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Myth of mental illness summary
The myth of mental illness essay
Concept of mental health easy
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Mental health as Pilgrim (2005) stated is used positively to indicate a state of psychological wellbeing and negatively to indicate its opposite, or euphemistically to indicate facilities used by, or imposed upon, people with mental problems (pg 3) although Richards (2002) argued the concept of sanity and insanity are relative and may vary according to individual and social perspectives, and illustrated that an acceptable behaviour at an arts festival may not be perceived similar in a private home and that there are times when every one of us could be considered to be in an abnormal state of mind (pg 13-15) and in that regard dispensed the term ‘madness’ which could have emotive meaning, is neither a medical term nor a diagnosis and could imply lack of wholeness, control and hope and implicate a perception of fear (pg 16) while Stevens and Price (2006) summoned the idea that psychiatric symptoms were probably manifestations of ancient adaptive strategies inappropriate in the current epoch but could be understood and treated in an evolutionary and developmental context. Thomas Szasz (2006) however challenged the whole notion of mental-illness and coined the term “myth of mental illness” (Szasz, 1961) while giving the argument that the distinction of physiological and psychological illness was based on ‘misuse’ of the terms illness or disease which were observable anatomical and physiological phenomenon. His focus was on the fact that mental disorders have a clear biological component, and that they should be treated like any other illness. He advised the use of terms like "severe brain disorders" when describing these illnesses and stated psychiatry could indeed be replaced by neurology (2006) and considered physical diseases of ...
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WARR, P. and PARRY, G. (1982) Depressed Mood in Working-Class Mothers With and Without Paid Employment. Soc Psychiatry 17 pp. 161-165
WEINSTEIN, J. (eds.) (2010) Mental Health, Service User Involvement and Recovery London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2002) Gender and Health: Gender and Mental Health: A Report of the World Health Organization, Department of Gender and Women’s health in collaboration with Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence Geneva: World Health Organization
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (2005) Promoting Mental Health: Concepts, Emerging Evidence, Practice: A Report of the World Health Organization, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in collaboration with Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and the University of Melbourne Geneva: World Health Organization
Madness: A History, a film by the Films Media Group, is the final installment of a five part series, Kill or Cure: A History of Medical Treatment. It presents a history of the medical science community and it’s relationship with those who suffer from mental illness. The program uses original manuscripts, photos, testimonials, and video footage from medical archives, detailing the historical progression of doctors and scientists’ understanding and treatment of mental illness. The film compares and contrasts the techniques utilized today, with the methods of the past. The film offers an often grim and disturbing recounting of the road we’ve taken from madness to illness.
Forever has insanity plagued our lives. From the beginning, those who were not what society considered normal were labeled out of their minds. We look back at the old medicine men, and what do we see? Men, who themselves, were insane enough to think of crazy ways to heal our headaches and everything that ailed us, yet we’d hate to be one of them. None of us want to be labeled crazy, out of our minds, or insane. It is the one constant fear in humans, it’s what is hiding under our beds and in our closest, at ages so young we still have night lights. It causes us to scream, hide, and call for someone else to help. Just one person to tell us that we didn’t imagine things and we are not indeed losing our minds. But the truth is the real meaning of insanity is being lost.
Mental illness has been around as long as people have been. However, the movement really started in the 19th century during industrialization. The Western countries saw an immense increase in the number and size of insane asylums, during what was known as “the great confinement” or the “asylum era” (Torrey, Stieber, Ezekiel, Wolfe, Sharfstein, Noble, Flynn Criminalizing the Seriously Mentally Ill). Laws were starting to be made to pressure authorities to face the people who were deemed insane by family members and hospital administrators. Because of the overpopulation in the institutions, treatment became more impersonal and had a complex mix of mental and social-economic problems. During this time the term “psychiatry” was identified as the medical specialty for the people who had the job as asylum superintendents. These superintendents assumed managerial roles in asylums for people who were considered “alienated” from society; people with less serious conditions wer...
Thornicroft, G., & Tansella, M. (2005). Growing recognition of the importance of service user involvement in mental health service planning and evaluation. Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale, 14(01), 1-3.
Mental illness is more common than one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road, to say the least.
The human brain is a vast, unexplainable, and unpredictable organ. This is the way that many modern physicians view the mind. Imagine what physicians three hundred years ago understood about the way their patients thought. The treatment of the mentally ill in the eighteenth century was appalling. The understanding of mental illness was very small, but the animalistic treatment of patients was disgusting. William Hogarth depicts Bethlam, the largest mental illness hospital in Britain, in his 1733 painting The Madhouse1. The public’s view of mental illness was very poor and many people underestimated how mentally ill some patients were. The public and the doctors’ view on insanity was changing constantly, making it difficult to treat those who were hospitalized2. “Madhouses” became a dumping ground for people in society that could not be handled by the criminal justice system. People who refused to work, single mothers, and children who refused to follow orders were being sent to mental illness hospitals3. A lack of understanding was the main reason for the ineptness of the health system to deal with the mentally ill, but the treatment of the patients was cruel and inhumane. The British’s handling of mentally ill patients was in disarray.
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.
Shera, W. & Ramon, s. (2013). Challenges in the implementation of recovery-oriented mental health policies and services. International Journal of Mental Health, 42(2/3), 17-42.
“Women are two times more likely to develop depressive symptoms then men”(Psychosocial and Behavioral Factors in Women’s Health, 1990), and women who are among the child-bearing years tend to be more at risk. However this is not to say that men are not affected by depression. It is usually, because of negative social influences, such as economic instability, and/or the inability to handle stress in their lives.
Mental health is a crucial part of our being and has a profound effect on how we live our lives. It determines how we socialize, how we reason, how we deal with our emotions, and how we handle stress; and when impaired and/or neglected, it can have crippling effects on the way in which we function on a cognitive or even physical level. Anyone can become susceptible to mental illness or compromised mental well-being. However, throughout history mental health has often been overlooked by society and mental illness, in particular, has been long stigmatized. This has left many of those affected untreated, poorly treated, destitute, and even outcast from society. Through education and the changing attitudes of society, mental health treatment has
Mental Health is an issue that millions of individuals are facing here in the United States. Illnesses such as anxiety and panic attacks, borderline personality disorder, drug and alcohol addiction, and depression affect the lives of so many.
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.
Mental health is an integral part of our overall health and daily to day activities. According to WHO (World Health Organization), mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". on the contrary, one may experience a significant distress, disability and psychological dysfunction unable to function daily routine activities when mental illness or mental disorder is imminent. although mental disorders have been associated with the the impact on one’s health and wellbeing, it is also have a considerable economic burden when assessed in terms of unemployment
Health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ and health promotion is understood as ‘actions that support people to adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles and which create supportive living situations or environments for health’. In these definitions it is clearly standard that mental health promotion is an essential component of health promotion. Not only are there complex interconnections between physical and mental health, they share many
Our society today does not value our mental health like it should. If society would only pay as much attention to mental health, they would be better off in the long run. Think about an athlete playing a sport, they certainly understand how important physical health is. When a baseball player injures his knee, he is out and waits until it heals. But like many people, mental health is overlooked. Most teenagers do not realize that the many things like stress or eating disorders are coming from a poor mental state. They think that if they just ignore it they will snap out of it, this is not true and many times this kind of thinking will only make it worse (Change Your Mind). Mental health is not seen as important as physical health due to misconceptions and stigma behind mental health patients. By increasing the importance of personal mental health, people can reduce issues associated with mental health problems and raise awareness for people who suffer from mental health issues.