Cost of Mental Illness

Cost of Mental Illness – Who Pays and Who Receives
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Cost of Mental Illness – Who Pays and Who Receives
Mental illnesses are widespread across the different countries of the world including the developed countries. In their article, Schofield et al. (2011) examine the national as well as personal costs of mental illnesses in Australia. They opine that mental health conditions have the potential of interrupting people’s ability to take part in the labour force and thus pose a significant burden to both the state and individuals. In the “Background” section of the article, Schofield et al. (2011) report that mental health illnesses in Australia are the third largest burden to the state when all the diseases affecting the population are considered. They add that in the year 2007, approximately half of the inhabitants aged between 16 and 84 years of Australia experienced one or more mental health problem in their lifetime. Schofield et al. (2011) state that the prevalence of mental illnesses in Australia is quite high and that the economic costs of this prevalence are equally high.
Schofield et al. (2011) opine that apart from having a huge national cost, mental illnesses also come with huge personal economic costs. They point out that mentally ill people have for a long time remained most marginalised as well as disadvantaged society members. The authors also highlight the impact that mental illnesses have on the employment of individ…