Write a 8 page essay on Mental Dsorder and Social Exclusion.Download file to see previous pages... Unfortunately, what we observe in everyday life is totally opposite of that. Rarely, any case is obse

Write a 8 page essay on Mental Dsorder and Social Exclusion.

Unfortunately, what we observe in everyday life is totally opposite of that. Rarely, any case is observed by us when the society strives to assist and support people with mental health problems. No doubt, there is a great deal of literature published everyday on the necessity of social inclusion, but its practical application is really very less. This paper basically aims to conduct a conceptual and methodological review of social exclusion, focusing initially on the origins and definitions of the concept and then on approaches to its measurement, both in general and specifically in relation to mental health. (Morgan 2007).

Mental health is an area which is remarkably impacted by growing up in poverty. According to BBC News (1999), in the UK, World Mental Health Day is being coordinated by the Health Education Authority and its theme is discrimination associated with people experiencing mental health problems. The stressful situations that often accompany poverty, such as divorce, death, job loss, or drug addiction and even social exclusion, can create feelings of anxiety and depression that can last well into adulthood. Parents who are struggling to provide basic necessities are often unable to spend much quality time with their children, leading to low self esteem and lifelong difficulties forming strong relationships with others. Spending large amounts of time in poor quality daycare, a situation which is much more common among children in poverty, can also have a negative impact on a child's emotional health. Once they reach elementary school, children who live in poverty often receive a substandard education because they are forced to move frequently or attend under-funded schools. This further exacerbates their mental helath conditions and is one of the most troubling long term effects of poverty. (Hinders 2010). According to Morgan, social exclusion was increasingly used to capture the consequences of material deprivation in terms of restricted opportunities to participate in wider social and cultural activities. Paradoxically, many commentators have argued that the notion of social exclusion gained currency in UK government and policy circles during the 1980s and 1990s because it allowed the less politically acceptable language of poverty to be removed from policy debates.

There is no single accepted definition of social exclusion. According to Howarth (cited in Morgan 2007), "poverty and social exclusion are concerned with a lack of possessions, or an inability to do things that are considered normal by society". However, most emphasize lack of participation in social activities as the core characteristic. In the mental health literature, social exclusion is poorly defined and measured. If social exclusion is a useful concept for understanding the social experiences of those with mental health problems, there is an urgent need for more conceptual and methodological work. According to Palmer (2005), before the 1997 Labor Government, the term "social exclusion" was rarely ever used when discussing social policy in the UK.