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Implications of stigma to sufferers of mental health
Implications of stigma to sufferers of mental health
Mental illness impact essay
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Social Stigma and Mental Illnesses
Whenever an individual is identified as having a mental illness, he or she is seen in a different kind of light. Most of the time mental illnesses have a negative connotation to it. This is because the wrongful connection between violence and mental illnesses. Societies negative view of mental illnesses creates many drawbacks in diagnosing and treating the mental disorders. That is why society needs to abandon their negative perspective of mental illnesses.
In studying mental health there is a wide variety of disorders and levels. There is no defined line of being totally normal or being mentally ill. Mental health is usually characterized by the “individuals ability to maintain their mental and emotional balance in times of crisis or stress”(Mental Health and Illness). With that being said, it is crucially important in diagnosing mental illnesses early on and effectively treating those disorders. The mental disorder that is most connected to being violent is schizophrenia. Many mass murders of school shootings and movie theater shooting have showed some sign of schizophrenia. More specifically James Holmes who shot 12 people in a movie theater in California. In the article written by Szalavitz, it had been recorded that Holmes was seeing a psychiatrist who specializes in schizophrenia (Szalavitz). Schizophrenia developed at adolescences it causes extreme delusions and paranoia. It becomes more and more severe and in the end it is out of control for the individual. It creates a whole different reality for the individual (Mental Health and Illness).
Although schizophrenia is considered a severe psychotic disorder studies show that “the majority of people with schizophrenia (about 1% of the po...
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On Mental Health." NPR. NPR, 08 Nov. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2014
Szalavitz, Maia. "Mass Murder and Mental Illness: The Interplay of Stigma, Culture and Disease." Time. Time, 31 July 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2014
Shah, Nirvi. "School Security, Mental-Health Measures Advance." Education Week 17 Apr. 2013: 19. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
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Szasz, Thomas Stephen, "The myth of mental illness; foundations of a theory of personal conduct", New York : Hoeber-Harper, 1961.
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The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms, but only in cases of self-defense and hunting for food. However, the use of guns has drastically changed since 1791 when the amendment was implemented. Today, guns are not solely used in their intended ways. Since 2010, over eighty-seven school shootings have occurred within American grade schools, high schools, and universities, resulting in approximately 107 injuries and 109 murders of innocent students. The two most deadly shootings in the world occurred in the United States: the Virginia Tech University Massacre which left thirty-two dead and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting which left twenty-eight dead. Each new shooting prompts a debate about gun control laws and leaves citizens wondering about the accessibility of guns; any United States citizen over the age of twenty-one that does not have any previous felonies is able to easily receive a gun license. Forty-nine out of the sixty-one school shootings that occurred between 1982 and 2012 legally obtained firearms. The statistics become even more outstanding: seventy nine percent of all shooters have been diagnosed with a mental illness or disability, including the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook shooters, Seung-Hui Cho and Adam Lanza. Cho and Lanza were diagnosed with mental illnesses and disabilities, depression and autism, respectively. Even so, they were still able to acquire the guns they needed because extensive mental health background checks did not and still do not exist; Cho purchased his own weapon and Lanza stole his mother’s guns. Although the case studies of Lanza and Cho are only two out of the many school shootings, they should be considered prime examples to illustrate the necessity to add stri...
Weber, Paul. “Fort Hood Gunman Sought Mental Health Treatment.” The Associated Press News Service [Texas] 3 Apr. 2014: n. pag. NewsBank Special Reports. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Markowitz, F. E. (2011). Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36-44.
James Eagan Holmes didn’t let six-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan out of that movie theatre that fateful night. Daniel Parmentors mom didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him because of T.J. Lane. Mary Sherlack’s husband will not set the table for her after Adam Lanza entered her school. The actions of those three shooters were not to cause such small but widespread repercussions for so many other mourning people. They all suffered from various mental illnesses. 79% of recent shootings are attributable to mental illnesses. The U.S. should re-evaluate gun screenings to decrease the odds of another mass shooting by not allowing anyone with any mental or psychological problem to own or possess a firearm. While the Constitution states that everyone has the right to bear arms, the present situation is different from that past, when relations with Great Britain were shaky. Secondly, gun violence is on the rise, with 46 school shootings since 2010, compared with only 40 from 2000 to 2010. Finally, if gun screenings are modified, there will be many jobs available, while contributing to national security at the same time.
However, local and national news also produces negativity towards mental illness by “portraying people with mental illness as threats to themselves and to others” (Anaya 4). In the past two years, the news features stories such as a man who has schizophrenia, running on a shooting spree then killing himself; or a mother with depression who murders her children, then kills herself (Anaya 4). Anaya explains that television programs use mental illness as a headline to grab the attention of views and ultimately implies to respond with fear (5). Highlighting that mental illnesses are the reason for the evil in society, hurting those who suffer with mental illnesses. Therefore, the population begin to believe mental illness is bad, so do the people who suffer with mental
“The more energy they have to gin up to execute their plan, the harder it will be to do so” (Newman). When “Would be shooters” are faced with a challenge they most likely don’t go through with their plan. The dedicated shooters are those who intend on finding guns and shooting people, those who have the drive. “Totally dedicated shooters” are the type of people who wont give up whether the guns are accessible to them legally or illegally. Dedicated shooters have a plan of action and intend on going through with it. These types of people likely suffer from mental illnesses. “The abnormally high level of school shootings in America is not solely a gun issue a mental health issue, or a media issue, but rather a problem caused by a combination of mental illness problems, social inequality, gun control policies, and the structure of schools”(Gupta, 2016). Structural inequalities in the United States cause stress, which lead people to turn to radical measures. Factors such as economic change, racism and social changes cause constraints on behavior. Mental health is also a leading factor to school shootings. “Metzl and MacLeish’s research shows that up to 60 percent of mass shootings in the United States since 1970 involved shooters displaying symptoms of mental illnesses—including paranoia, depression, and delusions—and the evidence suggests that
Robbins, Pamela Clark, John Monahan and Eric Silver. 2003. “Mental Disorder, Violence, and Gender.” Law and Human Behavior 27(6):561-571.
Glied, S., & Frank, R. G. (2014). Mental Illness and Violence: Lessons From the Evidence.
Mental Health Crisis Stigmatization of mental health and suicide is a major problem which affects patients and their caregivers around the world. The stigma leads to negative behavior and stereotyping towards the person with mental illness. This causes the person affected by this to fell rejection and to feel shame about their condition. All the stigma leads to underreporting, and data collection methods that is critical to suicide prevention that needs to be improved.
Why is there a cloud of judgment and misunderstanding still surrounding the subject? People with a mental disorder or with a history of mental health issues are continually ostracized by society. This results in it being more difficult than it already is for the mentally ill to admit their symptoms to others and to seek treatment. To towards understanding mental illness is to finally lift the stigma, and to finally let sufferers feel safe and accepted within today’s society. There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed.
Mass media “references to people with mental health problems found more than four in ten articles in the press used derogatory terms about mental health and nearly half of press coverage related mental illness to violence and crime” (Esseler, 244). This is causing for people to look down upon the mention of mental illnesses and many times ignore the importance of confronting this issue. Therefore the importance of removing this stigmatization is crucial. Education allows to make more informed decisions and then changing the perception of mental illness can lead towards policy changes toward the improvement of mental health (Sakellari,