IndexIntroductionLiterature reviewConclusionIntroductionIn the 1600s, mentally ill people were called "lunatics". They were usually cared for by family or paid other families to provide for them. People with mental illnesses were placed in workhouses and were placed with people who had other disabilities. In the 19th century, Philippe Pinel invented the moral treatment movement. It was the idea that people with mental illnesses “should be treated with humane, sympathetic, and personal care in a hospital or asylum.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Mental illness has affected everyone in my family, including me, for years. I was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder after my father died when I was eight. Mental illness runs in both sides of my family. My great-grandmother on my mother's side even committed suicide due to mental illness. Mental illness has not only affected me and my family, but also my community. Within eleven months, four students/former students at my high school, Downingtown East, committed suicide. This past April 22nd was the first anniversary of the second student, Tommy Walsh. I chose this topic because it doesn't get enough attention. Nobody likes to talk about mental health, but we have to. People need to speak up before it's too late. More than 7,500 people have signed an online petition to help raise awareness about mental health in Downingtown East. At a school board meeting, Superintendent Lonardi said “this is one of those cases where it really takes a village.” One step at a time, communities must come together to help raise awareness about the effects of mental health. Literature Review “Mental health is the state of relative psychological and emotional well-being in which an individual can make acceptably rational decisions, cope adequately with personal and external stressors, and maintain satisfactory adjustment to society.” The causes of mental illnesses can be chemical, physiological, genetic, biological or social and impair a person's ability to function properly. Social workers are employed in a wide range of mental health settings including; residential treatment centers, psychiatric and inpatient psychiatric hospitals, outpatient treatment agencies, community and mental health programs, and employee assistance programs. Social workers provide services at three different levels. Social workers provide counseling at the micro level, group therapy and family treatment at the meso level, and finally, social workers can advocate for change and develop programs to address mental health needs at the macro level. National Institute of Mental Health study shows many preteens test positive for suicide risk during emergency room visits. Research found that a third of children aged ten to twelve tested positive. 7% of these young people were seeking help for mental, non-psychiatric problems. Lives could be saved if screening were done regardless of symptoms. Research also showed that a number of preteens who died by suicide had been seen by a doctor in the month before the suicide. In the article “Mental health is stagnant. Here's why” that is, 350 million people in the world suffer from depression, yet we have failed to help people get better. The chair of the advocacy committee.