When Dr. Amy Barnhorst treats patients for mental illness in county jails, emergency rooms, and psychiatric hospitals, she sees more than the person standing before her. She takes in their life circumstances, too. That can include childhood trauma, food insecurity, neighborhood violence, unemployment, and personal and institutional racism.
These experiences, among others, influence a person's emotional and psychological well-being. Yet mental health is typically cast as a biological condition shaped by genes and character traits. While that's true, ending the story there is misleading, says Barnhorst, vice chair of community mental health in the department of psychiatry at the University of California, Davis. Read more...
More about Health, Mental Health, Social Good, and Health
0 Comments