From Pope Francis to Phil Robertson: Why are some people of faith generous — while others are nuts?
By D. F. Swaab
Salon
Originally posted on January 4, 2014
Here are some excerpts:
The Evolutionary Advantage of Religion
“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
The evolution of modern man has given rise to five behavioral characteristics common to all cultures: language, toolmaking, music, art, and religion. Precursors of all these characteristics, with the exception of religion, can be found in the animal kingdom. However, the evolutionary advantage of religion to humankind is clear.
(1) First, religion binds groups. Jews have been kept together as a group by their faith, in spite of the Diaspora, the Inquisition, and the Holocaust. For leaders, belief is an excellent instrument. As Seneca said, “Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.” Religions use various mechanisms to keep the group together:
(cut)
Paul Verspeek, hosting a local Dutch radio show on Boxing Day 2005, asked psychiatrists how they would recognize Jesus Christ if he returned to Earth. How would they distinguish between him and mentally ill patients who claimed to be Christ? The psychiatrists were stumped for an answer.
The entire article is here.
Thanks to Tom Fink for this article.
Showing posts with label Mental Illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mental Illness. Show all posts
Friday, January 24, 2014
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Are mental illnesses real? (Part One)
John Danaher
Philosophical Disquisitions
Originally published November 12, 2013
Here are some excerpts:
It may be a push, but I think it is fair to say that no branch of modern medicine faces the same existential challenges as psychiatry. To give a sense of the problem, a quick browse through Amazon reveals a plethora of books, many published within the past ten years, that either directly challenge the legitimacy of mental illness, call into question the medicalisation of the mind, or dispute the unholy alliance between “pharma” and psychiatry. This is to say nothing of the organisations and religious groups (most famously the scientologists) who critique modern psychiatry and try to dismantle its apparatuses.
(cut)
Part of the reason for this is philosophical. The attempt to identify, diagnose and treat mental illness seems to bring the mind within the scope of biomedical science: to “reduce” mental phenomena to scientifically tractable, manipulable and treatable “disorders”. This cuts to the core of one of the central projects in modern philosophy: the reconciliation project. This project tries to determine the appropriate relationship between the world as it seems to be to us (the manifest image) and the world as it seems to be when viewed through the lens of modern science (the scientific image).
As such, the topic of mental illness — what it is and how it should be treated — is one that is particularly ripe for philosophical analysis and debate. The purpose of this series of posts is to look at some aspects of this analysis and debate. Specifically, to look at various attempts to determine what an “illness” or “disease” really is, and at arguments for or against the legitimacy of “mental illness”.
The entire blog post is here.
Philosophical Disquisitions
Originally published November 12, 2013
Here are some excerpts:
It may be a push, but I think it is fair to say that no branch of modern medicine faces the same existential challenges as psychiatry. To give a sense of the problem, a quick browse through Amazon reveals a plethora of books, many published within the past ten years, that either directly challenge the legitimacy of mental illness, call into question the medicalisation of the mind, or dispute the unholy alliance between “pharma” and psychiatry. This is to say nothing of the organisations and religious groups (most famously the scientologists) who critique modern psychiatry and try to dismantle its apparatuses.
(cut)
Part of the reason for this is philosophical. The attempt to identify, diagnose and treat mental illness seems to bring the mind within the scope of biomedical science: to “reduce” mental phenomena to scientifically tractable, manipulable and treatable “disorders”. This cuts to the core of one of the central projects in modern philosophy: the reconciliation project. This project tries to determine the appropriate relationship between the world as it seems to be to us (the manifest image) and the world as it seems to be when viewed through the lens of modern science (the scientific image).
As such, the topic of mental illness — what it is and how it should be treated — is one that is particularly ripe for philosophical analysis and debate. The purpose of this series of posts is to look at some aspects of this analysis and debate. Specifically, to look at various attempts to determine what an “illness” or “disease” really is, and at arguments for or against the legitimacy of “mental illness”.
The entire blog post is here.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Mental illness: is chemical imbalance theory a myth?
Torstar News Service
Originally published on October 19, 2013
Here is an excerpt:
Now, neuroscience would attribute such things as depression and psychosis to “chemical imbalances” — specifically to disruptions in the neurotransmitters that allow the brain’s billions upon billions of grey matter cells to speak to one another.
And so mental illnesses became normalized and destigmatized.
And so their treatments, to a huge extent, came off of the couch, out of the asylums and onto pharmacy counters.
And so a $70-billion drug market grew to feed tens of millions worldwide with daily doses of magic bullets — pills that could bring their brain chemistry back into balance.
Trouble is, in the minds of many neuroscientists today, that chemical imbalance theory has turned out to be a myth, with little more scientific or medicinal substance than poetry or song.
The entire article is here.
Thanks to Ned Jenny for this information.
Originally published on October 19, 2013
Here is an excerpt:
Now, neuroscience would attribute such things as depression and psychosis to “chemical imbalances” — specifically to disruptions in the neurotransmitters that allow the brain’s billions upon billions of grey matter cells to speak to one another.
And so mental illnesses became normalized and destigmatized.
And so their treatments, to a huge extent, came off of the couch, out of the asylums and onto pharmacy counters.
And so a $70-billion drug market grew to feed tens of millions worldwide with daily doses of magic bullets — pills that could bring their brain chemistry back into balance.
Trouble is, in the minds of many neuroscientists today, that chemical imbalance theory has turned out to be a myth, with little more scientific or medicinal substance than poetry or song.
The entire article is here.
Thanks to Ned Jenny for this information.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
People With Mental Illness ‘More Likely To Have Violence Done To Them Than To Inflict Harm On Others’
By Candice Leigh Helfand
CBS News - DC Office
September 18, 2013
Here are some excerpts:
In light of the news, the call for mental health care reform – especially in regards to better funding and availability of mental health programs – could be heard from individuals and organizations alike throughout the U.S. following the elementary school attack. The call for more stringent gun control was even louder, given Lanza’s easy access to a high-powered assault rifle – a Bushmaster XM15-E2S.
Ultimately, the administration of President Barack Obama set forth legislation that, in essence, married the two issues. The gun control proposal he announced in early January included a number of potential restrictions on guns and assault weapons as well as requests for funding that would go specifically toward expanding mental health treatment programs.
(cut)
“I think the challenge is this: if you look across all mental health disorders throughout the United States … nearly half of all adult Americans had a mental health disorder at some point,” Sherry A. Glied, the newly-appointed dean of New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, said to CBSDC. “The vast majority of those people have never engaged in anything violent.”
As well as all of those who have, at one point or another, grappled with mental illness, mental health problems presently plague over a fourth of the entire population of the U.S. According to the National Institute on Mental Health, approximately 26.2 percent of American adults ages 18 and older suffer from some form of mental illness.
Experts worry that stigma “might actually lead to people being reluctant to seek help,” as Dr. John Duby, the chair of the Mental Health Leadership Workgroup at the American Academy of Pediatrics, noted.
The entire story is here.
CBS News - DC Office
September 18, 2013
Here are some excerpts:
In light of the news, the call for mental health care reform – especially in regards to better funding and availability of mental health programs – could be heard from individuals and organizations alike throughout the U.S. following the elementary school attack. The call for more stringent gun control was even louder, given Lanza’s easy access to a high-powered assault rifle – a Bushmaster XM15-E2S.
Ultimately, the administration of President Barack Obama set forth legislation that, in essence, married the two issues. The gun control proposal he announced in early January included a number of potential restrictions on guns and assault weapons as well as requests for funding that would go specifically toward expanding mental health treatment programs.
(cut)
“I think the challenge is this: if you look across all mental health disorders throughout the United States … nearly half of all adult Americans had a mental health disorder at some point,” Sherry A. Glied, the newly-appointed dean of New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, said to CBSDC. “The vast majority of those people have never engaged in anything violent.”
As well as all of those who have, at one point or another, grappled with mental illness, mental health problems presently plague over a fourth of the entire population of the U.S. According to the National Institute on Mental Health, approximately 26.2 percent of American adults ages 18 and older suffer from some form of mental illness.
Experts worry that stigma “might actually lead to people being reluctant to seek help,” as Dr. John Duby, the chair of the Mental Health Leadership Workgroup at the American Academy of Pediatrics, noted.
The entire story is here.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
The reality show: The Truman Show Delusion
Schizophrenics used to see demons and spirits. Now they talk about actors and hidden cameras – and make a lot of sense
By Mike Jay
Aeon Magazine
Here is an excerpt:
The Gold brothers’ interpretation of the Truman Show delusion runs along similar lines. It might appear to be a new phenomenon that has emerged in response to our hypermodern media culture, but is in fact a familiar condition given a modern makeover. They make a primary distinction between the content of delusions, which is spectacularly varied and imaginative, and the basic forms of delusion, which they characterise as ‘both universal and rather small in number’.
Persecutory delusions, for example, can be found throughout history and across cultures; but within this category a desert nomad is more likely to believe that he is being buried alive in sand by a djinn, and an urban American that he has been implanted with a microchip and is being monitored by the CIA. ‘For an illness that is often characterised as a break with reality,’ they observe, ‘psychosis keeps remarkably up to date.’ Rather than being estranged from the culture around them, psychotic subjects can be seen as consumed by it: unable to establish the boundaries of the self, they are at the mercy of their often heightened sensitivity to social threats.
The entire article is here.
By Mike Jay
Aeon Magazine
Here is an excerpt:
The Gold brothers’ interpretation of the Truman Show delusion runs along similar lines. It might appear to be a new phenomenon that has emerged in response to our hypermodern media culture, but is in fact a familiar condition given a modern makeover. They make a primary distinction between the content of delusions, which is spectacularly varied and imaginative, and the basic forms of delusion, which they characterise as ‘both universal and rather small in number’.
Persecutory delusions, for example, can be found throughout history and across cultures; but within this category a desert nomad is more likely to believe that he is being buried alive in sand by a djinn, and an urban American that he has been implanted with a microchip and is being monitored by the CIA. ‘For an illness that is often characterised as a break with reality,’ they observe, ‘psychosis keeps remarkably up to date.’ Rather than being estranged from the culture around them, psychotic subjects can be seen as consumed by it: unable to establish the boundaries of the self, they are at the mercy of their often heightened sensitivity to social threats.
The entire article is here.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Lost in the Forest -DSM-V Book Review
By Ian Hacking
London Review of Books
Vol. 35 No. 15 · 8 August 2013
pages 7-8 | 3428 words
The new edition of the DSM replaces DSM-IV, which appeared in 1994. The DSM is the standard – and standardising – work of reference issued by the American Psychiatric Association, but its influence reaches into every nook and cranny of psychiatry, everywhere. Hence its publication has been greeted by a flurry of discussion, hype and hostility across all media, both traditional and social. Most of it has concerned individual diagnoses and the ways they have changed, or haven’t. To invoke the cliché for the first time in my life, most critics attended to the trees (the kinds of disorder recognised in the manual), but few thought about the wood. I want to talk about the object as a whole – about the wood – and will seldom mention particular diagnoses, except when I need an example.
Many worries have already been aired. In mid-May an onslaught was delivered by the Division of Clinical Psychology of the British Psychology Society, which is sceptical about the very project of standardised diagnosis, especially of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. More generally, it opposes the biomedical model of mental illness, to the exclusion of social conditions and life-course events.
The entire book review is here.
Thanks to Tom Fink for this review.
London Review of Books
Vol. 35 No. 15 · 8 August 2013
pages 7-8 | 3428 words
The new edition of the DSM replaces DSM-IV, which appeared in 1994. The DSM is the standard – and standardising – work of reference issued by the American Psychiatric Association, but its influence reaches into every nook and cranny of psychiatry, everywhere. Hence its publication has been greeted by a flurry of discussion, hype and hostility across all media, both traditional and social. Most of it has concerned individual diagnoses and the ways they have changed, or haven’t. To invoke the cliché for the first time in my life, most critics attended to the trees (the kinds of disorder recognised in the manual), but few thought about the wood. I want to talk about the object as a whole – about the wood – and will seldom mention particular diagnoses, except when I need an example.
Many worries have already been aired. In mid-May an onslaught was delivered by the Division of Clinical Psychology of the British Psychology Society, which is sceptical about the very project of standardised diagnosis, especially of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. More generally, it opposes the biomedical model of mental illness, to the exclusion of social conditions and life-course events.
The entire book review is here.
Thanks to Tom Fink for this review.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Prisons and the Mentally Ill
Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
Originally published June 21, 2013
It doesn’t make moral, ethical, or fiscal sense, according to Cook County sheriff Tom Dart, to house people who are mentally ill in jails and prisons.
Originally published June 21, 2013
It doesn’t make moral, ethical, or fiscal sense, according to Cook County sheriff Tom Dart, to house people who are mentally ill in jails and prisons.
Watch Prisons and the Mentally Ill on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Nevada buses hundreds of mentally ill patients to cities around country
By Cynthia Hubert, Phillip Reese, & Jim Sanders
The Sacramento Bee
Originally published April 14, 2013
Over the past five years, Nevada's primary state psychiatric hospital has put hundreds of mentally ill patients on Greyhound buses and sent them to cities and towns across America.
Since July 2008, Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas has transported more than 1,500 patients to other cities via Greyhound bus, sending at least one person to every state in the continental United States, according to a Bee review of bus receipts kept by Nevada's mental health division.
About a third of those patients were dispatched to California, including more than 200 to Los Angeles County, about 70 to San Diego County and 19 to the city of Sacramento.
In recent years, as Nevada has slashed funding for mental health services, the number of mentally ill patients being bused out of southern Nevada has steadily risen, growing 66 percent from 2009 to 2012. During that same period, the hospital has dispersed those patients to an ever-increasing number of states.
(cut)
It also is cheaper, he noted. Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services spent a total of $205,000 putting patients on Greyhound buses during the past five years, according to The Bee analysis. The state hospital admits about 4,000 patients a year to its inpatient unit, and inpatient care runs around $500 per day per client, Ghertner said.
The entire story is here.
The Sacramento Bee
Originally published April 14, 2013
Over the past five years, Nevada's primary state psychiatric hospital has put hundreds of mentally ill patients on Greyhound buses and sent them to cities and towns across America.
Since July 2008, Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital in Las Vegas has transported more than 1,500 patients to other cities via Greyhound bus, sending at least one person to every state in the continental United States, according to a Bee review of bus receipts kept by Nevada's mental health division.
About a third of those patients were dispatched to California, including more than 200 to Los Angeles County, about 70 to San Diego County and 19 to the city of Sacramento.
In recent years, as Nevada has slashed funding for mental health services, the number of mentally ill patients being bused out of southern Nevada has steadily risen, growing 66 percent from 2009 to 2012. During that same period, the hospital has dispersed those patients to an ever-increasing number of states.
(cut)
It also is cheaper, he noted. Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services spent a total of $205,000 putting patients on Greyhound buses during the past five years, according to The Bee analysis. The state hospital admits about 4,000 patients a year to its inpatient unit, and inpatient care runs around $500 per day per client, Ghertner said.
The entire story is here.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Focus on Mental Health Laws to Curb Violence Is Unfair, Some Say
By ERICA GOODE and JACK HEALY
The New York Times
Published: January 31, 2013
In their fervor to take action against gun violence after the shooting in Newtown, Conn., a growing number of state and national politicians are promoting a focus on mental illness as a way to help prevent further killings.
Legislation to revise existing mental health laws is under consideration in at least a half-dozen states, including Colorado, Oregon and Ohio. A New York bill requiring mental health practitioners to warn the authorities about potentially dangerous patients was signed into law on Jan. 15. In Washington, President Obama has ordered “a national dialogue” on mental health, and a variety of bills addressing mental health issues are percolating on Capitol Hill.
But critics say that this focus unfairly singles out people with serious mental illness, who studies indicate are involved in only about 4 percent of violent crimes and are 11 or more times as likely than the general population to be the victims of violent crime.
And many proposals — they include strengthening mental health services, lowering the threshold for involuntary commitment and increasing requirements for reporting worrisome patients to the authorities — are rushed in execution and unlikely to repair a broken mental health system, some experts say.
“Good intentions without thought make for bad laws, and I think we have a risk of that,” said J. Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist and clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied rampage killers.
The entire story is here.
The New York Times
Published: January 31, 2013
In their fervor to take action against gun violence after the shooting in Newtown, Conn., a growing number of state and national politicians are promoting a focus on mental illness as a way to help prevent further killings.
Legislation to revise existing mental health laws is under consideration in at least a half-dozen states, including Colorado, Oregon and Ohio. A New York bill requiring mental health practitioners to warn the authorities about potentially dangerous patients was signed into law on Jan. 15. In Washington, President Obama has ordered “a national dialogue” on mental health, and a variety of bills addressing mental health issues are percolating on Capitol Hill.
But critics say that this focus unfairly singles out people with serious mental illness, who studies indicate are involved in only about 4 percent of violent crimes and are 11 or more times as likely than the general population to be the victims of violent crime.
And many proposals — they include strengthening mental health services, lowering the threshold for involuntary commitment and increasing requirements for reporting worrisome patients to the authorities — are rushed in execution and unlikely to repair a broken mental health system, some experts say.
“Good intentions without thought make for bad laws, and I think we have a risk of that,” said J. Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist and clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied rampage killers.
The entire story is here.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Court Upends 9-Year Fight on Housing Mentally Ill
By Mosi Secret
The New York Times
Originally published April 6, 2012
A federal appeals court, ruling on procedural grounds, struck down on Friday a judge’s order that New York State transfer thousands of mentally ill adults in New York City from institutional group homes into their own homes and apartments. In doing so, the court brought a nine-year legal battle to an abrupt end without resolving the underlying issues of how the state cares for such patients.
Though the lower court judge had ruled the current system violated federal law by warehousing people with mental illness in far more restrictive conditions than necessary, the appellate panel said the nonprofit organization that began the litigation, Disability Advocates, did not have legal standing to sue.
The panel, comprising three judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, acknowledged that its decision essentially reset the long-running battle to its starting point.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Massachusetts Appeals Court rules that judge was wrong to order mentally ill woman to have an abortion and to then be sterilized
By Peter Schworm
The Boston Globe
The Massachusetts Appeals Court today reversed a probate judge’s decision to order a schizophrenic woman to undergo an abortion and to then be sterilized, saying the woman had consistently expressed her opposition to the practice as a Catholic.
In October, the state Department of Mental Health filed a petition to have the woman’s parents named as guardians for the woman, who is only known as “Mary Moe,’’ so they could give consent for an abortion, according to the court.
Norfolk Probate and Family Court Judge Christina Harms, declared that the 32-year-old woman was not competent to make a decision about an abortion, citing “substantial delusional beliefs,” and concluded she would choose to abort her pregnancy if she were competent.
Earlier this month, Harms ordered that the woman’s parents be appointed as coguardians and that Moe could be “coaxed, bribed, or even enticed ... by ruse” into a hospital where she would be sedated and an abortion would then be performed, the ruling stated.
The judge also ordered the facility that performed the abortion to sterilize the woman “to avoid this painful situation from recurring in the future.”
The Appeal Court’s decision, released today, reversed the sterilization order in unusually strong terms.
“No party requested this measure, none of the attendant procedural requirements has been met, and the judge appears to have simply produced the requirement out of thin air,” wrote Appeals Court Judge Andrew Grainger.
The entire story is here.
The Boston Globe
The Massachusetts Appeals Court today reversed a probate judge’s decision to order a schizophrenic woman to undergo an abortion and to then be sterilized, saying the woman had consistently expressed her opposition to the practice as a Catholic. In October, the state Department of Mental Health filed a petition to have the woman’s parents named as guardians for the woman, who is only known as “Mary Moe,’’ so they could give consent for an abortion, according to the court.
Norfolk Probate and Family Court Judge Christina Harms, declared that the 32-year-old woman was not competent to make a decision about an abortion, citing “substantial delusional beliefs,” and concluded she would choose to abort her pregnancy if she were competent.
Earlier this month, Harms ordered that the woman’s parents be appointed as coguardians and that Moe could be “coaxed, bribed, or even enticed ... by ruse” into a hospital where she would be sedated and an abortion would then be performed, the ruling stated.
The judge also ordered the facility that performed the abortion to sterilize the woman “to avoid this painful situation from recurring in the future.”
The Appeal Court’s decision, released today, reversed the sterilization order in unusually strong terms.
“No party requested this measure, none of the attendant procedural requirements has been met, and the judge appears to have simply produced the requirement out of thin air,” wrote Appeals Court Judge Andrew Grainger.
The entire story is here.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Adults With Mental Health Issues More Likely to Be Uninsured
Uninsurance Among Nonelderly Adults With and Without Frequent Mental and Physical Distress in the United States
Psychiatr Serv 62:1131-1137, October 2011
doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.62.10.1131
Tara W. Strine, Ph.D., M.P.H., Matthew Zack, M.D., M.P.H., Satvinder Dhingra, M.P.H., Benjamin Druss, M.D., M.P.H. and Eduardo Simoes, M.D., M.P.H.
OBJECTIVES: This research describes uninsurance rates over time among nonelderly adults in the United States with or without frequent physical and mental distress and provides estimates of uninsurance by frequent mental distress status and sociodemographic characteristics nationally and by state.
METHODS: Data from the 1993 through 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey that uses random-digit dialing, were used to examine the prevalence of uninsurance among nearly 3 million respondents by self-report of frequent physical and frequent mental distress and sociodemographic characteristics, response year, and state of residence.
RESULTS: After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, uninsurance among adults aged 18 to 64 years was markedly higher among those with frequent mental distress only (22.6%) and those with both frequent mental and frequent physical distress (21.8%) than among those with frequent physical distress only (17.7%). The prevalence of uninsurance did not differ markedly between those with only frequent mental distress and those with both frequent mental distress and frequent physical distress. The prevalence of uninsurance among those with frequent mental distress only and those with neither frequent mental distress nor frequent physical distress increased significantly over time.
CONCLUSIONS: Uninsurance rates among nonelderly adults with frequent mental distress were disproportionately high. The results of this analysis can be used as baseline data to assess whether implementation of the Affordable Care Act is accompanied by changes in health care access, utilization, and self-reported measures of health, particularly among those with mental illness. (Psychiatric Services 62:1131–1137, 2011)
Link to full article is here.
Uninsurance Among Nonelderly Adults With and Without Frequent Mental and Physical Distress in the United States
Psychiatr Serv 62:1131-1137, October 2011
doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.62.10.1131
doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.62.10.1131
Tara W. Strine, Ph.D., M.P.H., Matthew Zack, M.D., M.P.H., Satvinder Dhingra, M.P.H., Benjamin Druss, M.D., M.P.H. and Eduardo Simoes, M.D., M.P.H.
OBJECTIVES: This research describes uninsurance rates over time among nonelderly adults in the United States with or without frequent physical and mental distress and provides estimates of uninsurance by frequent mental distress status and sociodemographic characteristics nationally and by state.
METHODS: Data from the 1993 through 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey that uses random-digit dialing, were used to examine the prevalence of uninsurance among nearly 3 million respondents by self-report of frequent physical and frequent mental distress and sociodemographic characteristics, response year, and state of residence.
RESULTS: After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, uninsurance among adults aged 18 to 64 years was markedly higher among those with frequent mental distress only (22.6%) and those with both frequent mental and frequent physical distress (21.8%) than among those with frequent physical distress only (17.7%). The prevalence of uninsurance did not differ markedly between those with only frequent mental distress and those with both frequent mental distress and frequent physical distress. The prevalence of uninsurance among those with frequent mental distress only and those with neither frequent mental distress nor frequent physical distress increased significantly over time.
CONCLUSIONS: Uninsurance rates among nonelderly adults with frequent mental distress were disproportionately high. The results of this analysis can be used as baseline data to assess whether implementation of the Affordable Care Act is accompanied by changes in health care access, utilization, and self-reported measures of health, particularly among those with mental illness. (Psychiatric Services 62:1131–1137, 2011)
Link to full article is here.
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