Moore

Genevieve Moore
VanderSlik
English 100-16
November 3, 2014
The Cost of Mental Illness
In popular culture, mental illness is associated with padded white walls, straight jackets,
and tranquilizer injections. This is a dramatized and unrealistic portrayal of real people with real
illness. In reality, padded walls can be traded for city streets, straight jackets with worn and
tattered jackets, and tranquilizers with real violence. Americans dont recognize that its more
realistic for people with mental illness to be alone and afraid than dangerous. On the more
scientific side, we have learned millions of things about mental illness and continue to learn
more every day. Despite these medical breakthroughs, Americas mental health care system is
still lacking.
The history of mental health care is dark; it includes many methods that doctors today
would consider unethical. In ancient history, all kinds of mental illnesses were blamed on
demonic possession and therefore many people were attempted to be cured through exorcisms
(Unite for Sight). As science grew, scientists still knew little about mental illness, and it was still
looked at as something dark and scary. Even in the early 50s, there were few correct diagnosis
and even fewer means of treatment. Elsie Lacks, daughter of Henrietta Lacks, was committed to
Crownsville Hospital after her mothers death in 1951. Elsie was diagnosed with idiocy, a
common diagnosis for anyone who was mentally slow. Not only were the diagnosis non-specific,
but the living conditions were worse. The hospital was overcrowded, often packing men, women,
and children with different illnesses into one room. There were never enough beds for everyone

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there, leaving most to sleep on the floor. Patients who misbehaved were tied to their beds to
restrict any kind of movement (Skloot 275). Science has come a long way since those times.
Doctors now have the ability to not only diagnose mental illness, but also treat it, whether it be
through medication or therapy. Now that we have all of this new information, why are we letting
people with mental illness struggle?
In society, people are hesitant to discuss mental illness. Its either whispered like dirty
gossip or laughed at. The real issue is that people wont talk about it because its scary. Amanda
Bynes, an actress known for her roles in movies like Shes the Man and Easy A, recently went
through a difficult time and had what people are calling a breakdown. She began behaving
recklessly and wearing absurd outfits, and even had trouble with the law. The court sentenced
her to time in rehab where she began getting the help she needs. The problem, in this case, was
not with the doctors, but with the way society reacted. Instead of feeling compassion or sadness
for a public figure with an illness, she was made fun of, laughed at, and taunted. People made
jokes about her while ignoring the severity of what she was dealing with. Even though there has
been no definitive diagnosis, clinical psychologists like Dr. Trevor Small are saying its possible
she has bipolar disorder. While information on Byness altercations with the law and her absurd
behavior is easy to find, its much more difficult to find any information surrounding her medical
condition. People are so hesitant and fearful to discuss mental illness that its easier for them to
laugh at it.
As a result of the lack of talk, the government places little funding towards helping
people with mental illness. In the United States, mental health care takes up only 5.6% of all
health care funding. The way that our health care dollars are spent, however, have changed
significantly over the last few decades. The government now spends 27% of mental health funds

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on prescription drugs, compared to 7% in 1986. Furthermore, the amount spent on inpatient care
has more than cut in half. Large cuts to inpatient care can be linked to an increasing number of
untreated mental health issues. While the decrease in spending was originally made to take
patients out of institutions that did more harm than help, its now working in the opposite way.
Without inpatient care, many severe cases of mental illness patients end up living on the street or
in jail (Kliff).
In this day and age, diagnosis for illnesses come much easier than they ever did in the
past. Its a popular belief that because doctors can diagnose a mental illness, theres no issue with
our mental health care system. It can be hypothesized that because the government spends so
much on prescription drugs for mental health that people must be getting better. There are a few
problems with this belief. For starters, not all mental illnesses can be treated with drugs, and
while drugs can regulate some mental illness, theyre often not enough to treat a person entirely.
Furthermore, just because there is medication to help those illnesses that respond to it doesnt
mean that people can afford it. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the average
lifetime cost of a person with a mild bipolar disorder is around $12,000, but for a person with
severe bipolar disorder, it could cost up to $624,785 throughout their life. While there are more
ways to cure illness, people with the illness dont always have the means to afford treatment.
Perhaps one of the leading causes of Americas failing mental health care system is the
way people with mental illnesses are perceived. Theyre looked at as being less human than other
normal people because they dont function in the same way. Because theyre perceived as sick
and dangerous and less than human, their rights are often overlooked until they affect someone
elses life. Take the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary that killed both young students
and brave teachers for example. The man behind the shooting suffered from autism, something

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that his parents and teachers could have easily been aware of. Adam Lanza didnt learn to speak
until late in life and then he continued to grow with anti-social behaviors, even attempting to sell
a bizarre book in which the main character enjoyed hurting others. It took years for his diagnosis
and even after that his mother was naive in the severity of his illness. When it all became too
much for him to bear, he lashed out (Soloman). After the tragedy, people were quick to attack
Adams reputation. This is where the lines begin to blur. While the shooting was a tragedy and
there is really no moral excuse for what Adam did, his lack of treatment can be directly linked to
his behavior. The people around him knew he was potentially dangerous; they knew the severity
of the disease. Instead of going to adequate lengths to help him, he fell through the cracks, not
unlike many other people who struggle with mental illness. It took twenty six lives for people to
understand how serious mental illness is. No one took too much interest in Adam until it was too
late.
Its no secret that health science is one of the fastest growing fields in the world. Every
day, doctors discover new and groundbreaking things. The changes that have occurred in just the
last few years are mind-boggling. Unfortunately, despite doctors doing their jobs to learn and
heal mental illness, our government doesnt hold up their end. Because of this, the state of our
mental health care system is dreadful. The perception of people with mental illness is still just as
bad as it was decades ago; no one seems to pay mind to those with a mental illness until they lash
out and harm others. The money that is involved in helping these people is miniscule compared
to the amount of money spent on other things. Despite the small budget America has for our
mental health care, its time to consider the price were really paying.

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Works Cited
"Clinical Psychologist Reveals Amanda Bynes May Have Bipolar Disorder." Perez Hilton. N.p.,
n.d.
Web. 1 Nov. 2014.
Kliff, Sarah. "Seven facts about America's mental health care system." Washington Post. N.p., 17
Dec. 2012. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
"Module 2: A Brief History of Mental Illness and the U.S. Mental Health Care." Unite for Sight.
N.p.,
n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.
Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. N.p.: Broadway Books, 2010. 275. Print.
Soloman, Andrew. "The Reckoning." The New Yorker. N.p., 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.
"The Impact and Cost of Mental Illness." NAMI. NAMI, n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2014.
Web. 1 Nov. 2014.

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Smarthinking's E-structor Response Form

(Your marked-up essay is below this form.)

HOW THIS WORKS: Your e-structor has written overview comments about your essay in the
form below. Your e-structor has also embedded comments [in bold and in brackets]
throughout your essay. Thank you for choosing Smarthinking's OWL; best wishes with
revising your paper!
Hi, Genevieve! Im Carole H. I look forward to working with you today and strengthening your essay
about the mental health care system. Lets get started.
*Strengths of the essay:
Genevieve, I liked the fact that, in the paragraph discussing the publics tendency to laugh at mental
illness instead of discussing it, you have begun and ended the paragraph with a strong topic sentence:
- In society, people are hesitant to discuss mental illness.
- People are so hesitant and fearful to discuss mental illness that its easier for them to laugh at it.
This paragraph is neatly wrapped up with an echo of the opening sentence, which helps to remind the
reader of the overall topic in this passage. Nice work!
*Genevieve 7291875 has requested that you respond to the Content Development:
You might consider using the source named in your assignment description as a kind of consistent
them throughout your paper, as this would help to explain to the reader why this story suddenly
appears in your body paragraph, below:
-Elsie Lacks, daughter of Henrietta Lacks, was committed to Crownsville Hospital after her mothers
death in 1951. Elsie was diagnosed with idiocy, a common diagnosis for anyone who was mentally
slow. Not only were the diagnosis non-specific, but the living conditions were worse.
The treatment of Elsie Lacks provides a good example of old-fashioned treatment methods. Where
else in your paper could you include her story to support your points? You may want to compare
perceptions of mental illness in her day to how Amanda Byrnes was treated, for example. This is not
to say you must do this; it is just a suggestion which could help to unify your different examples and
illustrations.
*Genevieve 7291875 has requested that you respond to the Organization:
You could use your topic sentences more effectively in some paragraphs. Here is an example of where
you could include an important aspect of the body content in the topic sentence:
-As a result of the lack of talk, the government places little funding towards helping people with
mental illness.

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This sentence does not really convey to the reader what your paragraphs conclusions are about the
poor funding for mental health care. Where could you include this result, which appears in your last
sentence of the paragraph?
-Without inpatient care, many severe cases of mental illness patients end up living on the street or in
jail (Kliff).
Including this undesirable side effect of poor funding as part of your topic sentence would make your
sentence more specific, and help to retain the readers interest, so please think about doing this. For
more help, try this link: Developing Powerful Paragraphs
Grammar & Mechanics:
I noticed a few contractions of verb phrases, and these can be a little informal for this kind of paper.
Here is where you have used contractions:
-The real issue is that people wont talk about it because its scary.
What are the full phrases for wont and its? Where else have you contracted verb phrases?
Please consider writing them out in full, to give your writing more formality.