Mental Illness And Theodicy Argument Essay

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.

When the phrase “mental illness” is spoken, the immediate thought that pops into the individual’s mind is the extremes such as Schizophrenia, or Bipolar Disorder. However, the majority of mental disorders fall into the spectrum of quite common disorders such as Depression, Anxiety, or Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD). Why should the first thing that people think of be negative? What makes people think this way? Society has a negative view of mental illness because of media portrayal, the attitudes of individuals, and skepticism, and the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, makes a connection to these views of the world.

The main forms of mental ill health can include clinical depression whereby the main signs and symptoms of this may include:

In 1961 Thomas Szasz penned a book by the title The Myth of Mental Illness that would go on to cause quite the stir in the world of psychiatry. In the book, Szasz stated his belief that what most psychiatrists would label as mental illnesses are in fact not illnesses at all, but instead what he would go on to call “problems in living.” This article will take a critical approach at Szasz reasons for his belief in these “problems in living” including an objective outline of his argument, a discussion on the validity of the argument and its’ premises, and finally the strongest objections to the argument. Szasz is an important figure in modern psychiatry and his opinions are very divisive but certainly worth discussing.

1.) Clinical Depression - is the most frequently encountered mental illness. Clinical depression is now considered a physical condition in which there is a fault in the brain chemistry. It may afflict up to 5% or more of the population. Symptoms of depression include a distinct change in mood accompanied with an extreme feeling of hopelessness. Other symptoms include: loss of appetite; weight loss; headaches; sleeplessness; loss of energy; and tiredness. Symptoms of anxiety are also quite common. Suicide is common in about 15% of depressed patients.

There are different types of depression and one of them is bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive disorder. It is recognized for having different experiences that last for weeks at a time. Episodes may occur several times a year or throughout the year. Manic symptoms include periods of elevated mood or anger. During a manic episode, a patient usually has high energy levels and less need for sleep. Less often, people may experience psychosis. Depression include feeling sad, low energy, low motivation, or loss of interest.

Whenever we think of a mentally ill person, we almost always think that that person is dangerous. People fear because said patients are typically considered to be unpredictable and people are afraid of anything unpredictable. It’s time to break such stereotype, it’s time to change our perspective – these people don’t deserve to be feared, instead they deserve the care and attention as any sick person does. They need all the help and support they can get.

Mood disorders consist of a widespread range of mood issues, such as key depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder. Approximately 20.9 million American adults suffer from these disorders. Major

One in five Americans suffer from a mental illness (SoRelle). In a country where mental illness is common, victims are still afraid to seek help for their disease. More often than not, this is due to the negative stigma that surrounds it. Unfortunately, the refusal to garner help for mental illness can lead to negative consequences that are entirely preventable. Although there are negative stigmas that surround it, untreated mental illness leads to incarceration, suicide, and homelessness.

There seems to be a disconnection between society and those dealing with mental health issues. The only news that is really ever heard dealing with religion and the mentally ill seem to be extreme cases that cause people to become skeptical of those suffering from mental illness. Paloutzian (2017) states that it is “difficult to know what is going on inside someone else’s head, therefore we are left with attributions based on observed and verbal behavior” (p. 284). There is a fine line between figuring out if someone has a mental issue or whether their behavior has to do with religious attributes. Those claiming religious doctrines for their actions may be actually harming themselves due to the fact that they have a mental health issue.

The contemporary concept of mental illness is a growing public health concern. Around one in six adults in the UK were suffering from a common mental disorder in 2014 (NHS, 2014). Statistics such as this are discovered by numerous modern studies such as the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (2014) which aim to determine prevalence and pattern with the overall aim of offering guidance to the people suffering from these mental health issues, and the disciplines they are involved in. What little stigma remains surrounding the issue of mental illness, is disappearing as the years go by. However, this was not always the case. The rise and fall of the asylum system demonstrate the shift from confinement to care in the community. The following will be a critical discussion of the impact that this asylum system has had on the contemporary understanding of mental health issues, incorporating the theoretical concept of post-structuralism and its underpinning within this context.

Mental illness is an issue that hits extremely close to home. Both of my uncles on my fathers side developed schizophrenia in their 20’s. One of them, upon being diagnosed, committed suicide. This happened before I was born, but the fall-out is still visible in my family. The other now lives in a home for those with mental illness. He is on medication, which helps with many of the symptoms, and has been an important pillar in my life. There is a fair chance that either my brother or I may contract schizophrenia, and for these reasons, mental illness will always be a large part of my life. I say this, not to arouse pity, but simply to make a point that no matter where you stand on mental illness, chances are that you or

Mental disorders have been around for as long as man has been around, although our knowledge of what they truly are and how to treat them is still relatively new. Bipolar Disorder specifically has been around as far back as 300 to 500 AD, however in those times; people with mental illnesses were horribly tortured and killed because it was believed they worked with the Devil and demons (“Through the ages, it’s been there”). It wasn’t until the 18th and 19th centuries that we began to see people with mental illnesses as something other than possessed and deserving of an understanding with the option of legitimate treatment. The treatments that were received by people with mental illnesses in the beginning were harsh, involving electric eels

The United States process for caring for the mentally ill during the eighteenth century was comparable to the way the English’s process. Both processes were not considered to be too thoughtful. The colonies believed it was local communities that were to be held accountable to care for their own. Since colonial society was primarily rural, individuals who portrayed different types of behavior were tolerated. Furthermore, if colonials were in sparsely settled areas, people who broke social rules could keep to themselves (Levine, 1981). Additionally, wealthy families would keep their disturbed family members in attics or cellars and would hire private attendants, and poorer families disturbed family members would be put in jail or cages on

Mental illness is a disorder that is considered to be a type of interruption in a person’s emotions, thoughts, or behavior. Mental illness signifies to a wide variety of disorders which can range from mild distress to impairing a person’s ability to function in daily life. Signs and symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on the particular disorder, circumstances and other factors. Whether a behavior is considered normal or abnormal varies on the person’s situation surrounding their behavior. Throughout history there’ve been three overall beliefs for the causes of mental illness. These three theories are known as supernatural, somatogenic, and psychogenic. Each one of these stands for how one is viewed when seen as having a mental illness.