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| Photo by Dan Meyers via unsplash |
What Does Accessibility Mean?
What does it mean for something to be accessible? Does it mean that whatever it is should be available to those whoever has money? Those who live in areas with more income? Or should it be in all areas? Even the areas that are considered lower class?
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, the word “accessible” means capable of being reached, being within reach, and available(“accessible”). In other words, accessible simply means being easy to come by and available to those who need it.
With this being said, one would naturally assume that for something to be accessible, it should be available throughout an area and also for the people to know that they have this resource as an option for them to use.
Now I must ask, in the state of Georgia, where are your mental health resources in your county?
Can you readily name these resources off the top of your head or would you have to look up online where the closest resource is? If you did have to look up your resources, did you notice that the resources in the state of Georgia are scarce? Does this come to you as a surprise or not?
This is the reality of the state of Georgia as we are ranked as one of the lowest states to have access to mental health resources throughout the nation.
On the Spectrum:
Mental Health America released the data from 2022 relating to which states have the most reports of mental health issues among adults, youths, and then the accessibility the state has for its citizens to necessary resources.
The following chart demonstrates the states and their access to resources with the lighter states having the most access to necessary resources and the darker states having the least amount of access to resources.
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| 2022 State Access to Mental Health Resources via Mental Health America |
As it can be seen from the distribution of colors on the map, the south is the most abundant area of darker colors specifically the Southeast. The state with the most access to resources is the state of Vermont while Texas is ranked as the lowest state with resources.
The state of Georgia is ranked as being the 48th state according to the 2022 study. The way that Mental Health America has ranked the accessibility that the states have is via access to insurance, treatment, quality, and cost of insurance. The map indicates those who have any mental illness did not receive treatment and those who have a mental illness and are not insured amongst other factors. The national map does not limit it to adults but also includes youths with mental illness.
The following list comes directly from Mental Health America as the means of measure for the map.
What Does This Mean:
In the larger sense, this means that compared to other states, the state of Georgia is way behind in providing its civilians with adequate and necessary resources in order for any individual suffering from mental health issues to prosper.
This could have a lot to do with the state's lack of federal funds to support these resources, the lack of professionals in the field to provide these services, or other external factors such as those who do not have the insurance to cover the costs or healthcare. This could also go back to the word “accessibility” as things such as healthcare resources should be available to ALL civilians no matter the income of the person. We are all human!
Links:
Mental Health America: https://mhanational.org/issues/2022/ranking-states
Affordable and accessible mental health care is so important. We could prevent so many tragedies from occurring, including many of the school shootings, if help of this kind were more accessible. There should also be campaigns to make people aware of the services that are available, especially considering there is a stigma attached to mental health issues, so many people will not seek out help on their own.
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