Mental Illness Narrative

I’ve always been passionate about understanding others; stepping into their shoes and seeing, thinking, and appreciating the lives they live. I think it is important to take that extra step and see things from a different point of view. It is the only way to achieve a true understanding. I believe in this philosophy so much so, that it’s one of the main reasons I have this blog; to give others a glimpse of a life with mental illness. I’ve been in treatment for 2 months and 26 days and I think it’s time for another peek into my brain.

Mental illness and the stigma associated with it illustrate the concept of the sociological imagination. Living with a mental illness is a private trouble, affecting the individual personally, physically, psychologically, socially, and even economically. The trouble is made even more private in the respect that those with anxiety/depression/etcetera often suffer in silence since their affliction is not necessarily visible to others. The stigma associated with mental illness exacerbates the individual, while simultaneously lending itself to the public issues regarding mental illness.

It’s a struggle to get out of bed sometimes, I often just sit there struggling to comprehend the sequence of events which have taken place over the past year. I mean, I’m used to this now, its normal to me, but the fact that this has happened and that I am now ‘disabled’ as people would put it is hard to get my head around. And every time I look down I’m reminded of the pain and the struggle I faced, it’s a physical scar which links me to my grueling past, a physical and emotional journey.

173 of my 173 Marian sisters are full of dignity. I see dignity every day in the hallways. Marian girls know they have to fulfill Rights and Responsibilities, because having dignity requires that. We also show Option for the Poor and Vulnerable in all of the service hours we do to help those less fortunate. Overall, we show Solidarity and stick by each other despite any awful tests, lengthy homework assignments, or sicknesses. From these girls I have gained the most influence as to who I am today.

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.

It is easy for an audience to be manipulated by the media. The portrayal of an issue like mental illness is totally vulnerable to misrepresentation. Depending on who is writing and their viewpoint, it does not take much to make this issue sympathetic or demonized. If the author of a given piece wants his or her audience to demonize something, the author might use the word "isolation”. If that same author wants a sympathetic response he might use the word "loneliness”. As far as the New York Times is concerned, they opted for a stereotypical portrayal. It is true that Lanza is indeed a mass murdered, but must the story fit the profile now that the deed is done? Apparently, for the New York Times, it must.Accoring to Margaret Price, she is making the same point of how the media represent disabilities. She says the accounts that the media "inflect public myths about mental disability, race, class, nationality and gender ..."

Consequently, this stigma has become one of the major contributing factors that stop individuals from reaching out and seeking treatment. As mentioned by Henderson (2013), more than 70% of individuals worldwide do not receive treatment for their mental illness. The high rate of unreported mental illnesses therefore leads to an inaccurate representation of mental illness prevalent within society. Individuals are afraid to speak out and seek help for their illness due to the fear of being rejected and labeled by others. The stereotypes of a diagnosed individual represent the collectively agreed upon notions that the mentally ill can never return to a once regular lifestyle (Corrigan & Watson, 2002). With the avoidance of individuals accepting

The movie “The Roommate,” revolves around a young girl named Sarah (Minka Kelly) who is starting her freshman year of college. Little does she know that she has a roommate that is diagnosed with numerous mental disorders that she is not treating by taking her medication. When they are initially acquainted as roommates, Sara comes across as being innocent and depicts very normal behavior. However, as soon as Rebecca and Sarah become closer to each other, Rebecca forms an obsession with Sara and strange events begin to occur. Each of Sarah’s close friends or allies becomes hurt, and even killed. As soon as Sara discovers the symptoms of her mental illness, she becomes extremely

An estimated amount of 450,000,000 people in the world are affected by some form of mental illness, that’s 54 times the amount of people that live in New York City. Around 41,000 individuals die due to mental illness each year, and out of all those people only 1,250,000 of them make contact with treatment services.

Insanity. It seems like everyone in the world that we live on is in some way going insane. People say that global warming, politics, terrorist attacks, money the list goes on and on, they say that those are real problems. But they aren’t actually problems the real world problem is the world itself. I never really noticed the issue until Rosalie was sent to be surrounded by the particularly picked insane people. It isn’t fair. It isn’t her fault. If only I knew what the “plan” was I could’ve saved her from making a mistake. It’s too late for that now. Now she spends her days in a padded cell with her arms crossed and safely secured. It should’ve been me in there, not her. It’s my fault. I have to save her.

Mental illness is common and most people have experienced it at some point in their life, either through a family member or neighbor. In some cases, people with mental illness try to hide it because they don’t know how others will react. However, for others the signs and symptoms are so evident that is difficult to disregard it. The question is, what is mental illness? According to Merriam-Webster.com mental illness is a wide range of conditions (e.g. depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, or panic disorder) that affects mood, thinking, and behavior. There are several factors that can cause an individual to develop a mental disorder. Two of the possible causes are genetic inheritance or life experiences such as stress and/or trauma. Thus, the individuals that ignore the signs and symptoms of this disorder can become a problem for society and to

I was only twenty-five years old when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Twenty-five. While the most important dilemma that weighed on the minds of most girls that age was probably what centerpiece to choose for their wedding tables, I was running around, desperately trying to find a surgeon who would take two ticking time bombs off my chest. It is truly hilarious how simple life was before my diagnosis; back to when I did not know what BRCA, mastectomy, and chemotherapy meant. Back to when the biggest worry on my mind was planning for my wedding and planning for my future children. Ignorance is truly bliss.

As awareness is being raised, there are more myths about mental illness. This is one: Mental health or mental illness doesn’t affect me.

The late 50’s were a time of hysteria for the baby boomer generation. The source of hysteria was a hip thrusting, heartthrob by the name of Elvis Presley. He captivated audiences and women and would hold their attention for decades more. One of the many girls he charmed went by the name Sheila Cassidy. A girl who went on to marry a man, solely on a resemblance to her teenage dream. This girl turned into a woman and went on to become a mother and later a grandmother. Grandmother to me. She went on to do things in her life, but never forgot her first love, and his death brought a new kind of hysteria upon her. Elvis became immortal to her. She continued on in her life, but her one regret was never taking the time to go to Elvis’ home Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. His home, forever protected by a thick layer of nostalgia.

Mental illness has existed since the dawn of humanity, but has since been perceived and understood in various ways. This essay will examine the contemporary現代人definition of mental illness and how the definition is shaped more by the contemporary society that creates it rather than by real experience and understanding of the state itself. Unavoidably, this examination of a largely misunderstood subject leads to an investigation of the societal and philosophical influences causing the misunderstanding. Indeed, since the subject of mental health and illness is inextricably and directly related to the nature of reality, the nature of mental illness must be considered not in isolation but in conjunction with the