In Georgia, mental health continues to be a serious issue. There are a lot of moving parts associated with mental health in the state and there have been various policies that have come up to try and deal with the issue of mental health in the state.
Policies Addressing Mental Health
In Georgia, mental health continues to be a serious issue. There are a lot of moving parts associated with mental health in the state and there have been various policies that have come up to try and deal with the issue of mental health in the state. One of these policies is Title 37 of the Georgia Code (Kohler et al., 2017). This policy provides allocations aiming to deal with various facets associated with mental health, including the establishment and operation of mental health facilities, issues around involuntary commitment, the rights of individuals with mental illness, community-based services, and developmental disabilities (Hathaway & Childree, 2019).
While the law is very comprehensive, the law does not fully address major issues associated with contemporary mental health (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). For example, while the policy provides policies concerning involuntary commitment, it fails to address the shortage of psychiatrists and psychologists in the state (Aldridge et al., 2021). It also does not help that the state has yet to expand Medicaid and adopt the Affordable Care Act into its legislation (Kohler et al., 2017). This means that many in the state cannot properly access mental health care and there is minimal funding dedicated to helping with research and growth in the mental health treatment sector.
The failure to adopt the Affordable Care Act in the state also denies many accesses to healthcare (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). One of the major tenets of the act is the expansion of healthcare which helps many who would normally not afford it gain access to healthcare. The policy fails to properly address this, which means that many who are dealing with mental health issues may fail to properly afford access to mental health facilities (Kohler et al., 2017). The policy also fails to be proactive in preventing the emergence of mental health issues and disorders. Prevention is always better than cure. Policies must come up that address the issue of mental health with the goal being its prevention, rather than a reactive measure.
Public health professionals are not doing enough to address the issue. There has been minimal activism from public health professionals to try and change the current state of mental health in the state (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). Georgia has been through a lot in the last few years. There has been an increase in political polarization, racial tensions have become high, and the state has been heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic (Aldridge et al., 2021). This placed additional strain on the public health sector, as more attention was placed on these other factors rather than mental health (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). This eventually led to a decline in advocacy for ways to improve the state of mental health in the state. Polarization also affects public health professionals, who often accept policies provided they align with their values (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). This affects advocacy and policymaking, as it makes consensus incredibly difficult. With no one able to agree on anything, nothing can be done.
Another reason why public health professionals are not doing enough is because of the current state of mental health care in the country (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). In recent years, there has been a challenge in diagnosis. This challenge comes when a patient comes in and says they have a condition, and the psychiatrist immediately concludes that that is the condition. For example, an individual comes in and says they feel depressed (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). Previously, psychologists would probe deeper to try and find out what the issue was. However, in recent years, that has changed, and diagnosis has changed. The decline in rationality in healthcare due to complex topics such as issues associated with gender and mental health, means that public health professionals are often tied between advocating and being canceled from society.
There are a variety of ethical implications of dealing with mental health and the policy. These issues are complicated and very multifaceted (Dunaway & Gordon, 2020). The first ethical issue is stigma and discrimination. Mental health issues often have a lot of stigmas associated with them and the policy fails to properly address this issue due to its reactive nature. Another ethical concern is involuntary commitment. It is vital to strike a balance between protecting the patient and maintaining their autonomy. Resource allocation is also another ethical issue (Hathaway & Childree, 2019). The main reason why the state has yet to accept the additional resources associated with accepting the Affordable Care Act is because of politics. This law brings additional resources to healthcare that are vital. This brings the ethical concern of whether it is right for the state to refuse resources for their political inclinations.
Niccolò Machiavelli once said that it is vital to remember that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. This means that changing an existing policy and a system that has been in place is not easy. However, this change is vital if healthcare wishes to grow and advance to deal with the growing issue of mental health.
References
Aldridge, L. S., Gober, M., Walker, M., & Strong, G. (2021). Georgia, USA: A bellwether in lactation care. Journal of Human Lactation, 37(3), 539-546.
Dunaway, P. A., & Gordon, G. H. (2020). SHELTER IN PLACE: Executive Order by the Governor to Ensure a Safe & Healthy Georgia. Georgia State University Law Review, 37(1), 67.
Hathaway, A., & Childree, A. (2019). Serving Children in Georgia.
Kohler, T., Elizbarashvili, N., Meladze, G., Svanadze, D., & Meessen, H. (2017). The demographic crisis in Racha, Georgia: Depopulation in the central Caucasus mountains. Mountain Research and Development, 37(4), 415-424.
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