There are tens of thousands of people in this country suffering from a mental illness or disorder. Current data estimates that about 8.2 million, or about 5 percent of the adult population suffer from mental and emotional problems that "seriously interfered with the ability to work or attend school or to manage day-to-day activities" (Willis, 1998). The younger population is also being diagnosed at an alarming rate with mental disorders such as depression and conduct disorders. Americans with psychological disorders such as anxiety or moo

Let's take a look at how a person in America gets diagnosed with a disorder, then we can then go into specific disorders to discuss how socioeconomic as well as status can relate to some of them. Most likely, the first one to notice that a person may have a mental disorder is usually a friend or family member of that person. It is usually brought to the attention of the person that there may be a problem. Then if the person is lucky enough to have insurance through work or somewhere else, that person may seek treatment for said mental problems. The type of insurance and the amount of money available will severely affect this person in their treatment. This is an important inequality issue because it is up to the insurance company to make decisions for patients. Insurance companies or health care management (HMO) companies have the right to determine such key issues as which therapists their clients may see, they have the right to decide how much to spend on a session, a!

Kessler, R.C. McGonagle, K.A., Zhao, S., Nelson, C.B., Hughes, M.., Dshleman, S., Wittchen,

Comer, R.J. (1994). Abnormal Psychology, 4th edition

H.u., & Kendler, K.S. (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R

ious mental illness" (Manderscheid 1992). A community in which most of the members are at or below the poverty level will most likely have to deal with more stress than an average upper-middle class neighborhood. Poverty stricken neighborhood deal with higher rates of violence, more crime, higher divorce rates, and there are more minorities in poor neighborhoods. Put these two socioeconomic problems into perspective and there is a huge problem with the way insurance companies and HMO's operate.

Anxiety disorders such as above mentioned generalized anxiety disorder seem to be more common among the poor, but a different type of anxiety disorder anorexia nervosa and obsessive compulsive disorder seems to be more popular among females in an income bracket that is above the poverty level. Some theorists believe that this disorder stems from a need to be perfect and never achieving it. Anorexics are constantly striving for the perfect body yet they always feel empty inside. Is this due to status? Perhaps status in the upper class to look a certain way could link the two. To the best of my knowledge there are studies being done right now that are trying to show this link.

ld just be that a child from a poverty stricken neighborhood has a different way of expressing himself and therefore may seem more severe than ADHD.

There is a lot to cover when discussing these mental health diagnoses and our how our health care system takes care of them. In theory according to Karl Marx I believe that in a society that he describes would never let people fall through the net of health care. I also believe that a lot of the socioeconomic problems associated with mental health would just disappear because of the importance of the ideal that everybody is an equal in a Marxist society. It seems, even though it is not theory that the idea of social Darwinism is playing a game with our health care system in the United States. "The most potent rationale for class privilege in American history is social Darwinism, and archetype for class privilege in America." (Lowen, 1992). It seems in this country that the rich or upper-class tend to think in a social darwinistic type of way. The attitude towards the poor seems to be one of let the fittest survive and the rest well you deserve your problems. I think th!

Willis, Angela Gonzalez et al. (1998). "Mental Illness and Disability in the U.S. Adult

A persons' social status is also an important issue to recognize. A persons' perceived social status alone could play a major role in diagnosis. If a woman is suffering from a disorder such as schitzotypal personality disorder, she is likely to be judged as a drug addict or a bum. The treatment needed would be overlooked and perh

Some common words found in the essay are:
Manderstreid Sonnenschein, , Yeah HMOs, Sweden Canada, Deficit Hyperactivity, Adapted Keith, Karl Marx, America Lowen, Comer Research, mental health, health care, Whaley AL, socioeconomic status, insurance companies, health care system, mood disorders, care system, insurance company, mental disorders, poverty level, anxiety disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, catchment study york, below poverty line,
Approximate Word count = 2781
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)