The Many Challenges of Mental Health Institutions Today

The challenges of mental health institutions are quite plenty, and sadly, not all of them can be easily fixed or handled.

Patricia Lubeck, author of Asylum Scandals, has identified in her book the many flaws of mental health institutions. However, they weren’t always bad, at least at the start of things. With corrupt higher-ups, overcrowding, and overworked but underpaid staff, the story of abuse, torture, corruption, and murder started manifesting behind these institutions’ walls.

We invite you to join us to talk about some of the challenges that mental health care (including mental health institutions) face in our modern era.

1. The Lack of Accessibility Many People Feel

For various people, not having access to mental health services can imply different things.

Patients who are elderly or less mobile patients might not have friends or family members who can look after them and drive them to clinics. There may be an extreme lack of mental health professionals and services in low-income and rural regions.

Other elements limiting access are as follows:

Absence of transportation
Social disgrace
Not enough information
Inadequate internet speed and internal

2. Financial Barriers Also Hinder People From Seeking Help

Among the most significant obstacles to mental health treatments that prevent people from getting the help they need is money. When refusing treatment, people frequently give as their excuses the expense of their medical bills or the absence of health insurance.

According to the National Comorbidity Study, 47% of participants who reported having a mood, anxiety, or drug use illness said they required mental health treatment but were unable to pay for it.

By removing obstacles to mental health care, virtual care can lower the cost of mental health therapy by:

Locating daycare for parents
Taking a break from work
Lowering costs of transportation

A US program discovered that using videoconferencing instead of nurse home visits significantly increased the caseload capability. 43,560 driving minutes were conserved over a period of 14 months.

Telehealth sessions instead of in-person visits reduced the Northern Health agency in British Columbia C$65,520 ($49,584.14) in yearly travel expenses.

3. Extremely Long Wait Times

Believe it or not, among the biggest challenges of mental health institutions is their extremely long wait times. Patients’ physical and mental health deteriorates, and their desire to seek therapy decreases with the length of stay. These ridiculous wait times will eventually breed an overall story of abuse, torture, corruption, and murder at the hands of corrupt individuals working in the field, as Patricia Lubeck’s book exposes.

According to recent research by Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO), children may have to wait up to 2.5 years in some locations before receiving mental health treatment. That’s a long wait time, which would open up challenges and opportunities in global mental health.

Psychiatrists see people according to urgency or importance. Despite this, patients might have to wait for as long as two weeks to be evaluated for psychoses, serious mood disorders, or manic episodes.

The Value of Successfully Overcoming the Hurdles to Mental Health Care

Enhancing lives and communities requires removing obstacles to mental health care. An estimated 800,000 individuals attempt suicide annually, or a single individual every 40 seconds on average. When mental health disorders are properly treated, we can lessen the following:

Family conflict
Substance abuse
Employment issues
Physical health problems
Suicide rates
Legal issues

However, to enhance the framework for mental health care, we must first comprehend the obstacles that prevent people from accessing mental health services.

Removing Barriers Present in Mental Health Care

But before we can improve the structure of mental health treatment, we need to understand the barriers that keep certain people from getting the services they need. So, how do doctors encourage people to contact them online for mental health services? When it comes to virtual doctor appointments, there are numerous advantages for patients over in-person sessions, such as:

The ability to consult with the doctor in private from home
Little to nonexistent waitlists or wait times
Less interference with personal and professional schedules
Therapy is available at any time and from any location
Communication with the doctor in real-time
Not having to make travel plans or find a ride

Fixing the Challenges of Mental Health Institutions Together

Fixing the many challenges of mental health institutions and care isn’t going to be easy. But if we work on them together, we can stop the story of abuse, torture, corruption, and murder that happened before. Reading Patricia Lubeck’s book, Asylum Scandals, also helps enlighten us about what we shouldn’t do.

Click here to grab a copy of Patricia’s book today and enjoy a jarring yet truthful read from a meaningful book promoting mental health awareness!