Mental Health Notes - News, Education and Advocacy

Blog Action Day 2008 Round Up: Poverty And Mental Health

by Alicia Sparks, Mental Health Notes on October 15th, 2008

It’s Blog Action Day 2008 here in the Interwebs.

Topic: Poverty. All day long.

Me: Clueless. Until last night.

It’s not like I couldn’t think of any way to blog about the various connections between mental health and poverty. My problem was, I couldn’t think of any new way to approach the subjects.

Sure, I could’ve talked about how needing mental health care but having no money can result in big problems, but really, that’s common sense.

Or, I could’ve offered some tips on paying for prescription medications when you don’t have health insurance, but I don’t like plagiarizing. Even myself.

There’s a smorgasbord of research regarding mental health and poverty - everything from poverty-stricken children having a higher risk of developing mental health problems to money relieving mental illness symptoms - but none of it fanned my flames.

So, I started asking myself some questions. What have I done to try to alleviate poverty? What tips could I offer others who want to join the fight against poverty?

Well, I’ve donated money, both to organized charity and to individuals. Not a whole lot, but what I could afford. I continue to participate in virtual volunteering and “click to donate” programs. I helped spread the word about how my state’s NAMI affiliation can sometimes work to provide basic needs like transportation and home appliances to poor mental health consumers.

And still, none of it seemed like enough.

I then asked myself, “What would I like to do to spread awareness about poverty and mental health that I haven’t yet - for whatever reason - done?”

I decided I would like to talk to the people who are poverty-stricken. The people who deal with mental health issues brought about by poverty, the people who have found themselves in poverty because of untreated mental health issues, and the people who I see are at risk for developing mental health problems because they’re currently struggling with poverty.

Because I can’t currently talk to these people face-to-face (and because, even if I could, I wouldn’t post their private conversations for the public!), I chose to write them letters instead.

These letters are to people I’ve met throughout my life, and I’m willing to bet most of you have encountered people similar to the “recipients” of these letters.

Of Poverty And Problem Children: What I wish I knew, and had done, when I was in school.

Of Poverty And Homeless Bums: Lessons I learned after encountering a homeless man, and how I’ve tried to teach them to others.

Of Poverty And Friends: A letter to someone who’s a bit closer to home.

If you participated in Blog Action Day 2008, leave a link to your post in the comments. Let’s talk about it.

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POSTED IN: Mental Health Notes