BELIZE by Erin Busque

COUNTRY: Belize

 II. TOTAL POPULATION: 291,800

 III. POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS: (men, women, kids, ethnicities)

0-14years 35.3% (male 61,480/female 59,000)

15-24years 21% (male 36,432/female 35,093)

25-54years 35.5% (male 61,112/female 59,809)

55-64years 3.6% (male 7,719/female 7,807)

65years and over 3.6% (male 5,848/females 6,544)

Ethnic groups: Mestizo, mayan, anglo-european, creole, Asian, garifuna, middle eastern and Hispanic groups- Hispanic being the most prevalent

IV. ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:  As of 2006 14,556 people

V. RELIGION / CULTURAL BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT:

Religions: Christianity is the main religion. Others are Roman Catholics, Anglican, Methodists, Baptists, Mennonites, moslems and hindus

Cultural beliefs: Belize’s population is very diverse. Therefore, there are many cultural beliefs practiced today. The economy in Belize has developed on the growth of bananas, sugar and citrus. Also, tourism, industries such as shrimp farming, and oil.

Social context: Belize is known to be a very extremely poor country. Though that is still a problem today in Belize the economy is improving.  

 IMPACT OF BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT ON PERCEPTION OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

Perception of mental illness in Belize- since the Mental Health Reform a few years ago in Belize the Country is actively trying to improve the services offered to the mentally ill individuals. Up until the reform, the focus was primarily on the severely mental ill persons. The services are now offered all over the country rather than only in Belize City. The services were put into place to provide the people in Belize with the highest quality of care. There are both inpatient and out patient facilities available. Some of the outpatient clinics available today are: clinical assessments, crisis intervention, mental health education, individual and therapeutic work with family, psychosocial rehabilitation, and medication management.

 VI. METHODS OF SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

There was only one inpatient psychiatric hospital in the entire country of Belize, Rockview Psychiatric Hospital located in Belize City. As of today there are three additional inpatient hospitals in Belize. There is the Acute Psychiatric Unit, District hospitals and regional hospitals, and Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

VII. PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS- after doing an extensive amount of research on Belize. I have gathered that the attitude toward the mentally ill population is positive. Since the reform over a decade ago many changes in the mental health field have been made, which has impacted many individuals lives tremendously, in a positive way.

VIII. REFERENCES: (APA FORMAT)

Cayetano, Claudia. 2008. Belize National Mental Health Policy.

                http://mhpolicy.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/belize-mental-health-policy.pdf

 Central Intelligence Agency. 2014. The World Factbook.

                https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bh.html   

JAPAN by Leanne Keenan

i.                 Country:

     Japan

ii.               Total Population:

    127,341,000

iii.             Population Demographics:

     Population of Men: 62,087,7311 (48.75%)

     Population of Women: 65,473,758 (51.41%)

     Population of Children (15 and younger): 16.33 million (12.8%)

Yamoto takes up 98.5% of the population. There is a Korean population of 1.5%, and there are other ethnicities that are a minimal part of the population.  99% of those who reside in Japan speak Japanese, and some also speak Hiragana, Kanji, or Katakana.

iv.             Estimated Number of People with Mental Illness:

     About 24% of the Japanese population suffers from some sort of mental illness

v.               Religion/Cultural Beliefs/Social Context:

      Japan isn’t an extremely religious culture, but it is important to many. The most common religion to practice is Shinto, along with Buddhism. Some also practice Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and Sikhism. Some are Christian, but it is rare.

 Although Japan isn’t an extremely religious place, there are many people who do not believe in, or support those with mental illness. A whopping 1 out of 5 people think about suicide, and 51 out of 100,000 people follow through. With a percentage that big, one would think that mental illness is talked about often in Japan, but it is not. In fact, a lot of people in Japan don’t believe in mental illness. The ones that do think that people who develop a mental illness has a “weak mind”, and that it is easy to recover from. Recently there has been more attention paid to mental illness, and there are many groups that protest about the desperate need for more mental health care in Japan.

vi.             Methods of Support for People with Mental Illness:

     Overall, there has been about $222 million spent trying to campaign for mental illness. People are now becoming aware that there is a great need for mental health support in Japan. Because mental illness hasn’t been taken seriously in the past, there are still many people with a negative outlook. It is difficult for many people to ask for help, because they haven’t been taken seriously in the past. There is progress being made in Japan though, and doctors are trying to be more open minded and understanding. When that happens, they have found that more people open up and ask for help if they suffer from a mental illness.

vii.           Personal Observations:

    It’s upsetting to see that Japan has an extremely high suicide rate, and yet there are minimal mental health services around. In just about every article I read it talked about how people who suffer from mental illness feel shameful. I personally couldn’t picture a doctor who would judge someone and laugh at them for having a mental illness. (Even though that probably happens in the U.S. also). Overall, it made me sad to read all of the negative stories about mental illness. But, on the plus side it is refreshing to know that the awareness of mental illness is growing. Slowly but surely people are getting the help they deserve.

viii.         References

Priestley, I. (2009, March). New Documentary Explores Taboo Subject of   Mental Illness in Japan. Retrieved from http://www.japantoday.com/category/arts-culture/view/new-documentary-explores-taboo-subject-of-mental-illness-in-japan

Japan-Population. Retrieved from http://countryeconomy.com/demography/population/japan

(2013, September). Japan Population 2013. Retrieved from http://www.worldpopulationstatistics.com/japan-population-2013/

(2014, May). Japan Child Population Hits Record Low. Retrieved from http://rt.com/news/156872-japan-children-population-decline/

(2013, September). Review of Mental Health Related Stigma in Japan. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.12086/abstract

CHINA by Shane Cushing

I.  COUNTRY:

China

II.  TOTAL POPULATION:

1,355,692,576

III.   POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS: (men, women, kids, ethnicities) 

0-14 years: 17.1% (male 124,340,516/female 107,287,324)

15-24 years: 14.7% (male 105,763,058/female 93,903,845)

25-54 years: 47.2% (male 327,130,324/female 313,029,536)

55-64 years: 9.6% (male 77,751,100/female 75,737,968)

65 years and over: 9.4% (male 62,646,075/female 68,102,830)

Han Chinese 91.6%, Zhuang 1.3%, other (includes Hui, Manchu, Uighur, Miao, Yi, Tujia, Tibetan, Mongol, Dong, Buyei, Yao, Bai, Korean, Hani, Li, Kazakh, Dai and other nationalities) 7.1%

IV.   ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS: 

Approximately 17.5% of Chinese adults are affected, meaning over 170 million adults have one or more types of mental disorder. Of these, 16 million people are estimated to have serious mental diseases.

V.   RELIGION / CULTURAL BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT: 

Buddhist 18.2%, Christian 5.1%, Muslim 1.8%, folk religion < .1%, Hindu < .1%, Jewish < .1%, other 0.7% (includes Daoist (Taoist)), unaffiliated 52.2%

IMPACT OF BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT ON PERCEPTION OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS: 

As the majority (52%) of the population has no religious affiliation, there can be no connections between atheism and treatment of the mentally ill. However, the next largest subset is buddhism. According to facts gathered by the National Alliance of Mental Health (NAMI), development of mental illness is commonly attributed to the imbalance of yin and yang, disturbed flow of chi (energy), divine punishment due to the failure to comply with ancestor worship rituals, karma, etc. Also, it is believed in some sects that mental illness can occur due to character weaknesses.

VI.     METHODS OF SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS: 

Unfortunately, China is way behind in it’s treatment capabilities for the mentally ill. The article, “Mental Health Care In China: Providing Services for Under-Treated Patients,” claims that over 90% of patients with serious mental diseases in China have not been given proper medical treatment. Over 60% of suicide cases in China are associated with mental disorders and suicide is the most significant reason for death between 19 and 34 years old in China, (Qian, Abstract). China also has a lack of qualified doctors and a shortage of physical infrastructures. There are only 1.46 psychiatrists per 100,000 people and 15 beds per 100,000 people. Alternatively, China has a strong indigenous culture complete with it’s own methods of treating mental illness. Indigenous Chinese healing practices include herbal medicine, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, religious faith healing, nutritious diet and health exercises such as tai chi and qi gong, (NAMI).

VII.   PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

China is a large country with a large population. Of course with a higher population, it is to be expected that rates of mental illness will also be higher. Unfortunately, China is not keeping pace with other countries in the world and adapting to aid the mentally ill. However, in my readings I found a section in an article that claimed between 2011 and 2015, China would increase it’s spending on the prevention and treatment of mental illness. Financial assistance for the mentally ill, however, is still a subject of debate. I think it’s rather unfortunate that China, a leading world innovator in things like technology and education can’t keep up with it’s need for proper mental health care.

VIII. REFERENCES: (APA FORMAT)

Chinese American Mental Health Facts. (2011, October 1). NAMI. Retrieved June 2, 2014, from     https://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Fact_Sheets1&Template=/            ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=129323

The World Factbook: China. (2014, May 1). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved June 2,             2014, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html

Qian, J. (2012, December 1). Mental Health Care in China: Providing Services for Under-            Treated Patients.. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved June 2,             2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23525836

MALI by Cassidy Munro

I. COUNTRY:

Mali

II. TOTAL POPULATION:

15,968,882

III. POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS: (men, women, kids, ethnicities)

·        0-14 years: 47.7% (male 3,824,877/female 3,794,196)

·        15-24 years: 19% (male 1,439,032/female 1,587,072)

·        25-54 years: 26.6% (male 1,980,766/female 2,270,676)

·        55-64 years: 3.7% (male 297,365/female 295,495)

·        65 years and over: 3% (male 240,681/female 238,722)

·       Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5%

IV. ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

-  Neuropsychiatric disorders are estimated to contribute to 5.2% of the global burden of disease (WHO, 2008)

V. RELIGION / CULTURAL BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT:

Muslim 94.8%, Christian 2.4%, Animist 2%, none 0.5%, unspecified 0.3%

IMPACT OF BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT ON PERCEPTION OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

·       Malian people disown mentally ill people in their families.  If someone starts to have mental illness symptoms, they are forced out of the house, and since there aren’t a whole lot of mental health facilities, they generally are homeless or die. 

 VI. METHODS OF SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

-  Mental health expenditures by the government health department/ministry are not available.

-   The majority of primary health care nurses have received official in-service training on mental health within the last five years.

-  There are approximately 5 outpatient mental health facilities.

-  There are approximately 4 community residential facilities.

-  There are approximately 100 beds for psychiatric care in general hospitals throughout the country.

-  According to the WHO, it is unknown what psychiatric medications are available, how much of each of them are utilized, and the amount of money that is spent on them.

VII. PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

            Mali is a third world country.  The people that live there have to struggle through daily life more than any of us can even imagine.  The life expectancy is about 41 years in males and 51 years in females.  The percentage of people that are educated is about 47% in males and 31% for females.  Having said all of that, how could we possibly begin to understand their culture?  Not to mention that each tribe has their own belief systems, making it next to impossible to figure out how they treat their mentally ill as a nation.  I would say this is why there are no accurate numbers available to represent the number of mentally ill, what types of medications there are, etc.

VIII. REFERENCES:

http://www.pri.org/node/11881/popout

http://www.indexmundi.com/mali/demographics_profile.html

http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/atlas/profiles/mli_mh_profile.pdf?ua=1

CANADA by Aly Ladd

I. COUNTRY:

Canada

II. TOTAL POPULATION:

35,344,962 ("Home page — Statistics Canada")

III. POPULATION DEMOGRAPHICS: (men, women, kids, ethnicities):

(http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo10a-eng.htm)

IV. ESTIMATED NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

One in five adult Canadians (21.3 percent) will suffer a mental disorder in their lives. This figure translates into between 4.5-6 million people. ("Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health / Mental Illness Awareness Week | Quick Facts")

In 2012, approximately 2.8 million people, or 10.1% of Canadians aged 15 and older, reported symptoms consistent with at least one of six mental or substance use disorders in the past 12 months. ("Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health, 2012")

V. RELIGION / CULTURAL BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT:

IMPACT OF BELIEFS / SOCIAL CONTEXT ON PERCEPTION OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

It seems as though there is a sort of social stigma behind mental illness in Canada. People with mental illnesses are more often than not stereotyped. Some of the stereotypes include the mentally ill being violent, though they are much more likely to be victims of violence. There is also the idea that those who claim to have mental illness are just lazy or have lack of willpower. A lot of the stigma shows itself in the workplace where people with mental illness can lose jobs or credibility if they admit to having the illness. It becomes worse if they have been hospitalized. Apparently there’s also a bit of stigma in the Canadian medical community when it comes to mental illness. People with mental illnesses who go to the emergency room for help with suicidal thoughts have been made to wait as others were helped before them. (Whalen) It may be because of the stigmas that only one in three Canadians report that they have sought help and treatment for mental health problems. (“The Facts”).

The Aboriginal people of Canada also face a higher percentage of mental illness than the rest of the Canadian population. However, Aboriginal peoples are actually more likely to report their mental illness and seek help and treatment for them. 17% of Aboriginal people seek treatment, compared to the Canadian average of 8%. (Kahn, 2008). The Aboriginal traditional views of well being didn’t separate mental illness from other aspects of health. Their ideas of health, mental illness included, did not focus on the individual as much as it did connections with others and nature. (“Institutional Links”).

 VI. METHODS OF SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS:

            As it is a country that employs a universal health care system, mental health care in Canada can be treated through the government. However, the amount of treatment they can get through the government varies throughout the Canadian provinces. All Canadian citizens have access to physician and hospital services, but it’s up to each province to decide if it wants to cover supplementary care (ie. dental, prescriptions, vision, etc). (Kliff, 2012). The problem with this however, is that the mental health services that are part of Canadian health care are often overlooked or underfunded. As many as a third of the Canadians who look for mental health services through the Canadian health care system find that their needs are only partially met, and this number is even higher with children and young adults. ("For Reporters"). Many Canadians find themselves paying for things like psychiatric care and drugs out of pocket.

            However there are several programs that are working to bring the necessity of adding the the budget and availability of mental health care to light. The Mental Health Commission of Canada supports and works to increase collaboration between all sectors of Canadian health care, whether they be physical or mental. One of the ways the MHCC is doing this is by providing training to primary care doctors that increases their capacity to recognize and deal with mental health issues. (“Issue: Primary Care”). The Canadian Mental Health Association recognizes the importance of community care as well as formal treatment and works towards improving the universal access, terms and conditions, and public administration of mental health care available to the Canadian people. The CMAA also promotes insurance, both governmental and supplemental, to include prevention activities, supportive living and housing arrangements, and access to prescription drugs. (“Mental Health Services”).

            There are also multiple programs and websites, the MHCC and CMAA included, that are strongly fighting to minimize the stigma that surrounds mental illness. Almost every search that includes the phrases “mental health” or “mental illness” and “Canada” will have a link that leads to lists of facts about mental illness, what it is or how many Canadians have mental illness or the ways mental illness affects peoples lives. The sites more often than not mention common misconceptions about mental illnesses and people with mental illnesses and give examples of, or ways that, the stigmas surrounding mental health can be overcome.

VII. PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

I find that it can be difficult to judge what other societies think about pretty much any topic, including mental illness, when one has not grown up in that society or even been immersed in the society for an extended period of time. That’s why I think I struggled a little with the section of this assignment that asked about how society and cultural beliefs affected views on mental illness. I found myself having to piece together what the overall Canadian beliefs on mental illness might be based on websites and articles that were set up mainly to fight stigmas. They seemed to fill in plenty of blanks, but I still feel like there are grey areas about how Canadian’s view mental health that I would only be able to fill in by visiting the country myself.

Also, I was rather surprised to find that Canadian health care system, which I had previously heard only positive reviews about, had so many problems supporting Canadian citizens with mental illnesses. I was shocked to find that Canadians with mental health problems can really only find support if they’re hospitalized. I always figured the Canadian health care system would obviously encourage community care and out patients. Though, even with these problems, it still seems to me that the Canadian health care system still does better helping citizens with mental health and making living mental health more affordable than the American system does.

VIII. REFERENCES: (APA FORMAT)

Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health / Mental Illness Awareness Week | Quick

Facts. (n.d.). Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health Mental Illness Awareness Week RSS2. Retrieved June 5, 2014, from

http://camimh.ca/mental-illness-awareness-week-english/about-mental-illness/quick-facts/

Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health, 2012. (n.d.). Government of Canada,

Statistics Canada.Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130918/dq130918a-eng.htm

For Reporters. (n.d.). CAMH: Statistics on Mental Illness and Addictions. Retrieved June 5, 2014,

from http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/about_camh/newsroom/for_reporters/pages/addictionmentalhealthstatistics.aspx

Home page — Statistics Canada. (n.d.). Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. Retrieved June

4, 2014, from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html

Institutional links. (n.d.). The Human Face of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Canada 2006.

Retrieved June 6, 2014, from

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/human-humain06/15-eng.php

Issue:Primary Care. (n.d.). Issue: Primary Care. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from

http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/English/issues/primary-care?routetoken=88a92e35dda591ab299fdd992d9f69c3&terminitial=26

Kahn, S. (2008). Aboriginal Mental Health: The statistical reality. Visions Journal, 5(1),

6-7.

Kliff, S. (2012, July 1). Everything you ever wanted to know about Canadian health care in one

post.Washington Post. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/07/01/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-canadian-health-care-in-one-post/

Mental Health Services. (n.d.). Canadian Mental Health Association. Retrieved June 7, 2014, from

http://www.cmha.ca/public_policy/mental-health-services/#.U5NkKJRdV-Y

The Facts. (n.d.). Mental Health Strategy. Retrieved June 5, 2014, from

http://strategy.mentalhealthcommission.ca/the-facts/

Whalen, David. B.A. “The Stigma Associated with Mental Illness.” Canadian Mental Health

Association. Retrieved June 5 2014, from http://www.cmhanl.ca/pdf/Stigma.pdf