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Mental illness is a wide range of distressing behavioural or mental patterns that negatively impact one's quality of life. The severity and duration of mental illness symptoms varies from individual to individual, and mental illness is not always obvious to others.[2]
History
Hundreds of years ago, due to the superstition of the time, people believed that mental illness was caused by demonic possession. Society later viewed mentally ill people as criminals and forced them into prisons and asylums. Dorothea Dix (1802–1887) was one of the first people who saw mental illness as an illness and not a crime and supported investment in mental hospitals in the USA and Europe.
Doctors often treated mental illness with a lobotomy, which destroyed the patient's personality but made them easier to control. The USSR was the first country to recognize the inhumanity of psychosurgery. In the 1960s, John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act, which freed many mentally ill people from asylums. Chlorpromazine (Thorazine), first developed in the 1950s, treated schizophrenia and led to some people being freed from asylums.[1] However, many people with severe mental illnesses ended up in prison by the late 20th century.[3]
Mental health in capitalist countries
Within the imperial core, mental illness is a more prevalent source of disability than any physical illness.[4] Despite the prevalence of mental illness, capitalist countries only spend an average of 3.44% of their healthcare budgets on treating mental illness, with some spending as little as 0.01% of their healthcare budgets on treating mental illness.[5]
Current status by country
Cuba
Cuba has eight physicians per 1,000 citizens, the highest ratio in the world and twice as high as the USA. Community doctors and nurses visit people at home once a year throughout their lives. If informed by a family member of a mental problem, treatment begins early and is free.[3]
United States
In 44 of 50 U.S. states, a jail or prison held more mentally ill people than the largest state psychiatric hospital in 2014. These prisoners are often forced into solitary confinement, which can lead to suicide. People with severe mental illnesses commit half of prison suicides despite being only 15 to 20% of the prison population.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Princess Harmony (2024-01-05). "Newsom’s reactionary approach to mental illness" Workers World. Archived from the original on 2024-01-06.
- ↑ “Many individuals live with mental health challenges while appearing fine to others. They might go to work, attend social events, and smile through the pain.”
"The Invisible Illnesses: Understanding Anxiety, Depression, and Beyond". Avid Counseling Services. Retrieved 2026-06-16. - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sue Harris (2023-09-26). "Treatment of severe mental illness in the U.S. and Cuba – a comparison" Workers World. Archived from the original on 2023-12-16.
- ↑ “Mental illnesses account for a larger proportion of disability in developed countries than any other group of illnesses, including cancer and heart disease.”
William C. Reeves et al (2011-09-02). "Mental Illness Surveillance Among Adults in the United States" The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved 2026-06-16. - ↑ The Global Health Observatory (GHO) (2013-10-10). "Mental health governance: government expenditures on mental health as a percentage of total government expenditures on health (%)" World Health Organization. Retrieved 2026-06-16.