Case Study Crazy Like Us

Certain mental illnesses are unique to cultures. They are recognizable only within a particular society, at a particular time. Such disorders are medically and anthropologically known as “culture-bound” or “culture specific” syndromes.

Although about 450 million people in the world currently are suffering from a mental illness, many untreated, the topic still remains taboo in modern society (Mental Health). For years, people with mental illnesses have been shut away or institutionalized, and despite cultural progression in many areas, mental illnesses are still shamed and rarely brought to light outside of the psychiatric community. The many different forms in which mental illness can occur are incredibly prevalent in the world today, and there is a substantial debate about the way that they should be handled. Some people are of the opinion that mental illness is merely a variance in perception and that it either can be fixed through therapy or should not be treated at

Mental health illnesses affect everyone. It is highly prevalent affecting people of all ages, gender, cultures, and social groups. Attitudes towards mental health illnesses vary among individuals and often are highly influenced by the various cultures that the individuals identify with. Culture as a social concept can be defined as a set of norms, values, behaviours, and beliefs that are common and shared amongst a group of individuals (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). Culture can be applicable to groups like Asians and Americans but also to groups of shared norms, beliefs, and values established within professions such as the culture of patients and practitioners. Culture provides these groups with structure and context to understanding their society and the world as a whole. Culture influence a wide range of aspects of mental health, including how mental health is perceived by the patient, how the patient will experience mental health stigma, and how they cope with symptoms of mental health illness. Additionally, these cultural influences impact the relationship between the patient and the practitioner in a number of ways.

All around the world there are issues with people’s health, specifically mental health. Some people are declared “insane”, “crazy” and even “the mentally disabled.” It is believed that to have a mental illness, you are you act or think in weird ways. Ronald W. Manderscheid, Carol D. Ryff, Elise Freeman, Lela McKnight-Eily, Satvinder Dhingra and Tara Strine, authors of “Evolving Definitions of Mental Illness and Wellness”, state that “In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as ‘a state of complete physical,

Growing up, I spent summers visiting my family in Germany. There remains a hesitance to seek therapy due in part to the oppression during Nazi-rule. Information was not confidential and anyone that was deemed to have mental illness was at risk of being euthanized, sterilized, or used in experiments. I visited Russia for study abroad for one month. The culture there also has its differences, such as openly profiling. The reason that I am discussing these different cultures is because I believe that psychology is universal, being that there are so many different aspects to cultural behaviors. Even in Asia, the use of mindfulness is a part of Buddhism, which has slowly gained momentum in the Western philosophy of treatment.

Mental health illnesses have been around since interrelated relationships have been present in society. The treatment of this illness has evolved immensely throughout history. Early on, those who were mentally ill were demonized and thought to be an all mighty evil, which had the ability to be passed on to others. Due to this ideology, many people shunned, and banished those who were thought to be mentally handicapped. In order to protect society from these “beasts” many people imprisoned mentally ill individuals and were stripped of the ability to live their lives. Fortunately, as society progressed and different ways of treating the mentally ill were established through scientific advancements. Along with these advances, treatment for

There are a myriad of considerations when a clinician enters into a new and unfamiliar environment. The diagnosis, assessment and treatment process potentially will present a new and unique opportunity for growth. Diagnosis of an individual will change based on the core values and philosophies of the individual. Some cultures may focus on the physical manifestation of mental illness instead of identifying to underlying psychological problem sets. During assessments, individual may require a unique approach that is unfamiliar to the clinician. Furthermore, treatment may require further specialization to positively affect the patient.

Culture has a great effect on attitudes toward therapy. According to the National Institution of Mental Health each individual or groups of people bring a variation of beliefs to the therapeutic setting such as communicating what issues to report, types of coping styles, social support, and cultural stigma towards mental health. More often it is culture that bears on whether or not an individual will seek help. For example there is a widespread tendency to stigmatize mental illness in Asian countries. People with mental illness are considered dangerous and create social distance and

The growing population extends in diversity by the second around the world, for there is not a single human being identical to another. In terms of personality, looks, and interests, each individual creates a unique addition to our own developed society. Tolerance towards indifferences to the percent of population containing a mental illness needs to be expanded. Society needs to expose the reality of the multiplicity of individuals. Undeniably, different characteristics about a person should be identified. However, people should not be labeled with a diagnosis or a disorder due to their actions.The members of the world today have most likely experienced a form of mental instability at one point in their life. The education provided to the public concerning mental illnesses is limited, and perhaps not taken seriously. Addressing the problem and educating society 's people is the only way to reach a solution to a broad conflict. To expose the amount of people that struggle with an illness that disables them to act differently in situations would create a wider understanding of different reactions. Society has isolated these actions of mental illnesses as something to be ashamed of over time, and have discriminated these acts making them prohibited. To reach a solution of tolerance towards mental disorders, the combination of actions for addressing the problem, educating the public of the intolerance, and

Mental diagnoses are necessary like any other diagnoses for an illness and similar to other illness the diagnoses can be miss labeled or wrong etc. . . The pros of a mental diagnoses are the understanding of particular set of people with particular symptoms which I prefer to compare to western medicine. Western medicine classifies the flu and strep throat have similar, yet particular systems simpler to PTSD and anxiety. Understanding the two different disorders effects the outcome of the patient and what type of treatment they need. The two cons of diagnosing a person with a mental illness is miss diagnosing and labeling. Miss diagnosing can cause people harm in many ways by the wrong therapy, the wrong medication and you can create more

I found this to link well with the article, specifically when the article discusses client variables and ways that individual differences can change the effectiveness or harm that a specific treatment brings about. As different countries look at which treatments are helpful or harmful for patients in that area, it would be interesting to see the differences that individuals have, and whether that causes a treatment to be helpful in the treatment of a certain disorder in one country, while actually causing harm to people with the same disorder in other parts of the world. It is crucial for psychologists to remember that cultural differences can have large and sprawling effects, and that this can change how patients will react to a given treatment. It is encouraging that many countries have already adopted guidelines to determine which treatments can and cannot be administered, and it is also reassuring that each country looks at the treatments separately. This is helping to ensure that clients in all areas of the world have the best care possible, while taking into account individual and cultural

Mental health professionals should develop sound principles cultural psychiatry. This requires that practitioners learn to be aware of patients' differences in verbal and nonverbal communication to prevent misunderstandings, and that practitioners engage in cultural self-analysis to alleviate countertransference of problems.

Janis Jenkins’ Extraordinary Conditions: Culture and Experience in Mental Illness focuses on mental illness in a holistic context. She discusses the importance of studying it as a “social, economic, and political conditions of adversity that pose threats to social and psychic integrating, mental health, and well-being...” (Jenkins 12). She calls these factors spectrums of mental illness. Jenkins categorizes aspects of mental illness into numerous themes: “...bodily sensation, toxicity, clarity, and velocity of thought, balance, control, discipline, identity, normality, and daily life” (Jenkins 58). Her belief is that all of these factors are woven together to make up the subjective definition of mental illness. My argument is that although these factors are intertwined, all of them are not equally important. I believe control is the most important factor in analyzing and treating mental illness. Patients will not experience successful treatment if they feel as if they cannot take control of their disease, or feel like the disease is controlling them. Jenkins interviews many patients regarding their mental illnesses and most of their responses touch upon feeling a loss of control on some level. Without a feeling of self or situational control, treatment will not be successful, and researchers will have a harder time understanding how patients are feeling when they describe their experiences. Patients want to get better and improve their condition, but if they do not feel like

Imagine a world where a third of the human population suffered from the same type of illness. Imagine a world where the government does little to help those who suffer from this terrible illness. Imagine a world where nobody acknowledged the pain and suffering that comes along with this illness. This is, unfortunately, the world we live in today. The illness is not one that others notice, but it can have terrible consequences to those who suffer from it. The type of illness are the ones that plague people mentally.

Everyone is different in society. There are special individuals, which are affected by mental health illnesses. Mental health issues can affect society both negatively and positively. There are cultures that treat these individuals like the reincarnations of gods. On the other side, there are cultures that isolate these individuals and look for cures to these pathologies. Mental health illnesses are important because they have to be studied to understand their cause, whether it may be biological or environmental. These issues are important because like every type of illness they have to be delicately studied, focusing on treatments to either cure them or reduce the symptoms of the pathology. These people were either conflicted with the ideals of society or they were praised by it. Cultures, which didn’t accept them, closed them up into asylums. Patients inside these facilities were brutally used as guinea pigs for their experiments. The way these people were treated shows how cruel and ignorant people were to the unknown. By learning from histories mistakes we can move forward in improving our society and achieve greatness.