Mental Illness : A Social Problem

Forget all the stereotypes of mental illness. It has no face. It has no particular victim. Mental illness can affect an individual from any background and the black community is no exception. African Americans sometimes experience even more severe forms of mental health conditions because of unmet needs and barriers to treatment. According to the Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 20 percent more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. That’s why UGA third year Majenneh Sengbe is taking action as the co-founder of her upcoming organization Black Minds Daily.

The topic of mental illness had become a recurring theme in my life during 2015. Health and wellness of the mind was a topic never brought up in my household during my childhood and well into my adolescence. My father always reminded me “Ashley, were black. We don't get depressed or anxious, we just face our problems head on because we’re naturally strong people.” Constantly hearing this gave me the false notion that mental

Mental illness has had a huge impact on our society. It affects the ways we perceive others and ourselves. Mental illness has likely existed for a very long time, likely it predates humans. But in humans very long existence, we did find about mental illness rather early in history, but our grasp was not firm on what it was, mesopotamia believed it had to do with their gods, and their treatment was prayer. This knowledge was probably lost by the middle ages, as they couldn’t explain the phenomena away with gods, so they generally expressed the worst cases as witchcraft. But regardless of its importance in real life, it also plays an important role in the story the yellow wallpaper, as it shows the effect of mental disorders on people.

perpetuated a negative interpretation of this population and could possibly cause those suffering with mental illness to be subject to random acts of violence. In recent years it must be mentioned that there have been some high profile cases involving incidents that have gained attention of the national level that has made us aware of mental illness and the connection of violence as a means to speak. Some of these events have opened old racial wounds, some have created fear that our children aren’t protected, and even the state officials and the White House is not exempt from those with mental illness to attack without provocation. It has become painfully There is much work to be done to help this population heal but also to live.

The Deviance Model places certain individuals who portray qualities of what we may consider as people with mental illness, where their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors violate own or others expectations (the violation of social norms). This sociological approach is frequently debated where the individual is being conceptualized as either sick or deviant which then reflects on their deviant behavior. Deviant behaviors should not determine whether someone is mentally ill or not. There are individuals who are mentally sick, such as pedophiles, in which most would agree to have mental illness though there are no biological factors to support that. In Thoits reading, Sociological Approaches to Mental Illness, the name in itself “Social Reaction Theory” underlies the basis of the theory, that the labeling theory as deviance is produced by social means. He argues that people who are labeled/treated as deviant become deviant. This is a ripple effect in where that individual begins to suffer due to social concepts, i.e., pedophiles are usually a result of early traumatic child sexual abuse. Becker explains that there is “No such thing as an inherently or naturally deviant act- deviance only occurs (or not) after the fact” (Thoits). This clearly demonstrates that society plays an important role in people’s lives which indeterminately affect those who don’t accept the social norms and are soon labeled as mentally ill in most cases. In my opinion, the model underlies mental illness

What does mental illness look like? Is it the “weird” kid at your school that everyone bullies? Or maybe the latest hair-raising movie about a psycho killer? Mental illness is constantly construed and made to seem dangerous, unnatural, and sickening. Mental illness, as defined by Mayo Clinic, is simply a “disorder that affects your mood, thinking, and behavior”(). These people, who live with mental health issues, including one out of ten teens and one out of five adults, are often treated as if it is their own fault that they are different(). From uncharged jailing to not being able to choose what is best for them to plain everyday interaction, persons with mental illness are ostracized and treated unfairly. As a country, we are failing our

Mental health as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productivity and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to the community” (Chaves, et al., 2014). Mental health in the elderly is a growing concern. Many elderly do not seek or receive proper treatment for their mental illness. This is, in part, due to several barriers that prohibit the elderly from seeking help. Mental illness in the elderly is brought up by several different factors, including

There lies a hidden anxiety in every part of society towards those with a mental illness. A panic that consists of the individual becoming a threat to those around them or a threat to their own physical well-being. For instance, as stated by Stephen Rice, Jessica Richardson, and Keegan Kraemer in “Emotion Mediates Distrust of Persons with Mental Illnesses”, A very popular belief relating to this is “that individuals with a mental illness are either very dangerous, violent, or both (3).” In addition, Rice, et al. further state “ that due to the unfortunate portrayal of individuals with mental illnesses in media as those who cause harm with no remorse, consequently this belief is just strengthened even more in society (5).” Though mental illnesses

Mental illness affects many people throughout the United States each year. Some people classify it as any psychiatric disorder that is the cause of untypical behavior. Many years ago, doctors locked up mentally ill patients in mental institutions and basically forgot about them. Medical professionals housed the mentally ill in different corridors of the hospital. Sometimes, they stayed in isolation and were in some type of restraints. Once government officials realized that neglect was getting out of control, deinstitutionalization became a hot topic. Deinstitutionalization started as a government policy that became a long-term trend to lessen the burden on professionals in mental treatment facilities. Its intent was to have fewer treatments in public hospitals and fewer people residing in the facilities. The deinstitutionalization movement began in the mid-1950s and government officials were hoping the process would improve the treatment toward the mentally ill (Lauer, 2014). Additionally, there were several drugs that helped the mentally ill and officials believed that those people would get better care by living in a community based environment. Moreover, it was another way to balance the government budgets. However, the impact on human service agencies, specifically community mental health facilities, prisons, and probation offices, was less than adequate because all of the unknowns and the social stigma attached to the mentally ill.

The photo is the word “stigma” spelled with antidepressants in order to reflect on society’s stigmatization of mental illness. I worry about the poor treatment of mental health in our country and world. Currently, things are still pretty grim regarding how society views mental illness. Many people, particularly politicians (on both sides), acknowledge that mental illness is a problem, from gun control to mass incarceration, but then nothing happens. The mentally ill are used for political agendas, and then they are discarded until the next election cycle. Others do not believe that mental illness exists. Still others trivialize mental illness by spreading clinical terms in the vernacular so that they can be “OCD” because they like to be organized

Hello Shane, mental illness is a tough subject to talk about because most just ignore this sensitive topic. I do agree with you in the last few years this has become a subject that is heavily addressed by law enforcement. This is an excellent topic to discuss whether or not the mentally ill can only be victims, and or perpetrators. I believe that the mentally ill persons can be perpetrators as well as victims either in violent crimes or crimes sexual in nature.

Mental health illness is often created and diagnosed from the subjective judgment of mental health professionals. Often times, diagnosis consists of undesirable traits perceived by the dominant society as a problem. Society creates beliefs and dictates social norms in order to instilling social order. Moreover, marginalized groups that are often disenfranchised are often diagnosed and labeled with mental illnesses, because of the inability to become resilient and successful from impoverished conditions. Delgado and Stefancic (2001) describe Intersectionality as multiple identities that oppress individuals that feature undesirable traits depicted in society. As a result, many people of color, features of disability and women may be

"I hear voices" my brother shouted as he hysterically clutched his ears. He showed signs of anger and confusion as we did not understand what was happening. My family and I were in shock because here was my brother a retired army veteran going through a psychotic episode. After retirement, he was supposed to embark on a new chapter in his life but that was halted by his diagnosis. As a family, our lack of understanding led us to believe that my brother might have abused drugs or was possessed. I was able to convince my parents to seek medical help because of my studies in psychology as an undergraduate student. During the period of my brother’s recovery I realized the importance of mental health which motivated me to pursue a career in psychiatry.

To carry a mental illness, you carry a world full of confusion and misunderstandings. When someone has a mental illness, it impacts their thoughts, emotions, ability to relate to those around them, as well as functions in their daily lives. Because we can not see the problem, does not mean that there is not a problem. There are many people who has helped change and evolve ideas surrounding mental illnesses. There is a dark and sad history behind people who are mentally challenged, but the most progress of evolving the darkness surrounding it was a woman named Dorothea Dix (1802-1887). During her time, she volunteered to work in an all girls’ prison where she experienced watching the patients and prisoners be inhumanely treated (Parry, 1).

Like the explanation proposed by Wahl, this theoretical perspective focuses on the negative consequences of the social reaction to mental illnesses and how these can inhibit everyday life for those who suffer from the disorders. Although this would seem plausible to the layperson that negative connotations would lead to the perceived dangerousness of the mentally ill and social distance, there is not enough sufficient evidence in this article that would say for exactly how this stereotype relates to the desire for social distance, which would include more research on the origin of the stereotype and on the behavior itself.