Andreozzi 1

Amee Andreozzi

Professor Dean Leonard

English 1201.511

20 October 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay will discuss the mental health in America and whether or not we are in a mental

health crisis due to the decline in mental health providers, and an increase in more people being

diagnosed with mental house disorders and at a much younger age.

Gayle, Monica. “Stopping the Stigma: A FOX 2 News special report on mental illness.” ​FOX 2

News Detroit. ​Detroit, MI, 18 October 2019. Television

www.fox2detroit.com/video/616136

TV news special report investigation into depression and suicide that was kick started due

to the suicide of FOX 2 meteorologist Jessica Starr in 2018. Individuals and family members of

individuals who suffer with mental illness were interviewed and explained in detail what they

experienced when they were having an “episode”. They also discussed how they were treated

when they would try to seek help from medical professionals for their illness.

Kliff, Sarah. “Seven facts about America’s mental health-care system.” ​The Washington Post,

17 December 2012,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/12/17/seven-facts-about-americas-mental-health

-care-system/
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Seven facts are outlined and explained in this article regarding the mental health care

system in America. U.S. spends 113 billion dollars on mental health, which is 5.6 percent of the

national healthcare spending. The money that is spent on mental health goes mostly towards

prescription drugs. Access to mental health care is worse than any other type of medical services.

Mental health care treatment is pricey, approximately 45 percent of people suffering with a

mental health condition go untreated due to the cost of treatment. Attitudes about mental health

are a barrier to receiving care, most people think things will get better on their own. States cut

1.8 billion dollars in spending from the mental health budget during the recession. Federal

legislation is requiring more expansive insurance coverage for mental health services, the

Affordable Care Act creates more mental health mandates.

Mack, Julie. “Nowhere to Turn.” ​Mlive, 24 September 2019, ​www.mlive.com/Mental-Health

This article tells the story of what a family of an 8 year old boy who has been diagnosed

with autism, anxiety and ADHD has endured trying to get help for her son. At the age of 8

Isaiah Robinson has been in and out of the emergency department at their local hospital due to

threats of harming himself. The ER would just sedate Isaiah and send him home with his mom to

Isaiah’s mom’s true mission was to get him admitted to an inpatient hospital that could help treat

him. However, Michigan only has one inpatient psychiatric hospital at this time due to the

closing of most state psychiatric hospitals in the 1990s. This story shows how the states severe

shortage of in-patient psychiatric beds means patients in mental health crisis cannot receive the

help they need.

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Malone, Monica PMHNP (Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner). Personal Interview.

01 October 2019

Discussed depression, bipolar, anxiety attacks, and postpartum. Discussed how stress,

anxiety and feeling of edginess/short temperedness can be confused with postpartum and vice

versa. We discussed different types of medications, side effects of medications. Monica also

provided me with information on additional websites and articles to read for research on mental

health.

National Institutes of Health (US); Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. NIH Curriculum

Supplement Series [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health (US); 2007.

Information about Mental Illness and the Brain. Available from:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK20369/

Defining mental illness, health condition that changes a person’s thinking, feelings or

behavior that causes a person distress and difficulty in functioning. These disorders can range

from severe in some cases to mild.

Not all brain disorders are categorized as mental illnesses, some disorders like epilepsy,

Parkinson’s and MS are brain disorders but are considered neurological diseases rather than

mental illnesses. Scientists continue to study the brains of people with mental illnesses. This

article focuses on the traditional classified mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia,

ADHD, autism, and OCD.

“Suicide, teens, and men: Mental illness does not discriminate.” ​FOX 2 Detroit, ​18 October 2019
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www.fox2detroit.com/news/suicide-teens-and-men-mental-illness-does-not-discriminate

This article discusses how teens and men are affected by mental illness just as much as

women. A 15 year old girl is interviewed and discusses her struggle with being bullied and

attempting suicide. It also interviews a professional man who suffered from depression after

losing both of his parents in a short amount of time. It discusses the stigma of mental health and

the even bigger stigma of men who suffer from mental health. This article also goes into further

detail about the suicide of FOX 2 meteorologist Jessica Starr. This article also shares the links to

the FOX 2 special report video that I discussed previously in this bibliography.

Walton, Alice G. “Why More Americans Suffer from Mental Disorders Than Anyone Else.”

The Atlantic,​ 4 October 2011,

www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/why-more-americans-suffer-from-mental-disorders

-than-anyone-else​/

Americans suffer from all sorts of psychological issues and based on the evidence

indicates that they’re not going anywhere despite an increasing number of treatment options. The

illnesses vary from mood disorders like depression, and bipolar disorder to anxiety disorders like

generalized anxiety, OCD, substance abuse and schizophrenia. The World Health Organization

(WHO) has collected a great amount of data to see how the U.S. compares to other countries

when it comes to mental health. Identifying the most common mental health disorders in the

U.S., identifying the prevalence of mental health disorders across the globe, researching and

finding patterns of depression based on location, and socioeconomic status.