Emerging need of mental health

Humans exist since times unaccountable and so does their mind, with that Mental Health Counseling prevailed in the society since a long time but its professional use came only after 1800s.

World War II caused a long distress and thus there was a desperate need for counselors and psychologists to help the government select and train specialists for military and industrial work placements. With soldiers returning home and seeking vocational counseling, it quickly became apparent that career counseling could not be done without addressing PTSD and other mental health conditions attributed to wartime exposure. The United States Veterans Administration (VA) recognized the need for professional providers and funded the training of counselors.

In 1952, The American Personnel and Guidance Association was created as an attempt to unite and provide counselors, who were now integrating mental health &  vocational counseling, with a professional association.

By the mid-1970’s increasing numbers of counselors found employment in a variety of community and non-school settings. Meanwhile, the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) seemed predominantly to focus on counseling within school or academic settings, therefore not all community and agency counselors felt represented. This is when the American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) was founded. While the American Psychological Association (APA) supported doctoral-level training, and APGA continued as an association for school counselors, vocational counselors, college student development people, and rehabilitation counselors, AMHCA applied to mental health counselors across all settings. People who were community counselors, agency counselors, and so forth, quickly latched onto the title mental health counselor and the idea that a unique professional group had been formed to meet their needs.

In 1976, the American Mental Health Counseling Association (AMHCA), sought out to define and promote the professional identity of mental health counselors. Without credentialing, licensure, or education and training standards, or other marks of a clinical profession, these early mental health counselors worked alongside social workers and psychologists in the developing community mental health service system as “paraprofessionals” or “allied health professionals” despite the fact that they held Masters or Doctoral degrees. By 1979, the early founders of AMHCA had organized four key mechanisms for defining the new clinical professional specialty:

1) Identifying a definition of mental health counseling;
2) Setting standards for education and training, clinical practice, and a code of professional ethics;
3) Creating a national credentialing system and
4) Starting a professional journal which included research and clinical practice content. These mechanisms have significantly contributed to the professional development of clinical mental health counseling and merit further explication.

Today, with licensure laws in all 50 states, AMHCA seeks to enhance the practice of clinical mental health counseling and to promote standards for clinical education and clinical practice which anticipate the future roles of clinical mental health counselors within the broader health care system. As a professional association, AMHCA affiliated with APGA (a precursor to the American Counseling Association [ACA]) as a division in 1978; in 1998, AMHCA became a separate not-for profit organization, but retained its status as a division of ACA.

Significance:

“If the mind works well, all is well”

With this in mind we have seen that Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Over 26 percent of all Americans over the age of 18 meet the criteria for having a mental illness. Serious mental disorders affect an estimated 6 percent of the adult population, or approximately 1 in 17 people. A little more than half receive treatment. A WHO report estimates the global cost of mental illness at nearly $2.5 trillion (two-thirds in indirect costs) in 2010, with a projected increase to over $6 trillion by 2030.

Evidence from the World Health Organization suggests that nearly half of the world's population are affected by mental illness with an impact on their self-esteem, relationships and ability to function in everyday life. An individual's emotional health can also impact physical health and poor mental health can lead to problems such as substance abuse.

Maintaining good mental health is crucial to living a long and healthy life. Good mental health can enhance one's life, while poor mental health can prevent someone from living an enriching life. According to Richards, Campania, & Muse-Burke, "There is growing evidence that is showing emotional abilities are associated with prosocial behaviors such as stress management and physical health." Their research also concluded that people who lack emotional expression are inclined to anti-social behaviors (e.g., drug and alcohol abuse, physical fights, vandalism), which are a direct reflection of their mental health and suppress emotions.

Isn’t it rightly said that there is no health without a good mental health?

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Source : https://www.bumc.bu.edu