Final Project Idea: Mental Illness in the U.S.

One of the most serious and increasingly controversial topics to take center stage in the United States recently is mental health awareness and the current state of mental illness prevention tactics and treatment centers.

I think this would be a very interesting topic to focus my final project on. I think that before this topic really emerged into the public eye in a big way at the end of 2012, it was one that was largely ignored among the public, especially with regard to treatment for various illnesses.

It would be interesting to gather some data on mental health statistics for the state of Texas and possibly for the country as a whole. I could then compare how many cases of diagnosed mental illnesses occurred in Texas and in the U.S. during a given time period, as well as compare the number of mental illness prevention and treatment centers in the state and around the country. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides some relevant data. I still have some brainstorming to do in order to focus this topic a little more, but I think it will provide some important data and information about an extremely relevant topic.