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The Mental Illness Of The United States Essay

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Lydia Anderson Period 1 There are many people in the United States that have a mental illness that is either not able to be treated or is never diagnosed at all. This is because treatment is very expensive and hard to access, and without proactive care of the mentally ill there can be various unfortunate outcomes, sadly including, death. So, why is access to mental health care so limited and what is the government of Ohio doing to solve it and what else should be done? Mental illnesses are very common in the United States, with one in five of adolescents having a diagnosed mental illness and in the last year less than half of these adolescents have received proper treatment. The most common mental disorders, anxiety and depression, can disrupt daily life and result in suicide, which is the third most frequent cause of death in teenagers (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Ten percent of adolescents did not have health insurance in 2013 and those who did, had a very limited amount of mental health care services provided to them (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). It has been proved that it is even less likely that adolescents who are poor, homeless, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender will receive the care that is necessary for their health and even life (“The Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”). Mental disorders are not only an

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