Veteran Mental Illness and System Justification Theory Rates of mental illness are rising among Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This social problem has had significant consequences, such as spikes in homelessness, unemployment and suicides in this population. Many argue there are too many barriers to mental health treatment in a society that stigmatizes mental illness and undervalues mental health care. Research supports this assertion, particularly within the Veteran population (Greene-Shortridge, Britt, & Castro, 2007). System justification theory offers an explanation for why society stigmatizes mental illness in spite of the devastating consequences of treatment underutilization. As noted previously, system justification theory suggests that individuals possess a motive to justify and rationalize the status quo. According to the theory, stereotypes are often used to bolster the status quo because they easily explain differences among groups and thereby justify inequalities. The most commonly held stereotypes about mental illness in Western society are that its sufferers are dangerous, incompetent and personally responsible for their illness (Dickstein, Vogt, Handa & Litz, 2010). Not surprisingly, stereotypes like these have resulted in the persistent stigma around mental illness that exists today. Corrigan, Watson and Ottati (2003) argue this strong stigma has legitimized a historically inequitable system of treatment for those with mental illness. As far back as the Middle Ages, the mentally ill were sent to prisons because they were perceived as dangerous. Beginning in the 19th century, they were transitioned to asylums and hospitals due to the widely held belief that they were not only dangerous, but also i... ... middle of paper ... ...king_of_an_american_soldier%3A Murali, V. & Oyebode, F. (2004). Poverty, Social Inequality and Mental Health. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 10, 216-224. Rovner, J., & Cornish, A. (2013, November 8). White House Releases Long-Awaited Rules On Mental Health. NPR. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from Tanielian, T., & Jaycox, L. (Eds.). (2008). Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from Today, M. (2008, August 15). Multiple Deployments Raise Mental Health Risks. ABC News. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/ story?id=5589589 Tyson, A. S. (2005, November 4). Youths in Rural U.S. Are Drawn To Military. Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp dyn/content/article/2005/11/03/AR2005110302528.html
The fight for improved health care for those with mental illness has been an ongoing and important struggle for advocates in the United States who are aware of the difficulties faced by the mentally ill and those who take care of them. People unfortunate enough to be inflicted with the burden of having a severe mental illness experience dramatic changes in their behavior and go through psychotic episodes severe enough to the point where they are a burden to not only themselves but also to people in their society. Mental institutions are equipped to provide specialized treatment and rehabilitative services to severely mentally ill patients, with the help of these institutions the mentally ill are able to get the care needed for them to control their illness and be rehabilitated to the point where they can become a functional part of our society. Deinstitutionalization has led to the closing down and reduction of mental institutions, which means the thousands of patients who relied on these mental institutions have now been thrown out into society on their own without any support system to help them treat their mental illness. Years after the beginning of deinstitutionalization and after observing the numerous effects of deinstitutionalization it has become very obvious as to why our nation needs to be re-institutionalized.
In the 1800’s people with mental illnesses were frowned upon and weren't treated like human beings. Mental illnesses were claimed to be “demonic possessions” people with mental illnesses were thrown into jail cells, chained to their beds,used for entertainment and even killed. Some were even slaves, they were starved and forced to work in cold or extremely hot weather with chains on their feet. Until 1851, the first state mental hospital was built and there was only one physician on staff responsible for the medical, moral and physical treatment of each inmate. Who had said "Violent hands shall never be laid on a patient, under any provocation.
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness.
This stereotype contributes to the stigma individuals’ face and encourages social exclusion and intolerance, especially in schizophrenia (Ray & Brooks Dollar, 2014). Ken sought out help and went to the emergency room because he recognized he was severely depressed. There, the doctor promised he would not be put in restraints, yet when he was taken to the hospital, he was placed in restraints because it was company policy (Steele & Berman, 2001). Due the stigma that individuals with mental illness are violent, Ken was not treated fairly (Stuart & Arboleda-Florez, 2012). Stuart and Arboleda-Florez (2012) are very credible authors to be writing on the effects of stigma in mental health. Both authors have experience in psychiatry, combatting stigma and mental health issues.
Mental health patients were considered innately inferior and treated as the weaker portion of the human race due to the prevailing dominant theory of Social Darwinism in the 1800s. They were put in mental asylums, where conditions had deteriorated substantially from earlier in the century. (Floyd) The public’s interest about the unsatisfactory care of the mentally ill, championed by Dorothea Dix, led to some reforms, such as higher medical standards, more oversight into asylum practices, and more research into mental health. (Floyd) Nevertheless, the status of the mentally ill did not elevate much higher, and by the 1890s the repeated failure of asylum therapy convinced most that insanity and mental illness was incorrigible. Finding no alternatives, however, patients continued to be sent to asylums to attempt to cure them as much as to isolate them from the rest of society. (Roberts) Unfortunately, people also began to fear the proliferation of the mentally ill. When sterilization became considered, unrealistic, more, cheaper asylums were built as a means of segregated them and preventing an increase in their numbers. (Roberts)
Mental healthcare has a long and murky past in the United States. In the early 1900s, patients could live in institutions for many years. The treatments and conditions were, at times, inhumane. Legislation in the 1980s and 1990s created programs to protect this vulnerable population from abuse and discrimination. In the last 20 years, mental health advocacy groups and legislators have made gains in bringing attention to the disparity between physical and mental health programs. However, diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses continues to be less than optimal. Mental health disparities continue to exist in all areas of the world.
As the stigma against the mentally ill grew, societies across the world began to remove them from the community. Insane asylums became the primary source of treatment for those with severe mental illnesses. While the intention was to alleviate the burden on society, these institutions were ramped with cruelty and mistreatment of those with mental illness. The cruelty endured by the mentally ill spanned well over a century and most of western society. Asylums locked up individual in overcrowded unsanitary condition. These individuals were often used as test subject without consent for some of the cruelest treatments of mental illness.
Until the middle of the last century, public mental health in the United States had been the responsibility, for the most part, of individual states, who chose to deal with their most profoundly mentally-ill by housing them safely and with almost total asylum in large state mental hospitals. Free of the stresses we all face in our lives, the mentally-ill faced much better prospects for peaceful lives and even recovery than they would in their conditions in ordinary society. In the hospitals, doctors were always accessible for help, patients were assured food and care, and they could be monitored to insure they never became a danger to themselves or others. Our nation’s state hospital system was a stable, efficient way to help improve the lives of our mentally disabled.
The military culture is truly a society of warriors who heavily rely on each individual to master the ability of handling stress under the most extreme circumstances. Personal sacrifice in order to ensure mission success is paramount within the military culture. Due to this mindset, which is heavily reliant on demonstrating resilience through adversity and displaying inner strength, individuals diagnosed with a mental illness face an extraordinary battle amongst their peers. According to a study by Wade et al.
The BBC documentary, Mental: A History of the Madhouse, delves into Britain’s mental asylums and explores not only the life of the patients in these asylums, but also explains some of the treatments used on such patients (from the early 1950s to the late 1990s). The attitudes held against mental illness and those afflicted by it during the time were those of good intentions, although the vast majority of treatments and aid being carried out against the patients were anything but “good”. In 1948, mental health began to be included in the NHS (National Health Service) as an actual medical condition, this helped to bring mental disabilities under the umbrella of equality with all other medical conditions; however, asylums not only housed people
After a veteran returns from war, some are lucky enough to go home without a scratch, but many suffer severe injuries, in addition to the incapability of reintegrating back into society. As these difficulties arise almost all veterans turns towards the help of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the VA, for both physical and mental help. Although, many veterans are searching for this help workers of the VA make it difficult, as they constantly judge those in need. According to Martin Kantor, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, and author of Uncle Sam's Shame: Inside Our Broken Veterans Administration, Many vets are going to private hospitals because of the “fear of being treated like a second-class citizen” (25). This is a huge issue, since
Equally important is the lack of access for rural veterans seeking mental health treatment. According to Bennett, et al. (2004), in comparison to urban-based veterans, rural veterans have a greater concern in their ability to access transportation in their seeking of mental health services. As an illustration, after reaching out to their communities, the Alabama Veterans Rural Health Initiative (ARHI) found that of all their veteran participants, a total of 56 percent screened positive for at least one Axis I mental disorders (Davis et al.,
Moreover, the labeling perspective on mental illness... was first formulated decades ago, when mental hospitals were the predominant type of care for persons with mental health problems… Patients were described as undergoing a moral career, which involved the loss of all previous roles because of the way mental health care was structured, and which finally lead to a so-called spoiled identity, the result being that reintegration in society was very difficult, if not impossible (Verhaeghe et al.
The standards of every culture believe to be considered normal, natural, or healthy. These views lead to disagreements about the causes, diagnosis, and the treatment of the disorders. Many people with mental problems are discriminated against because of their mental disorder. Mental illness and stigma refers to the view of the person with mental illness as having undesirable traits. Stigma leads to negative behavior, stereotyping, and discriminatory behavior towards the person with mental health issues.
There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed. Most commonly, people are stated to be “depressed” rather than someone who “has depression”. It is a common perception that mental illnesses are not a priority when it comes to Government spending just as it is forgotten that most mental health disorders can be treated and lead a normal life if treatment is successful. The effect of this makes a sufferer feels embarrassed and feel dehumanized. A common perception is that they should be feared or looked down upon for something they have not caused. People experience stigma as a barrier that can affect nearly every aspect of life—limiting opportunities for employment, housing and education, causing the loss of family ...