Introduction
Mental health is a component of overall well-being, and human health is essential to defining human health (Prince et al., 2007). The youth population is considered healthy, but about 20% of youths experience mental concerns. This report addresses youth mental concerns: anxieties, depression, aggressive, disruptive behaviors, post-traumatic stress disorders, hyperactiveness, attention deficiency, and substance use disorders. This report’s main agenda is to discuss the youth mental health policies that govern youth mental health to provide a detailed understanding of mental health policies and mental health care professionals.
History of youth mental health
Mental health histories have significant gaps. Its prospects gained attention in the 20th century. In the US, mental health dates back to the mid-1800s. William Sweetzer first unveiled mental health in 1843 after the civil war, which raised concerns about mental health (Origins of mental health. n.d). Modern psychiatry was introduced across the US in the 20th century. This transition in mental health care was introduced after civil rights and antiwar movements were formed. Later mental policies and laws focused on special groups, including children and adolescents, were introduced. In 1937 the US committee for mental hygiene-initiated cooperation with government and private agencies in approaches to better mental health (Bertolote, 2008). Concerns for mental health policies further triggered tensions as a response, a joint commission for mental illness and mental health was formed in 1955. In 1961 the commission later proposed a policy to favor mental health that is incorporative even for the less disadvantaged populations, including the physically disabled.
As a result, Community Mental Health Centers were formed (Goldman & Grob, 2006). A decade later, the National Institute of Mental Health started to focus on research on mental issues for young populations. The community-based mental health systems seemed promising, and in 1977 a series of donations to support these systems was facilitated to improve mental health. In 1984 congress enacted the mental health system acts to facilitate funding of community-based mental health programs (Goldman & Grob, 2006). In the late 90s, mental health intervention encompassed school-based mental health education to target the young populations, and the trend has been continual across decades, with the US congress passing various mental health care acts that have mental health and the policies that govern mental health care across all populations including the youth population.
Scope and scale of mental health
Mental health concerns address all age sets of people, including the youth. According to McGorry, & Mei (2018), about 75% of mental concerns emerge before the age of twenty-five, and the age set of individuals between twelve and twenty-five years of age accounts for a bigger portion of these mental health concerns. Youths are at a high risk of being culprits of a range of mental disorders attributed to their transition from childhood to adulthood (Kessler 2005). The common mental conditions that commonly affect the youth include anxiety, unstable moods or mood disorders, psychotic disorder, eating disorders, suicide or self-harm, and substance use disorders. According to Bradshaw et al. (2014), suicide is the second highest life claimer in high-income countries’ youth populations. Among the disability, life adjusted years experienced by the youths aged 17 to 24 years, 17% of the disabilities are associated with behavior disorders and mental disorders, and 4.5% are associated with self-harm. Mental health has recorded a high prevalence for about two decades and has attracted health attention due to its negative impacts on youths’ quality of life and development.
Cause and Consequences of youth mental health disorders
Casali. (2022) a lot of illnesses that are mentally related develop between adolescence and young adulthood, and these illnesses can be caused by the genetic factors which illness run in the family history, environmental factors that are based on early life exposures or experiences like trauma abuse, loneliness, or stress. Another contributing factor is the biological factors centered within the brain chemistry that bring imbalances in brain chemicals affecting neural functioning. Additionally, substance use, lack of social support, pressure from societal expectations, and peer bullying can trigger mental concerns in youth. Some of the impacts of mental health issues in the youth population include a decline in academic performance, isolation or withdrawal from social avenues, suicide attempts, or self-harm. One can be noticed to have increased behaviors of substance use to levels that can predict addiction and difficulties with their family or relationships.
Non-governmental organizations and their effort in addressing mental health
NAMI: The National Alliance on Mental Illness is one of the non-governmental organizations that is based in the US that started as a small group of families in 1979 and has progressively advanced to an alliance with more than 600 community affiliates to push their mental health caring agenda (About NAMI n.d). NAMI was historically dedicated to supporting the communities. Still, it has advanced to dedication in advocating for public policies that shape the health sector by promoting and providing policymakers with information resources and tools needed to promote good mental health across the US. This organization also provides mental health education programs to equip the population with sufficient Knowledge of mental health (About NAMI n.d). They also support educators in mental health with any information they might need to create awareness of mental health. As part of their dos, NAMI supports the mentally ill and their caregivers to give them a sense of belonging and campaign against the stigmatization of the mentally challenged. NAMI collects views from the mentally challenged and the public and responds to requests from the public, and they also work with media industries to promote mental health. This organization is positively impacting mental health care. NAMI’s efforts to engage the public in their activities can be assured to provide effective support needed by communities; however, this organization needs to consider not only community social settings but also workplace and school environment settings. Some of the challenges that derail the efforts of NAMI include Limited resources and funding. This organization benefits from well-wishers’ donations can be insufficient. Another challenge can be cultural and community barriers like cultural diversity, community attitudes, beliefs, and myths that can sabotage the promotion of good mental health.
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation: This foundation is non-profit research facilitating organization that focuses on granting researchers on mental health with sufficient research funds. They have facilitated over 6400 grants worth 440 million dollars since 1987 (Brain & Behavior Research Foundation n.d.). Different grants fund operating funds by this organization; currently, this organization is a leading donation supporter for mental research (Brain & Behavior Research Foundation n.d.). This organization periodically invites suggestions for research and facilitates them in a very accountable procedure that attracts many well-wishers. Facilitating research mental health research avails competent, evidence-based conclusions on mental health that can be used to provide good health care. Besides, the research can provide policymakers in mental health with relative information to guide them in drafting mental health policies. Potential barriers likely to be linked to Brain and Behavior Research Foundation include political interferences and grant awarding biases.
Mental Health America: This non-profit community-based organization was founded in 1909 by Clifford Beers to address the need for the mentally ill and promote overall mental health (About Us. n.d.). This organization’s mission is to promote effective mental health and prevent mental illness through education, advocacy, research, and community serving. Mental Health America educates the public on mental challenges, how to identify the challenges of mental health early, and the interventional measures for mental challenges. Also, this organization collaborates with its affiliates to advocate for progressive policies and recommendations promoting mental health. This organization has drafted mechanisms to ensure that peers’ opinions are integrated across the organization’s agendas, and it campaigns against racism and inequalities, which contribute to mental challenges (About Us. n.d.). Mental Health America can consider partnering with mental health care facilities or providers to diversify their missions and provide these mental health practitioners with evidenced-based interventional strategies to strengthen existing interventions further. Additionally, they can avail themselves of 24/7 communication channels for mental emergencies. The greatest barrier that can negatively impact the mission of Mental Health America is the funding challenges, cultural diversity, and competencies that can limit the outreach of educational and supportive programs.
Improving access for youth mental health and substance use conditions (2021).
The youth population has behavioral health needs and anxieties attributed to many factors, such as childhood experiences, school difficulty, and family issues, among other stressors. The Biden -Harris administration has prioritized supporting youth with mental health needs and substance use challenges. The main question is how the Biden is -Hari’s administration is tackling these youth concerns. Discussed below are frameworks or policies that govern youth mental health to which I will discuss in detail.
To begin with, let’s have a look at Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is expected to mandate youth and children insurance by 2024. This policy outlines that children need to be covered under insurance to facilitate access to quality health care that is very affordable (The United States Government.2021). The Biden-Harris administration is very supportive of the enacted Affordable Care Act (ACA), and it’s dedicated to ensuring that every child is covered medically by the Medicaid and Child Insurance Programs that provide quality health service at affordable costs. This Affordable Care Act can ensure youth with challenges in accessing mental health care can be covered, and it can promote mental health. Studies by Andrews et al. (2019) suggest that Medicaid has increased patients treated with substance use complications.
Another framework prioritizing mental youth is the investments of The America Rescue Plan that the state is allocating at a community level to deal with youth mental issues and substance use care. For example, American community-based clinics with certifications to deal with youth health and substance use challenges have been allocated funds worth 420 million dollars for expanding clinics and providing 24/7 services for substance use disorder or mental illness for the young population affordable.
The rescue plan funding is intended to facilitate reliable and sustainable infrastructures and systems that will improve children and adolescents’ mental health through the children’s mental health initiative. Early childhood mental health grants will ensure that children are exposed to a supportive early childhood mental environment to promote good mental health for the young population. The grants will support community groups dedicated to preventing youth from engaging in substance use behavior. These approaches discussed above aim to intervene in youth health behavior to prevent and reduce the prevalence of substance use among American youths using a Drug Control Policy that focuses on evidence-based interventions across the youth affordable (The United States Government.2021). This drug control policy can be very effective for controlling youths’ current trends on substance use to avoid future mental complications.
The Biden-Harris tenure has also facilitated another mental care strategy by providing school-based health support. After the pandemic, the American Rescue Plan, in coordination with school administrators, drafted a return-to-school framework to support students’ socio-emotional needs and mental health concerns. Schools were provided with resources highlighting the mental healthcare supportive programs that are evidence-based and fully funded by the government. School departments availed mental health in lessons and Webinars that support youth mental healthcare. Schools were also funded to develop mental health promotion programs through research describing how to devise effective and competent customized mental care for the youth affordable (The United States Government.2021). This is what was identified as the K-12 health promotion tool kit.
The strategies s for youth mental health care further takes a more diversified approach through a scheme of laying plans for the future betterment of youth mental health and prevention of substance use. In this strategy, the youths are fully engaged in inspiring and manipulating the young population to prioritize their mental health. Other than engaging the Youth in solving mental health there’s enhanced coordination across the Human Health System to facilitate mental health care departmental functions. Finally, as per the white house fact sheet, youth mental health is expected to be the subject of continual research, and the Biden-Harris administration is dedicated to promoting youth mental health and prevention of substance use while at the same time treating and preventing mental and substance use disorders. The Biden-Harris administration assures the creation of a stigma-free environment that supports the mental and substance use victimized populations.
References
About Nami (no date) NAMI. Available at: https://nami.org/About-NAMI (Accessed: March 8, 2023).
Andrews, C. M., Pollack, H. A., Abraham, A. J., Grogan, C. M., Bersamira, C. S., D’aunno, T., & Friedmann, P. D. (2019). Medicaid coverage in substance use disorder treatment after the Affordable Care Act. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 102, 1-7.
Bertolote, J. (2008). The roots of the concept of mental health. World Psychiatry, 7(2), 113.
Bradshaw, C., Nguyen, A., Kane, J. C., & Bass, J. (2014). Mental health matters: social inclusion of youth with mental health conditions. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
Goldman, H. H., & Grob, G. N. (2006). Defining ‘mental illness’ in mental health policy. Health Affairs, 25(3), 737-749.
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of general psychiatry, 62(6), 593-602
McGorry, P. D., & Mei, C. (2018). Early intervention in youth mental health: progress and future directions. BMJ Ment Health, 21(4), 182-184.
National Drug Control Strategy – United States Department of State. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2023, from https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/288960.pdf
Nolan, P. (2000). A history of mental health nursing. Nelson Thornes.
Prince, M., Patel, V., Saxena, S., Maj, M., Maselko, J., Phillips, M. R., & Rahman, A. (2007). No health without mental health. The Lancet, 370(9590), 859-877.
The United States Government. (2021, October 19). Fact sheet: Improving access and care for youth mental health and substance use conditions. The White House. Retrieved March 8, 2023, from https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/19/fact-sheet-improving-access-and-care-for-youth-mental-health-and-substance-use-conditions/
Casali, M. (2022, March 23). What causes mental illness in youth? Retrieved March 8, 2023, from https://www.turnbridge.com/news-events/latest-articles/causes-of-mental-illness/
Origins of mental health. (n.d.). Retrieved March 7, 2023, from https://publichealth.jhu.edu/departments/mental-health/about/origins-of-mental-health#:~:text=In%201893%2C%20Isaac%20Ray%2C%20a,energies%2C%20or%20derange%20its%20movements.
About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2023, from https://www.mhanational.org/about-us
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2023, from https://www.bbrfoundation.org/
Appendix
I picked Mental Health Policy, Please see below
Policy: Improving access and care for youth mental health and substance use conditions
FACT SHEET: Improving Access and Care for Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Conditions | The White House
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/19/fact-sheet-improving-access-and-care-for-youth-mental-health-and-substance-use-conditions/
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