Mental Illness Research

As Americans it becomes natural to undermine those with a mental illness. As a fact, many adults and children deal with mental illness each and everyday. There are many stories that have been told to Americans about depression, anxiety, along with bipolar disorders, with the outcome usually being a negative consequence. For the 1 in every 5 citizens that deal with a mental illness each year. Americans have neglected the fact that many adults and children deal with mental issue(s), the citizens that refrain from getting help; their well being can suffer detrimental effects, there is not a lot of awareness either taught in school, or in public perspectives, American’s stigma has perfected their

Some people may wonder what effect social media has on people worldwide. Many people are using social media daily and because of that, they might not know the effects that can be lurking behind a screen and causing harm to their mental health. Social media has many negative effects on mental health. Some people could think that mental health and social media has no relation, when it does. It is a fast-growing issue with many “cause and effect” reasons behind it. Each cause needs to be recognized along with the effect it has on the people who use social media.

Psychological research has had a fundamental impact on mental health in the UK, for instance, it has ignited new treatments and made the practices of organisations like the NHS more efficient. However, some may critique the impact research has actually had, for example, the change that has actually occurred because of research. Looking at the impact of research is vital because surely one of the main aims of research is to positively benefit patient’s lives. It means changes in the practices of health organisations are well-informed resulting in effective changes, improving efficiency of health organisations. There has been much research carried out into the stigma of mental health disorders, biological causes e.g. role of dopamine in schizophrenia and new therapies that have emerged- which will all be assessed.

Technology throughout its existence has improved the overall quality of life for many people around the world. Its impact is evident in our generation, where many people rely on technology to gain information on current events, increase work efficiency and even helping us understand ourselves. “Advances in neuroscience, technology and research sophistication have greatly increased understanding of mental illnesses and improved the treatment of these disorders.” (Wahl, 2011). Despite our knowledge on various mental illnesses, many individuals stray away from professional assistance due to the stigma that is attached to the illness; many individuals do not opt for help because they do not want a label attached to them. Social media is a huge platform that influences many people and the slandering that many media platforms do when they discuss the topic of mental illness is slowly increasing and is an issue that must be discussed.

Rhetorical Analysis: Mental Illness It’s estimated to affect around 450 million people worldwide. Occurring more frequently in people dealing with poverty, older adults and children. The numbers are growing and are expected to continue to grow, especially in poorly developed healthcare systems. Mental illness costs the US an average of $317 billion a year , 39% being because of healthcare costs and disability benefits.

Currently, The population of elderly are estimated to be increasing in number (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014). The government is concerning about the pressure being placed on public resources as the result of aging population. The aging populations can be vulnerable to different acute and chronic disorder, which can decrease their mortality rate. This can stifle patients’ normal living pattern, which can lead to the vulnerability of experiencing moods disorder, such as depression and anxiety (Potvin et al., 2013). This will lead to the increase

More and more celebrities have been stepping out and telling their story to encourage others to get the help they need. Each year organizations are formed with one purpose in mind; to gain awareness on mental illness in order to break the stigma. But is that enough? With the media exuding this stigma like a parasite slowly affecting its prey.With the news constantly exaggerating these stories beyond their true happenings. With movies using false notions and writing mentally ill off as extreme violence, unbearable depressives, exaggerated perfectionists, or insane narcissists with no in between. It is not enough. No matter how much information and knowledge reaches the population it is immediately crushed by the media of this generation that benefits and profits from these false depictions. This very stigma that is seeping from the media is mentally poisoning those who are actually mentally weak to the degree which they are afraid to get help due to fear of not wanting anyone to know of their condition and being rejected from society. But not getting help overtime can build up hostile feelings which will manifest itself in another light, and often as we have seen in recent news, that light is not very

It is estimated that 43.5 million Americans, adults 18 or older, live with mental illness. This number represents 18.1% of all U.S. adults (National Institute of Mental Health, 2014). Stigma toward those who are seen as different have existed for as long as civilization itself, with the stigma for mental illness being one of the most prominent and long lasting that society has had to face throughout its ages (Arboleda-Florez & Stuart, 2012). Increased understanding and awareness for those individuals suffering from mental illness is necessary for us to overcome the impacts stigma has on our society.

This stigma, present in different forms of media, creates an extremely negative picture of both mentally ill individuals and those who help treat mentally ill individuals. Previous research has discovered that representations of mental illness in fictional media can negatively influence public images of mental illness, which can perpetuate stigma (Pirkis et al. 2005). Previous research by Granello et al. (1999) examined what type of media had the most significant impact on attitudes surrounding mental illness. Granello et al. (1999) found that those who received the majority of their information from electronic media were less tolerant of mentally ill individuals, and had higher levels of stigma. The results showed that those who favored electronic media were more likely to favor authoritarian and socially restrictive views towards mental illness, as well as less likely to positively view mental illness treatment in the community in a positive way. These results were similar to those found by Lopez (1991), who found that adolescents were less accepting of mentally ill individuals, and desired more social distance, when mass media was a source of their information about mentally ill individuals. The concept of “social distance” has been used in other studies, such as those done by Link et al. (1999), who found that the strong desire for social distance represents undesirable

The United States has their own view on mental illness when compared to other developed countries. The developed countries that were analyzed with the United States were England and France. Our research question was “Does the United States view mental illness differently than other developed countries?” The research that I conducted was over the policies and ideologies of mental illness in the United States.

Mental health—and the stigma that comes along with it—is a very important issue, one of global importance. Shah and Beinecke explain that 450 to 500 million people suffer from mental illnesses (15). Just considering the amount of people who suffer from mental illness is enough to prove that this is a global issue. Despite the large amounts of people who are affected by mental illness, only one third of countries have some sort of program to help (15). This shows the lack of concern for those who suffer from mental illness. Stereotypes affect many people, and those with mental illness are no exception. Everyone has their own preconceived perspectives and notions of mental health, and many of them are uninformed and unjustified. It is up to us to start changing our viewpoints on mental health.

Mental health can be one of the hardest subjects to talk about because of the stigmatization that surrounds it. Those suffering from a mental health disorder tend to struggle to reach out for the help they need, because they are too afraid of how others might perceive them. Those suffering with mental illnesses shouldn’t be afraid to reach out for help, but because of the stigma on mental illnesses, people do not reach out for proper care that they need. As a society, the stigma against mental health must be stopped.

There are lists upon lists of mental disorders and illnesses, and a lot of them people are not aware of. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bulimia, anorexia, anxiety, schizophrenia, and depression are just a few of the most well-known and common mental illnesses. In America, about 18 million people are diagnosed with depression, 15 million with anxiety, 5 million with OCD, and 3 million with schizophrenia (Raley and Johnson 50). There are even more people

Since 1998, the number of people suffering from mental health issues has doubled. (Bhatia, 2015). Since the access of Internet – mainly the access via phones and computers – social media sites have become popular amongst everyone worldwide. With the increase of the amount of people using social media websites, studies have shown that social media is playing a major negative part in one’s mental health without them noticing the detrimental effects it’s having on them. (Falcon, 2012). Through the access of social media sites such as: Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter, people are being cyberbullied, distracted from the real world, developing negative emotions and feelings, and people who are recovering from mental health issues are being triggered by what is promoted on social media; therefore, preventing them from recovering.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) added to these statistics regarding the prevalence of mental illness, detailing that 50 percent of mental illnesses begin by the age of 14 and 75 percent of mental health conditions develop by age 24. Finally, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) stressed the fact that people dealing with severe mental illness die approximately 25 years earlier than the general public.