Toni Paz's Five Ways Poverty Hurts Mental Health

People living in poverty think about what their next meal is or how they are going to feed their child. Poverty makes a person mentally stress causing them to have depression. The depression then leads to drugs or alcohol which is bringing them down. “Poor black men won't support their families, won't stick by their women -- all they think about is the street, dope and liquor, women, a piece of ass, and their cars. That's all that counts” (). Poverty impacts the individual’s health because they can’t afford the healthy food because it is expensive. The individual will purchase the white bread because it is cheaper but, they know it is not that healthy. People living in poverty might not buy that many fruits and vegetables. Not eating healthy leads to being obese or other health problems. “Poverty and illness together make people much more vulnerable and needy at all stages of their lives, and even more so in old age. Mental health is often both a cause and a consequence of poverty, compromised education, vulnerability, difficulty accessing housing, health-care and employment, and lack of access to welfare, social security, and community public

Green et al., (2015) also state that socio-economic factors, such as income, crime, social support network and unemployment levels. Considerable amounts of individuals are known to live an unequal life, as their social class may be different due to age and unemployment, this may be interlinked to poverty and social class. According to Naidoo J, Will J (2016) one of the main social determinants of health is unemployment, this can link to mental health issues, which includes depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance and also physical health, which includes developing cardiovascular diseases. This may also link to living with not having a stable income, as this may link to dietary diseases if the family cannot afford to eat because they are unemployed.

Social inequities in health result from unequal distribution of social, economic, cultural and historical determinants. It is vital to identify these factors to reduce health inequalities and to improve health status of people. This essay depicts information on two social determinants of health that affect different vulnerable groups in terms of their socioeconomic position and ethnicity.

Of all social determinants of health, we can agree that the most insidious and universal might be poverty because this economic factor influence health in several ways, and it can be both physically and mentally damaging. Poverty affects every aspect of our lives; it determines the distribution of resources; the food we can afford, the access and ability to health care, the level

Studies show that people living in poverty face adverse living conditions which are associated with various ranges of health problems (Raphael, 2007). This means that people who live in poverty are more likely to suffer from chronic illness such as: coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and various form of cancers. As a result of poverty, individuals are more likely to have a lower life expectancy and higher mortality rate because of those facing numerous chronic illnesses. People living in poverty or in a low income bracket are more likely to be less healthy and have more medical conditions compared to their counterparts. As a result, they are more likely to be in the hospital more frequently with more complicated healthcare needs (Williamson, Stewart, Hayward, Letourneau, Makwarimba, Masuda, Rainee & Reutter, and Rootman & Wilson, 2006).

Attempting to make ends meet, those who are living in poverty are more likely to suffer from financial stress and mental health issues, as well as physical health

The specific research question that is being looked into is “what relationship does social class and mental health have when comparing specifically the lower class and the upper class?” To explore this topic, one would look at how each class handles stress

This essay will discuss ways in which a person’s socioeconomic class and his/her social situation can have an impact on his/her health, using examples. We believe that there is a direct link between socioeconomic/social class and health (Adler et al. 1994). I will be defining the key terms: socioeconomic and health, social class then proceed to discuss about how poverty, income, employability, environment and housing can impact on a person’s social situation and their health.

Poverty and inequality are very closely linked together and have a significant effect on a person’s social, physical and mental well-being. The social class also has an impact on infant mortality rate; this is because children are born to poorer parents that live in poor conditions, these children are more likely to get illnesses or worst case scenario they could die. People from a higher social class are less likely to die of conditions such cancer, heart disease and strokes. People that live in a higher social class tend to live longer than others. Individuals that live in deprived areas have a very different lifestyle to higher class people. Individuals in the lower social class are more likely to smoke, less likely to have a good education and more likely live in poverty for their

The aim of this essay is to examine the influence that socio-economic status has on an individual’s health.

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).

This paper will explain how poverty and mental illness go hand in hand. Mental illness seems to be a cause and effect situation. Sometimes mental illness causes poverty and other poverty causes the mental illness. This paper will also give possible solutions for the problem.

Economic insecurity can create other serious consequences on mental health, such as; Personality and mood disorders, Psychoses that can lead to suicide and many other behavioral problems that make individuals turn to incautious choices like criminality and violence. According to the article “Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?” individuals living in poverty are more likely to do irrational things due to the financial pressure they’re on, the feeling of hopelessness can trigger some unsettling emotional response that can incur in aggressiveness and other acts of

Poverty can destroy someone's life. People struggle to acquire and keep access to food, water, homes, and basic necessities. But what are the consequences of poverty other than economical. In this essay I will show that poverty can and does have negative impacts on mental health, people’s social interactions, and their physical health. People in poverty don’t just lose their money, they can also lose quality and life. In this essay, I will focus on the social, mental, and physical tolls that poverty has on people. I want to look at the changes and impacts they cause, and I want to convince you, the reader, that these problems are caused by poverty and in turn affect it. By the end I would like you to recognize that these factors can come from poverty and take an affect on the lives of those in poverty.

As discussed previously women tend to have lower incomes then men this leads to higher levels of poverty in women. In the U.S 56% of people living in poverty are women, globally that percentage jumps to 70%. Not surprisingly women responsible for children are the largest group of people living in poverty. The combination of financial insecurity, heavy workloads with minimal pay and the emotional responsibility of caring for children can exact a heavy toll on women’s emotional health. Poverty also has an effect on a women’s physical health. Adverse health outcomes are two times higher amongst people in disadvantaged social position compared to those in advantaged social position. With a lack of access to proper housing and nutrition many women living in poverty experience distressing medical conditions and have no access to proper medical care. These issues can lead to adverse effects on mental health and psychological disorders (Astbury,