The ubiquity of mental illness and its exponential growth in the US has made it the primary “medical disability” of our time. This pervasiveness and the destructive force behind it to destroy human spirit demands an urgent attention not only from medical community, and social policy makers, but also from the church. In the history of Christian communities, mental illness has tended to be viewed as some form of malignant manifestation that stands against the will and rule of God. It has thus tended to evoke a response from within the church. Today, for the most part, that response has been delegated to the medical profession and the state. The issue of mental illness has invited many debates in the current philosophical and scientific realms. In this thesis I will present a historical analysis which outlines something of the roots of how we have come to frame mental illness in contemporary America. The twentieth century saw an astronomical rise in the popularity of the biological sciences as explanatory frameworks for everything related to human beings. Psychiatry has attempted to develop a scientific context to capitalize on that success and create a framework for how we view and name those experiences that make up the criteria “mental illness.” We will evaluate those attempts and seek to explore the challenges of modern psychiatry in normalizing human behavior based on scientific theories. The intention of this study is to determine whether the church could or should intervene in such encounters, and if so, what such an intervention might look like. Mental anguish can cripple individuals in variety of ways. Among all manifestations of distress, anxiety, fear, and mental confusion, nothing can be more destructive than what psychiatry has called “schizophrenia.” This has been the most elusive, cruel, and puzzling “mental disorder” of all times, leading to prolonged disability and inten Mental anguish can cripple individuals in variety of ways. Among all manifestations of distress, anxiety, fear, and mental confusion, nothing can be more destructive than what psychiatry has called “schizophrenia.” This has been the most elusive, cruel, and puzzling “mental disorder” of all times, leading to prolonged disability and intense personal suffering. Furthermore, it attacks the core of a person’s consciousness, sense of identity, humanity and ability to relate to others and to God. This thesis proposes a biblically based Christian framework for interpreting the phenomenon of “schizophrenia” through a theological reflection on the experience quite apart from what psychiatry may or may not have to say. It will be argued that not only is “schizophrenia” not pathological, but rather it touches on the most fundamental fragilities of the human soul—hence, it is a very critical pastoral issue. We will argue that madness ought to be recognized as a phenomenon, both theological and teleological, with a deep prophetic voice, exposing our state of sinfulness, calling the church into repentance. Given that, we will explore how the church ought to encounter it effectively and faithfully.

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<p> Traumatic birth is a term used to describe a wide-range of negative physical and mental birthing events and outcomes. An estimated one-third of women perceive mental trauma during birth. Aside from deterioration of maternal mental health, the effects of perceived traumatic birth can be observed in the entire family. Although research shows the relationship of traumatic birth to mental health, the majority has focused on European or European-American women. The profound psychological impact of birth trauma has been passed off as common to all women without considering culture, race, or context. Little is known about birth trauma experiences of Mexican immigrant women. Since Mexican immigrants comprise the largest ethnic-minority group in the United States attention to perceived traumatic birth on their health status is clear. </p><p> The purpose of this dissertation research was to describe and understand the impact of a perceived traumatic birth, the range of responses produced, and the life course context in which it occurs in Latina immigrants from Mexico. </p><p> Although recruitment took place in a low-income community-based health center in Fresno, California, most interviews were conducted in the participants&rsquo; homes. In addition to field observation and photography, twenty-one interviews were conducted with seven Mexican immigrant mothers who provided first-person accounts of their perceived traumatic births and the life course context in which it occurred. Facilitated by a certified Spanish interpreter, all interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed via an iterative grounded theory process. </p><p> The results suggest that, in addition to the birth event, for these Mexican immigrant mothers, the process contributing to perceived traumatic birth is embedded in the profound adversity of their unique life context. The burden of crossing a militarized border, the fear of deportation, and lack of trust, mandates a self-protective silence that obscures both the adversity they endure and the resulting maladaptive psychological responses. Consequently, for Mexican immigrant mothers, undocumented status, adversity, mistrust, and the self-mandated silence that surrounds it, may be major factors affecting not only their perceived traumatic births, but their overall health. Findings inform further research, practice, and policy related to the unique needs of Mexican immigrant mothers. </p>

The thesis grew out of the recognition that there is a dearth of information on the users of mental health services. It set out to describe the characteristics of users across a range of health settings and to consider the role of such characteristics in the mental health referral process. The early phases of this research project were strongly influenced by a model of the referral process developed by Goldberg & Huxley (1980). They conceptualized users of health care existing on 5 levels ranging from people living in the community to users in hospital. Hypothetical filters are said to operate between each level to govern who is referred on to the next level of services. This research project borrowed the notion of filters and their arrangement of services in a referral sequence. However, the focus of this research is on the characteristics of users, and not the detail of the filters per se. What is described is the effect of the referral process not the mechanism. This thesis also moves substantially beyond the five settings in the Goldberg & Huxley model to produce a uniquely comprehensive analysis of the users of all the main mental health care providers in one health district. The research project uses a wholly quantitative methodology. The challenge has been to design a range of compatible survey forms to collect data in seven separate study settings, to collate information on over one thousand one hundred users, to describe the user profiles in each study and to develop a comparative analysis of users across a range of settings. The emphasis throughout has been to align the research with contemporary developments in health care policy, and as the project has progressed, to make a practical contribution to the important debate about information systems in mental health service planning. The thesis has been divided into four parts. Part I introduces and sets the context of the research, and describes the methodology. In seven chapters, Part II of the thesis reports the .findings of each of the seven study settings. Part III of the thesis reports the demographic and utilization characteristics comparatively across all the study settings. The conclusions of the thesis are reported in Part IV of the thesis, where the theoretical, research and policy implications are discussed.The research project makes a contribution to knowledge on 4levels. Firstly, it identifies and describes the characteristics and the typical profiles of mental health service users in a range of study settings, in one area. Secondly, it identifies the differences between users in each study setting. Thirdly, it identifies the overlap in use of one service and another. It is argued that the findings have profound implications for both developing a clearer picture of the referral processes and for highlighting for planners, producers, and providers possible complementary or inefficient service utilization patterns. On the fourth and macro level, this research project has developed a revised model of mental health service referral routes. This model provides a framework for further investigation, and has potential as a planning tool in and beyond the geographical boundaries of the current study area.

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The purpose of this study is to detail the availability and use of faith-based mental health services in Fulton County, Georgia. Specifically, this study examines mental health service availability and use patterns that influence African-American's use and with satisfaction with urban mental health services. What emerged from the mixed methods study that consisted of a survey, GIs map, and illustrative case study was a preference for culturally relevant mental health services but a disparity between service availability and accessibility. According to the results from the case study, the first hypothesis supports that consumers (and service providers) in the sample believe that faith-based organizations (FBO's) are more culturally sensitive to their needs. However, the second hypothesis, that FBO's increase access and utilization of mental health services to African American consumers and their families, are equivocal. According to data from the survey and GIs mapping, FBO's provision of mental health services is fragmented within and between FBO's and county-level systems of care. Finally, while GIs analyses confirm that FBO's are geographically closer to each other than local Fulton County mental health service providers; the survey results show that FBO's rarely share resources. FBO's provide referrals to county-level systems of care, but specific numbers of individuals that are referred by the sample population remains unknown. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications for social work policy, practice, and research.

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The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop, test, and apply a questionnaire which would be used to determine the possibility of PMS in women being admitted to psychiatric facilities. Although a review of the literature supported the assumption that PMS symptoms and symptoms of psychiatric illness share overlapping features, the evaluation process currently implemented in psychiatric facilities does not allow for the possibility of a diagnosis of PMS. The questionnaire, created to detect PMS symptom changes in intensity and timing, was administered to women newly admitted to psychiatric facilities. Thirty-two percent of the group demonstrated the possibility of having PMS. The results of this study would suggest that women of child-bearing potential, admitted to a psychiatric facility, might be evaluated for the possibility of PMS.