Building bridges: Psychologists and families of the mentally ill.

Describes problems faced by families of the mentally ill, particularly since the caregiving system in the US provides only incomplete solutions. Psychologists have provided important support to family members coping with seriously mentally ill relatives; however, psychology's response has been incomplete. Families have helped themselves in the initiation in 1979 of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), an advocacy and education organization that originated as a network of mutual support groups. The history of communication between NAMI and the American Psychological Association (APA) is outlined. The need for "building bridges" between psychologists and families of the mentally ill resulted in 2 conferences between APA and NAMI. Other steps to enhance communication between psychologists and these families are listed, including communication with legislatures and the general public about public policy agendas on mental health services and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Criminalizing mental disorder: The comparative arrest rate of the mentally ill.

Notes that there has been a great deal of speculation that mentally ill persons are being processed through the criminal justice system rather than the mental health system. To date, this thesis has been based more on intuition than on empirical research. Data from a study of 1,382 police–citizen encounters are presented that suggest that the mentally ill are indeed being criminalized. Specifically, it was found that, for similar offenses, mentally disordered citizens had a significantly greater chance of being arrested than non-mentally-disordered persons. This finding has public policy implications for the basic tenets of the community mental health movement, as well as for optimal functioning of the criminal justice system. Several public policy modifications are suggested. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and mental illness: The generosity of females.

Female department store clerks met a male confederate who was presented as normal or mentally ill and acted calm or nervous and agitated. Results show that (a) the presence of tension led to rejection, while a history of mental illness had no effect; and (b) in contrast to previous studies which found no sex differences in attitudes toward the mentally ill, women were more accepting and generous than men toward the mentally ill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Failure of a moral enterprise: Attitude of the public toward mental illness.

Presents a critical analysis of published reports on the public's attitudes toward mental illness and toward deviant conduct. The mental health movement fits the defining criteria for a moral crusade, motivated and supported by moral entrepreneurs. The reported data indicate that the mental illness paradigm, as a formula for understanding and controlling deviant conduct, has not been widely accepted by the public. The central objective of the mental health movement has been to influence the general public to regard mental illness with the same nonrejecting valuations as somatic illness. Social survey reports and other data point to the conclusion that the public tends to declare negative (rejecting) valuations on persons diagnosed as mentally ill. However, the public tends to be more tolerant of deviant conduct when it is not described with mental illness labels. (37 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social representation of labels associated to mental illness

The social context linked to deinstitutionalization brought the authors to study the impact of labels placed on people having undergone psychiatry. The objective of this research is to better understand the subtleties made by the public concerning the following terms: the mentally ill person (malade mental), the ex-psychiatric patient (ex-patient psychiatrique) and the person suffering from a mental health problem (personne souffrant d'un problème de santé mentale). Data collected from 255 francophone residents from the Montréal area show that the expression "ex-psychiatric patient" is less stigmatizing than the expressions "mentally ill person" or "person suffering from a mental health problem" (PSMHP), as it refers to a past event that is over and done with. The expression "mentally ill person" emphasizes the chronic nature of the health problem suffered by the individual, where as the PSMHP focuses on the person's potential for recovery. The expression "ex-psychiatric patient" points to the capacity to function normally in society.     

Psychology and mental retardation.

Presents the view that mental retardation is primarily a psychoeducational and social problem. In addition to traditional services, psychology can serve the mentally retarded in other indirect areas, e.g., new direct-care personnel training, institution management, manpower utilization in the retarded population, and help in changing the public image of the mentally retarded. It is concluded that psychology should increase its participation in education, training, and research in mental retardation, and that programs should be developed to demonstrate that psychological techniques and learning theories can be applied appropriately to the problems of the retarded person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental illness and mental retardation: Message from the President of the United States relative to mental illness and mental retardation.

2 health problems of critical size and tragic impact are mental illness and mental retardation. "There are now about 800,000 such patients in this Nation's institutions—600,000 for mental illness and over 200,000 for mental retardation." A 3-fold attack is proposed: (a) Ascertain causes and eradicate them. (b) Strengthen underlying resources of knowledge and of skilled manpower. (c) Strengthen and improve facilities serving the mentally ill and mentally retarded. A national program for mental health is proposed which emphasizes comprehensive community mental health centers, improved care in state mental institutions, and expansion of research activities and increase in professional manpower. A national program to combat mental retardation emphasizing prevention, community services, and research is also proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary: The mental health movement in the United States.

Comments that the future of mental health (MH) can be advanced by MH professionals working together with the mentally ill and their families to successfully advocate for increased funding of research and services. Three areas of common ground for expanding the partnership between MH professionals (including psychologists) and family members are research, treatment, and public education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The epidemiology and prevention of mental retardation.

Argues that biomedical and sociogenic causations of mental retardation generally act in combination rather than as 2 distinct etiologies. It is maintained that a general prevention model for mental retardation demands an encompassing review of social, environmental, and biological risk factors. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention are described. It is posited that primary prevention efforts need to be aimed at large target populations that are at highest risk for having mentally retarded children and that these efforts must include counseling about secondary and tertiary prevention services as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of perceived mental illness on interpersonal relations.

This study was carried out to measure the influence of general attitudes toward mental illness on 2 aspects of interpersonal interaction: an S's performance on a motor task requiring cooperative effort and the perception of another after having interacted with him on the task. Ss were undergraduates who were induced to believe their coworker was either "normal" or had been mentally ill. The results indicate that perceiving the coworker as mentally ill is associated with better task performance, possibly because of the greater threat posed by a successful peer in comparison to that posed by a person believed to be maladjusted and inadequate. It was also found that when a coworker is viewed as mentally ill, Ss prefer to work alone rather than with him and blame him for inadequacies in the joint performance even though objective measures do not justify these responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cross-national study of attitudes toward mental illness.

Administered Cohen and Struening's Opinions About Mental Illness scale to a total of 1,212 college students, physicians, nurses and police in Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, and West Germany. Although there were differences among occupational groups, the differences among countries were much more substantial. Results suggest that (a) attitudes toward mental illness are part of a person's general orientation to social issues, rather than a narrow function of his concept of mental illness; and (b) in a community climate characterized by an authoritarian social-political structure, authoritarian and socially restrictive attitudes toward the mentally ill can be expected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Schizophrenia as a brain disease: Implications for psychologists and families.

Explains why families of persons with mental illness and members of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) believe that schizophrenia is a brain disease, and presents evidence for the brain disease model. Etiological models of schizophrenia are discussed and the biopsychosocial model of G. W. Engel (see record 1978-01423-001) was found to be most comprehensive. The merits of different treatments for schizophrenia and rehabilitative models are considered. The concern of NAMI members is to obtain the best treatment possible for mentally ill individuals and that goal can only be achieved with the help of mental health professionals, including psychologists. It is therefore important that psychologists and NAMI members communicate and understand each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Federal involvement in mental health care for the aged: Past and future directions.

Reviews federal legislative trends in mental health services for the elderly under the Reagan administration. The consolidation of 21 health programs into 4 block grants is considered for its impact on elderly mental health care, and Congress's support of important programs such as clinical training, social research, and research on Alzheimer's disease is discussed. Severe limitations for reimbursement of mental health care under Medicare are considered. It is concluded that Community Mental Health Centers under the Reagan administration will further limit non-revenue-producing services such as prevention, consultation, and education as they exhaust their 8-yr federal funding support, and it is unlikely that Medicaid will increase its coverage of services for the mentally ill. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The criminalization of the mentally ill: Speculation in search of data.

Examines the evidence for the speculation that mentally ill persons who would previously have been treated within mental hospitals are now processed through the criminal justice system and constitute an ever-increasing proportion of the jail population. Three factors underlie this speculation: the increase in mentally ill persons residing in the community, police handling of the mentally ill, and evidence that persons thought to be dangerous are among the most unwanted clients of mental health agencies. Three types of research are explored: archival studies, investigations of police decision making, and studies of the prevalence of mental disorder among jail detainees. It is concluded that the research literature, albeit methodologically flawed, offers at least modest support for the contention that the mentally ill are being processed through the criminal justice system. (81 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On "Psychology and mental retardation" position statement.

Comments on a statement that appeared in the March 1970 American Psychologist article entitled "Psychology and Mental Retardation" (Anonymous; see record 1970-15620-001). Part of the present commentary reads as follows: "I am not in agreement with the statement that educational psychological personnel are likely to provide the "most productive approaches" in dealing with the problems of mental retardation. This position simply places educational psychology in the same untenable bind that other disciplines, including medicine, psychiatry, education, and sociology, have achieved in the past when they claimed exclusive domain to serving the mentally retarded. Educational psychology should be devoting its efforts to working together with other disciplines rather than to making exaggerated claims of its superiority." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deinstitutionalization and women: Assessing the consequences of public policy.

Reviews and analyzes the literature concerning deinstitutionalization and women and highlights specific ways in which a major public policy initiative has affected the lives of both chronically mentally ill women and women who have been charged with the responsibility of caring for the chronically mentally ill. Special effects of deinstitutionalization on mentally ill women are evident in such areas as sexual exploitation and violence, homelessness, diversion into the criminal justice system, and stigmatization. A group of studies points to special circumstances pertaining to sexual behavior and reproductive control in a deinstitutionalized female population. It is suggested that the expectations of women's behavior based on societal role definitions have affected service planning for this population and that the use of such criteria for program planning runs the risk of injuring patients of both sexes. The need for more conceptual work and research on deinstitutionalization is stressed; however, because deinstitutionalization is an exceedingly complex phenomenon, the importance of remaining sensitive to the wide variety of circumstances that contribute to its outcomes is emphasized. (72 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The criminalization of the mentally ill.

Comments on the contribution of L. A. Teplin (see record 1985-12217-001) who discussed issues relating to the incarceration of the mentally ill. Although the present author agrees with Teplin's conclusions and recommendations, he asserts that the logic of the argument presented was not convincing. Teplin does not include the role of the magistrate in discussing the process through which mentally ill people end up in jail, and she thus lacks a comprehensive viewpoint. No direct data were presented to support the conclusion that the criminalization of the mentally ill is a result of inadequate funding for the mental health system. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some national developments in the utilization of nontraditional mental health manpower.

Discusses the recruitment of nonprofessional personnel to help provide sufficient manpower to serve the mentally ill and emotionally disturbed. A review of national developments during the past 2 decades reveals that without national or other coordinated leadership the critical needs of the mentally ill consumer at the local level coalesced with striking changes in (a) the mental health delivery system (the concept of the therapeutic community), and (b) sociopolitical areas (community colleges, career ladder, and related new frontier and great society programs) to produce these new types of mental health manpower. The recent influx of national institute of mental health monies to support these training programs for nontraditional mental health workers will further accelerate these developments. (36 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mental health system and older adults in the 1990s.

Trends in mental health services for older adults during the past decade were used to predict salient issues for the current decade. These include overreliance on inpatient treatment, increased use of general hospitals as treatment sites, inadequate integration with the nursing-home industry, and insufficient mental health referrals from general medical providers. In the decade ahead, the mental health needs of older adults are unlikely to be an identified focus; rather, the issues will overlap with other priorities (e.g., biomedical research on brain functioning, alternative treatment programs for the chronically mentally ill, and containing health care costs). Advocates for the elderly will be successful to the extent that they cast aging services within the context of these other concerns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Planning a community-based mental health system: Perspective of a family member.

The parent of a young adult son afflicted with schizophrenia describes the family's experience with schizophrenia and the mental health system. The process by which an integrated service system for the mentally ill in California was signed into law is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)