Essay about The Divided Self Commentary

Even though asylum classifications stayed moderately constant for a century, there was a development in the thinking about insanity. One of Pinel’s scholar proposed the idea that there could be a distinct mood faculty in a category of its own in the 1830’s. Jean-Dominique Etienne Esquirol, who explained a deep sadness, lypemanie as a distinct disorder. The fact that mania or insanity could create shifting manifestations had presented little difficulty, however, they had problems with the fact that two clinical states being so different could be caused by the same underlying disease state. In order to overcome these conceptual problems, Falret and Baillarger proposed a disorder that had changing cycles of mania and melancholia of certain length

In Chapter 3 of Opening Skinner’s Box, “On Being Sane in Insane Places,” Lauren Slater discusses the contentious issue psychiatrists faced in 1972 after psychologist David Rosenhan conducted his most famous experiment, proving how psychiatrists already label patients when they walk through the door to be evaluated. The author, Slater is a psychologist herself in which her writing in this chapter is supportive to Rosenhan’s findings. This may limit supporting arguments on crediting psychiatric conceptualization. The meaning of behavior can easily be misunderstood, a patient can be diagnosed according to the doctor’s capacity of knowledge to specific behaviors.

Today we know that depression, anxiety and other psychological symptoms can contribute to physical sensations and a sense of being physically unwell and we also have an understanding of psychosomatic illness. Another important contribution was Mesmer’s recognition of the unconscious, although he did not speak of it as such. He experienced the power of the unconscious in that he contributed to the discovery of the hypnotic state, which can be a powerful therapeutic tool in therapy. Although he was labeled a fraud on the basis that there was no proof that he had discovered a new physical fluid, it is an important finding just the same that his clients were cured on the basis of suggestion. This is important in terms of how the psychological relates to the physical. Another contribution to psychology is that Mesmer sought to be both a scientist and a practitioner, and that this model of the dual role of a therapist is important for therapists working in psychology today. Finally, Mesmer mentored an important figure in the history of psychology who recognized that the belief in the efficacy of cure, desire to cure and the therapeutic relationship were fundamental factors in successfully working with clients in therapy. These beliefs are central to the practice of clinical psychology in our world today. There is no doubt that Mesmer is a curious figure in the history of psychology. He contributed to

Thomas Szasz was one of the first psychiatrist to criticise psychiatry and argue about the concept of mental illness. His book “The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct” highlights the fundamental flaws in the administration of psychiatry, with the aim of challenging the medical characteristics of the concept of mental illness and the wrongful treatment of patients without their consent.

Jim Stevens’ poem, Schizophrenia, gives readers an insight of how the mind of a schizophrenic operates and how the disorder affects an individual. Stevens creatively reveals the main idea through his use of the elements of imagery, diction, and style. He does so, specifically, by his heavy use of metaphors. To demonstrate imagery, Stevens links the devices, extended metaphor and personification, and also relies on onomatopoeia, which make it easier for Stevens’ audience to visualize and understand the mind of a schizophrenic individual. Moreover, he heightens his level of diction through creating double meanings out of common words, which begin to symbolize the symptoms of a schizophrenic. By his short sentences and the way that each stanza

Emil Kraepelin was a German physiatrist who became the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, and Psychopharmacology. He was born in 1856, Neusreletiz in Northern Germany, he graduated and received his M.D. from the University of Wurzburg. Emil began his work in the field of psychopharmacology at Wilhelm Wundt’s laboratory at Leipzig University. Later, Kraepelin became the head of a clinic at the University of Dorpat where he began to study the clinical history of his patients with mental illnesses. It was then that he became interested in studying how the course of illnesses and the patterns of symptoms can help identify psychiatric disorders. Kraepelin began to view mental illness evident on individuals in a “clinical” view rather than through the

Schizophrenia is a mental ailment in which the person inflicted is taunted by uncontrollable voices heard inside their heads and very vivid, realistic hallucinations. The voices and hallucinations can be benevolent, but they can also be violent. Many cases constitute of people being told by such voices to hurt themselves or others. People who suffer from Schizophrenia are often isolated from society and admitted into psychiatric wards and mental institutions for the majority of their lives. The general public does not understand the torment that these people go through on a day-to-day basis. In order to give readers insight into the mind of a schizophrenic, the poet Jim Stevens uses the depleting condition and turmoil taking place inside

SCHIZOPHRENIA Schizophrenia, from the Greek word meaning “split mind”, is a mental disorder that causes complete fragmentation in the processes of the mind. Contrary to common belief, schizophrenia does not refer to a person with a split personality or multiple personalities, but rather to a condition which affects the person’s movement, language, and thinking skills. The question of whether schizophrenia is a disease or collection of socially learned actions is still a question in people’ mind. People who are suffering from schizophrenia think and act in their own the world and put themselves in a way that is totally different from the rest of society. In other words, they have lost in touch with the reality. Most schizophrenics accept

Before the world was more advance than our minds were and it was considered something normal people were treated and place into places that they shouldn’t have been. Things that we would consider normal today would be consider has an insane person. These insane asylums were admitting people that may not have been considered insane. In this essay D. L. Rosenhan explains his experiment that he had. He wanted to show the misdiagnosis of patients and how the effects of being labeled insane has on a person. The illness he choice to shed light on was schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is brain disorder in which people interpret reality differently than other people. Better understood has these people with schizophrenia see or do things that are outside

Mental illnesses are generally characterized by changes in mood, thought, or behavior. They can make daily activities difficult and impair a person’s ability to work, interact with family, and fulfill other major life functions (SAMHSA, 2015). Contemplated early on in history, treatments for mental illness looked to cure the reflections of the anger of gods, demonic possession, sorcery, the evil eye, or an angry deity, responded with equally mystical, and brutal treatments (Nash, 2007). Attempts to treat mental illness date back as early as 5000 BCE as verified by the discovery of trephined skulls in regions of ancient world cultures (Porter, 2002, p. 10). Only a few realized that individuals with mental illness should be treated humanely rather than exorcised, punished, or banished. Psychiatry has come a long way since the days patients were shunned from society and shackled in asylums. Experiments and techniques for treating mental illness from ancient times to the turn of the 20th century have paved the way for the treatment plans used today.

Human is a social creature and sociality is a human nature. Laing in The Divided Self argues about the nature of schizoid and schizophrenic people and how they cut off themselves from other people and shut up in themselves. Schizoid people do not have conviction toward oneself; they frequently attempt to mimic the kind of the individual they think the world anticipates. Satre in No Exit brings up a story of three persons who meet each other in hell and have to live in a house together. They cannot accept what is happening and cannot stand each other.

Eight sane people were admitted into twelve different hospitals, where their diagnostic experiences would be part of the data of the first part of the article, while the rest will be devoted to a description of their experiences in psychiatric institutions. The patients were all very different from each other, three were women and five were men. Among them were three psychologists, one psychology graduate, a pediatrician, a housewife, a psychiatrist, and a painter. The ones that were in the mental health field were given a different occupation in order to avoid special attentions that might be given by the staff, as a matter of courtesy or caution. No one knew about the presence of the pseudopatients and the nature of the program was not known to any of the hospital staff. The settings were different as well. The hospitals were in five different states on the West and East coasts. Some were considered old and shabby and some were

Before taking this course my writing styles and habits were very different. I was the typical procrastinator because I would wait until the night before a paper was due to start it. This did not allow me enough time to properly proofread everything, which resulted in getting points deducted for simple grammatical errors that could have been avoided if I would have had the time to proofread. My writing styles have many strengths and weaknesses and I have been able to improve my writing because of them. I have learned from my strengths and weaknesses how to become a better writer.

In R.D Laing’s book The Divided Self, the author goes in depth into the concepts of sanity and madness from a psychological standpoint. The book itself contains a very detailed depiction of these through the analysis of different schizoid and schizophrenic characteristics, different patient case histories, and the approach of existential-phenomenology ideology.

When a doctor understands a patient completely and the patient seems to have no understanding of himself, an analyst will frequently accuse the patient of resistance. It is recommended that if an analyst holds all of the understanding, then he should stress where he lacks understanding of the patient. Even if an analyst comes to a sound conclusion of the meaning of a dream, but the patient is reluctant to agree, the therapist should not push this understanding on the patient. In this case the analyst should work with the patient to come to a mutually gratifying conclusion. This will result in an understanding not only in the brain, as in the first case, but also in the heart which will eventually help cure the patient of his neurosis.