Mental Illness and Mental Health

2806 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Definition and nature of psychology

Introduction

Psychology is portrayed as a noble field where clinicians seek who help clients through the human suffering that they experience from psychiatric issues. There is controversy as to what constitutes human suffering to the extent that therapeutic and pharmacological interventions need to occur. The line between normal functioning or coping with the realities of life and psychiatric illness appears to blur further with every new addition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) from the American Psychiatric Association (APA). An example of this blurring is the proposed addition of Complicated Grief Disorder which has the potential to medicalize and dehumanize an adaptive process that occurs when one is bereft of a relationship. What is deemed abnormal by one generation, in one edition of the DSM can be totally revised in another edition. But what is abnormal and normal in our society at any given period?

The use of the terms abnormal and normal seems archaic when dealing with symptoms of mental illness given the mathematical origin of the terms. More appropriately, the terms adaptive and nonadaptive speak to the transient nature of the relativity in our thoughts, behavior, physical symptoms, and psychosocial interactions. Several individuals I work with have been institutionalized their entire lives, thus living for decades with no privacy and little safety from other residents and unscrupulous care givers. They display behaviors today that are described as maladaptive because the situation that they live in has changed and the old behavior has not changed.

For instance, a client has been institutionalized since for 31 of his 35 years of life. He hordes items such as garbage,...

... middle of paper ...

...h ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.

American Psychiatric Association. 2010. DSM-5 Development. www.dsm5.org.

Brendel, David (2001). Multifactorial causation of mental disorders: a proposal

to improve the DSM. Harvard Review Of Psychiatry. 2001. 9 (1),

pp. 42-45.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999a). Mental Health: A report of

the Surgeon General – executive summary. Rockville, MD: U. S. Department of

Heatlh and Human Services, Substance Abuse, and Mental Health Services

Administration, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health,

1999. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/home.html.

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999b). Mental Health: Culture,

race, ethnicity: Mental health: A Supplement to the report of the Surgeon

General 2001.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of William Styron's Major Depressive Disorder

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    By examining William’s personal struggle with the mental disorder of major depressive disorder the devastation this illness causes on the functioning of individuals is clearly highlighted. More importantly, the narrative reveals the importance of receiving help quickly after the onset of symptoms. The unfortunate truth of the illness of depression is that a large percentage of individuals wait many years to receive help and a small number do not even receive treatment for varying reasons. As a result of the individuals with depression who do not seek immediate help due to not understanding that what they are experiencing is an atypical response, the afraid of being stigmatized and learned helplessness, the mood disorder of depression acts like a silent

    Read More

  • Death And Grieving By Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

    1953 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1969 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a psychiatrist, published the Pioneering book On Death and Dying. The work acquainted the world with the grieving process, called the five stages of grief. Kübler-Ross gathered her research from studying individuals with terminal cancer (Johnson, 2007). The first stage of the grieving process is denial. In this stage the person refuses to believe that their loved one is deceased, a common thought during this period is, “This can’t be happening to me” (Johnson, 2007).The second stage of the grieving process is anger. In this level the person becomes frustrated with their circumstances, a customary complaint is “Why is this happening to me?” (Johnson, 2007). The third stage of the grieving process is bargaining. At this point the individual hopes that they can prevent their grief, this typically involves bartering with a higher power, and an ordinary observance during this time is “I will do anything to have them back” (Johnson, 2007). The fourth and most identifiable stage of grief is depression. This phase is habitually the lengthiest as...

    Read More

  • Ordinary People Grief And Grief

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    Individually, everyone has their own methods of dealing with situations and emotions regardless of any positive or negative connotation affixed to them. One prime example of this comes with grief. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying” suggests that there are five stages of mourning and grief that are universal and, at one point or another, experienced by people from all walks of life. These stages, in no particular order, are as follows: Denial and Isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and finally Acceptance. Each individual person works through these stages in different orders for varying levels of time and intensity, but most if not all are necessary to “move on.” In order for positive change to occur following a loss, one must come to terms with not only the event but also themselves.

    Read More

  • Psychological Analysis of Death: The Death of Ivan Illych

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Death of Ivan Illych brings an excellent in-depth description of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s 5 cycles of grief theory. In the book, it shows how Ivan Illych goes through these cycles in their own individual way. The cycles that Kubler-Ross uses in her theory are: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. To get a better understanding of these cycles, this paper will describe each cycle and provide quotations that will help develop an idea of how someone going through these cycles may react.

    Read More

  • Mental Illness And Mental Health

    1917 Words  | 4 Pages

    were males, 7221, and the rest 564 were females. In order to see if the participates had any sort of mental illness they looked at self reported treatment, related to mental health (Biltz). The results of this study found that the amount of inmates that participating in this study had a disproportionally number of inmates with mental healthy that were physically victimized. According to this study prisons are a violent and unsafe place for people who suffer from mental illness (Biltz). Male inmates who suffered from any form of mental illness were nearly 1.6 times more likely to be physically victimized while in prison. Females inmates who had a mental illness were even more likely to suffer from physical victimization, they were nearly 2 times more likely than male inmates with mental illness (Blitz). Inmates that were African Americans and Hispanics were more likely to be physically victimized either by inmates or staff.

    Read More

  • Mental Illness Essay

    1958 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are so many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of the ones that would cause people to have physical symptoms as well, but that’s untrue, there are many more that you would never know anyone has if you were to see them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s ability or behavior. Symptoms of a mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a decreased ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that damage the person’s ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by a mental illness. In the United States alone about 3% of the population has severe mental illness and to add to that number about 40% of people will experience a type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illnesses can go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is so much more available to help people recover from their symptoms than in the past.

    Read More

  • The Stages Of Death In The Kubler-Ross Model

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the history of mankind there are two main things that are guaranteed in life, taxes and death. According to researchers at Hebrews For Christians, 56,000,000 people die each year, (Parson, 2014). Many of these people die at ripe old ages while there are a plethora of young people who die slow and tragic deaths. When death occurs many people are not prepared and therefore many devastating things can result from this. People usually experience problems with their emotions, they will stress over a number of situations, and many health issues will arise. Many people become depressed for long periods of time and give up on life. Although there are people who take these experiences to heart, there are many ways a person can deal with these problems. Dealing with these problems in a healthy manner, can lead to a very healthy healing process for everyone who is being affected by it. In this research paper I will discuss three main keys points. The first key point I will discuss the stages of death in the Kubler - Ross Model. Secondly I will discuss is the psychological effect of how death can effect people in many different ways. Third and final, I will show you many different ways a person can deal with grief.

    Read More

  • The Concept Of Mental Health

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    Race, by definition, refers to biological characteristics of individuals as reflected in their physical appearance (Lyndonna Marrast, David U. Himmelstein, and Steffie Woolhandler, 2016) Contrary to popular race, the concept of race is not something that is intrinsic to human nature; in other words, it is an aspect of society that has been socially constructed with the intention of separation and segregation. Usually, those that are placed into racial categories are associated with certain prejudices and biases that are the result of multiple stereotypes that are perpetuated in our society; for example, there are multiple stigmas of African Americans in today’s society. As a result, this has allowed for the development of a specific way of

    Read More

  • Character Analysis from What's Eating Gilbert Grape

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Major Depressive Disorder and the “Bereavement Exclusion”. American Psychiatric Association DSM-5 Development. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Bereavement%20Exclusion%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

    Read More

  • Mental Illness: Depression

    1817 Words  | 4 Pages

    Depression is a mental health condition which is widely recognised as one of the most common conditions for which people seek and receive care. There are many specific nursing problems which are encompassed by the medical term “depression” and these include physical, cognitive and behavioural patterns. Successful treatments of depression are psychosocial interventions which aim to identify and challenge a depressed persons pessimistic attitudes and beliefs and which promote an individuals’ participation in rewarding activities in an attempt to reduce any negative behaviours. The aim of this essay is to identify specific nursing problems which are encompassed by the term “depression” and relate these to a patient whom the author had met whilst out on clinical placement who had been given a medical diagnosis of depression. It is also the aim of this essay to discuss different psychosocial interventions and how effective these are in assisting a patient in their road to recovery.

    Read More

  • Reflective Essay On Loss Theory

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    On reflection Mr Young’s case, I could identify that he required support to make sense of his loss, despite his diagnosis of early onset dementia. Mr Young’s long term partner just died during his hospital admission. According to Freud (1971), stress, grief and loss produce a mixture of physical and psychological reasons which are closely related with the social pressure about changes in status. He further stressed that these are often accompanied by financial problems; in this case, Mr Young’s problems was associated to accommodation in addition to losing his companion.

    Read More

  • Health And Mental Health

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mental health can be described as not having any mental illness. World health organization describes the state of mental health as the condition in which an individual understands his or her own capacities, he or she can withstand the normal stresses of life, can work beneficially and productively, and can make a commitment to his or her group. Mental disorders can affect anyone regardless of their age, their background or ethnic group. Examples of mental disorders include anxiety, stress and mood disorder.

    Read More

  • Workaholism and its Mental Health Risks

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    The title of the news article that I selected is: Mental health risks linked to working too much. This article describes that workaholics are likely to suffer from mental disorders (such as anxiety and ADHD symptoms). The researchers also found that workaholics 'scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics'. And compared to non-workaholic, workaholics have more symptoms of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

    Read More

  • Essay On Mental Health

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    Families of the mental usually did the treatment for mental disorders in Colonial America, ill or by private caretakers. Institutionalization began during the eighteenth century; people with mental disorders were placed in undifferentiated poorhouses or almshouses which were locally run public institutions for the mentally ill or crippled. Towards the second half of the 20th century this kind of treatment was replaced by moral treatment which was treatment based on the theory that environmental changes could affect an individual’s mind and consequently altering their behavior. Mentally ill persons w...

    Read More

  • Philosophy Of Mental Illness

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    There is a common belief that surrounds the church today that mental illness is not an illness that can be fixed or even needs treatment. Instead of an illness it is often seen as sin in the person, an attitude problem, or a curse from God Himself. However if this same person has a broken limb, is injured, diseased, or has cancer somewhere in their body, they can go to the doctor, people have compassion and pray for them, and they can typically get fixed without judgment. The Philosophy of Mental Illness is an interdisciplinary area of study concerning the philosophy of mind and psychology in order to analyze the nature of mental illness. Philosophers of mental illness are apprehensive with examining the ontological, epistemological, and normative productions arising from varying conceptions of mental illness that may be tied into the Church.

    Read More

More about Mental Illness and Mental Health

Open Document