Mental illness in the United States is putting an enormous, yet hidden toll on the economy. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), mental illness cost more than $100 billion a year in lost productivity.
An article in the Scientific American notes that mental illness strikes without regard for economic class, but the strain is acute for those with low incomes. One in six adults living at just above the poverty line or lower has severe mental health problems. These individuals are the least likely to find affordable treatment. Struggle results when those with mental illness can’t hold a job, yet aren’t formally known as disabled. As a result, schools are required to open more special education classes, and courts and jails must handle more individuals that suffer from untreated medical illness. Local hospitals are also seeing an increase in associated chronic physical diseases.
According to the article in Scientific American, doctors, insurers, and politicians must pick up the pace to find a solution to the growing number of uninsured individuals suffering from a mental health illness. A solution would mean a more productive society and less economic impact.
Pasadena Villa’s Smoky Mountain Lodge is an adult intensive psychiatric residential treatment center for clients with serious mental illnesses. We also provide other individualized therapy programs, step-down residential programs, and less intensive mental health services, such as Community Residential Homes, Supportive Housing, Day Treatment Programs and Life Skills training. Pasadena Villa’s Outpatient Center in Raleigh, North Carolina offers partial hospitalization (PHP) and an intensive outpatient program (PHP). If you or someone you know may need mental health services, please complete our contact form or call us at 407-215-2519 for more information.
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