Rachel Professor Danner ENGWR 302 November 24, 2013 Word Count- 1250 Essay #5 Most professions or trades use language specific to that line of work. In the workplace of psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists, there is a specific language used in assessing, diagnosing, and treating clients and patients. I have come to be familiar with this as my mother is a therapist and we have talked about her work and diagnosing people with a variety of mental health disorders. The problem with such language and expressing that language in a book like the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) is that it can be used against people in a way that is not healing but harmful and something that very often too few people consider. This …show more content…
Grohol (1996) states in “The Dangers of Diagnosis” it is needed in speaking to other professionals and it is needed to access the system of insurance and managed care. The language helps to communicate efficiently and effectively and the professionals who speak that language can move through the work more quickly and, at the same time, often get paid because it has become what not only the psychiatric and psychological businesses use, but also what insurance companies have come to use in way of what they will or will not pay. The power to define is great and it should be used carefully, cautiously. Postman states, “For the point is that in every situation, including this one, someone (or some group) has a decisive power of definition. In fact, to have power means to be able to define and to make it stick” (837). The other power is that these labels and this language is used to access insurance and money that, without the labels, is otherwise withheld from people. Insurance companies will pay for certain conditions and not others. They take the language and the list of symptoms and decide what is worth paying for and what is not. There is danger in that because someone could be labeled or diagnosed simply because it is the thing that the insurance company will pay for. Just because a small group of people have this ability to label behaviors and feelings and thoughts as certain “things”, does not mean the people in the field must use these
1. Frank is prompted to say this when he reminisces on the masters of his school and his father's words, of glorious death for Faith and Ireland.
While mental health professionals have had mixed feelings about the use of diagnostic labels in counseling, the diagnosis is another common outcome of the assessment process. Mears (2010) reports the advantage of diagnostic classifications as their usefulness in written and verbal interactions about the specific problems a client might experience. An example of this is when a diagnosis documented in a case conceptualization or treatment plan increases the ease of communication between clinicians or billing agencies.
The article, “Deliberate Misdiagnosis in mental Health Practice,” by Kirk & Kutchins, was written after analyzing a survey given to clinicians on under or over-diagnosing their clients. There are times when a clinician feels pressure to use a label that they do not believe is the best description of a person’s symptoms. The first one describe in this article is the pressure by insurance companies often require a diagnosis to obtain reimbursement for treatment. Other times, insurance companies will only cover certain treatment, so an incorrect diagnosis must be given so that the client will continue to receive treatment. One example I see often is that substance abuse treatment is not covered by TriCare (insurance used by military members and
According to George Vaillant, when psychiatric labeling discriminates between health and disease or between disease and badness, it can inflict wounds on those labeled (361).
The piece titled ‘getting our future back on the rails – slowly’ is written by a member of The Grow Slow organisation who believes that the most convenient occupant for the land of the abandoned railway yards is a community garden. The author begins the article in a confined toned aiming to convince the reader that a community garden is the right choice and later transfers on to a more critical tone when talking about convenient foods. The author’s main arguments include firstly that community gardens are a global trend and that their community should be one to follow such a trend, secondly a community garden will be beneficial to everyone and is the most efficient option and lastly community gardening will bring the whole community
Watters shows that not only symptoms are different, but also how people search for the source of the differences is important as well. Without the different interpretations of both illness and health, it would lose its complexity, and the social meaning behind it is a risk. So although differences makes it harder to fully understand the terms, at the same time, it may be beneficial and can aid us into finding what it actually means. Obviously, health would mean being fit, and illness would mean being sick, but there are certain countries where they think this comparison does make sense. In this case, it seems as if health may have a negative connotation. It is strange how we use the word “health,” such as looking for mental health professional, or getting “health insurance.” It is as if we use health to describe the illness, even if health generally has words associated with words such as good, fit, etc. It is peculiar how “health insurance” will only benefit you if you are ill, not when you are healthy. Because health and illness have known to be direct opposites for many years, many people do not think as much that health and illness can be similar, rather than being different.The meaning of both health and illness is described in many ways in the marketing world. This shows that marketing uses the meaning of illness or health and shape it in a way they believe is the right definition. Marketers make diseases sound so severe and make customers believe the only way to cure it is by buying their product. This idea however, is obviously not 100% a scientific fact. GlaxoSmithKline tries to put Paxil into the Japanese market, the founder of the Mood Disorders Association of Japan. However, this is an exaggeration, which many marketers tend to do in order to sell their product. This makes it easier to sell what they want to sell, as they have the broad definition of
The career field of psychology is growing year after year due to the rise in trauma inducing cases in the past century or so. More than just this, there is also a greater understanding about mental illness as a whole, due to this finding, more people are now able to come forth because they know there is an abnormality in their mind, they know it is not “normal”. Considering the rise of people who come out asking for help, there is a significant problem in this field. There are many different aspects and theories of psychology that focus on a certain characteristic of the onset of these illnesses. The problem that comes with this is that if the focus is set on a certain aspect or outlook of the mental illness. Which means there is also a larger
Clinical social workers engage in a variety of professional tasks such as performing assessments, arranging and developing client services and serving as gatekeepers and treatment providers (Gibelman & Schervish, 1996). One further task faced by many clinical social workers involves utilizing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a guide in the formulation and identification of client distress, symptoms and disorders. While the DSM might become part of the clinician’s everyday life, it is not without its concerns, criticisms and debates regarding utility and accuracy of diagnoses. In fact, it has been suggested that use of the DSM contributes to concerns regarding the stigmatization of mental illness, label avoidance, blocked opportunities for clients, self-stigmatization and stereotyping (Corrigan, 2007). An additional concern emerges when considering clinical use of the DSM and situations of misdiagnosis of mental illness.
If I say that I am currently employed with a major petroleum distribution center, you may think that I am a highly qualified person making limitless amounts of money. However, I am using the power of language to merely say that I work at a gas station making minimum wage. Great historical figures throughout history have used the power of language, the ability to use words to their advantage, to inspire people to unite under one common cause and to change the world.
The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.
Medical settings unlike psychological offices or any other setting that a psychologist might be asked to consult in, are vastly different than the expected. These settings tend to be very fast paced and require that the collaborating psychologist understand some level of medical terminology. Furthermore, these settings have their own language, communication styles, and expectations than what is commonly found in any other setting. In terms of language, a consulting psychologist must know how to abandon the terminologies they learned while in graduate school, in favor of language that is environmentally friendly and could be easily understood (Bischoff, Springer, Reisbig, Lyons, & Likcani, 2012).
Furthermore, in cases involving the manual for mental disorders, known as the DSM, labeling and categorization ensures the smooth communication between professionals such as psychologists, doctors or teachers. In school environments, for example, labeling may even help children with no mental illnesses to accept children with mental illnesses more easily, creating an understanding environment in which there is no discrimination (Henley, Ramsey & Algozzine,
He first ensures it can be helpful in the case of more severely debilitated clients requiring medication, such as those struggling with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. People who encounter these struggles appear to require a different kind of therapy which must recognize and address a specific problem and its ripple effects. However, Yalom (2012) appears to not buy into the thinking every individual who comes in his door requires to be put in such a box. I have deeply struggled with this issue recently because of conversations with colleagues outside of class. I have heard both sides of the fence, and I cannot shake the presenting issues with always looking for a specific diagnosis. Such a belief is not solely due to the fear of being wrong, but also because clients seem to identify themselves with their psychological problems. How many times do people say, “I’m depressed” or “I’m anxious.” I do not want to play a part in a person defining themselves by their
I want to thank you for reaching out sharing your concern and having advocates part take in this request.
Soon after, this lead to a change in diagnosis from Malingers to Hysteria in many patients, which further lead to an increase in patient care for those with Hysteria. It was a known fact during the early era of medicine, the diagnosis of a Hysteria patient held more importance than malingerers, thus led more physicians to change their diagnosis as an act of self-promotion. Szasz explains this by stating the political and social significance some mental illnesses have over others. For example, Hysterics were given their social status and were able to benefit from this diagnostics in terms of the privileges they gained. He argued this method of labelling patients lead to some individuals being favoured more than others, and better care. This can be described as a form of social discrimination, benefitting only the Hysterics.