklahoma 1.0
47. Kentucky 0.9
48. Idaho 0.8
49. West Virginia 0.8
50. Arkansas 0.7
Comments
The effectiveness of
handling mental health issues cannot be measured by the amount of dollars spent
in the list above. It is measured by effective treatment history dealing with
the total cost of the cure and how long addicts can stay “clean”. Addicts must
first want to end their addictions and next must determine how they will
accomplish this.
This is not unlike our
excessive cost of other healthcare issues and our excessive education costs. Patient behavior is often the key to avoiding
health problems. We are all responsible
for our own preventive medicine. Students are likewise ultimately responsible
for their own education. Bad schools
have bad students.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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