What Is William's Chronic Illness Perceived Differently

Sometimes mental illness is given a stigma that tries to label people affected as ‘incompetent’. If you’re living with a mental illness, stigma is one more stress put on the massive

Mental health is an issue that dates back to as early as 5000 BCE (Foerschner, 2010). If you open up any Psychology textbook, you’re able to find Sigmund Freud’s name. He’s known as the father of Psychology, a physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist, and influential thinker of the early twentieth century (Thornton, n.d.). Unlike many other scholars of the time, he developed new theories proposing a different outlook on mental illness; which helped shape the fundamental of psychology today. Although we have further understanding of mental illness, there are just as many social issues surrounding individuals troubled by the disease. Just like back in the twenties and even earlier than that, patients suffering from mental illness is still considered “wack” or “crazy”. The most disappointing aspect of them all, use of mental illness has become a common excuse for committing crimes.

The aforementioned treatments of mental illness influence both public and self-stigma of mental illness today. David Vogel, Nathaniel Wade, and Shawn Haake, from Iowa State University, define public stigma as “the perception held by a group or society that an individual is socially unacceptable and often leads to negative reactions toward them. The public stigma associated with seeking mental health services, therefore, is the perception that a person who seeks psychological treatment is undesirable or socially unacceptable” (325). Psychologist Marty Manosevitz attributes the stigma of mental illness to the immoral ways that the mentally ill were once treated. He states, “The moment a mark of something different was found in person they were shoved into institutions and kept from the outside world. There was no understanding that mental illness could be cured, it was considered permanent.”

The most common of these stigmas is the higher level of danger. According to professor Dawn I. Velligan, many people believe those affected by Schizophrenia are more dangerous than the general public because of their disorder; however, schizophrenics usually tend to be the victims of violence rather than the “perpetrators” (Tartakovsky, 2014). In addition, when treated or medicated, schizophrenics are no more dangerous than the general population. Along these same lines, many believe schizophrenics experience the same symptoms (Tartakovsky, 2014). There are

Not only does stigma isolate people and makes it harder for people to get the help they need but it also makes the mentally ill vulnerable to discrimination and abuse. There is something we can all do if we want to break down this stigmatisation, we need to start talking about issues surrounding mental health, we only fuel this stigma is we refuse to acknowledge that there is no shame in having mental illness, it is something that affects every family so why should we remain silent on

Because this is the most popular and accepted explanation for using trephination, this practice would fit into the category of supernatural theories about mental illnesses. Viewing mental illnesses as a punishment from God or other gods has been a common practice repeated by many cultures in many different countries, and is also a common indicator of supernatural theorists.

This will encourage the person with a mental illness to re-enter society and help promote their recovery. Risks that can have a social impact on recovery include; stigma and discrimination, medication side effects, social exclusion and alienation, sexual abuse and victimisation, societies fear of mental illness, poverty, and racism. These risks are at a societal level and affect a person with a mental illness more so than the general public as they are already vulnerable (Tickle, Brown, & Hayward, 2012).

“Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person 's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life”.

Mental illness has always been seen as negative. The present Western media does not portray it as positive and the stereotypes affect all mentally ill people. When you think of a mentally ill person, you think of them as “crazy” “irresponsible” “childlike” and “alone.” But those are just the stereotypes. This society is dominated by neurotypical people, and due to that the neurodivergent community, the minority isn’t seen as “normal”, and usually will face discrimination out of prejudice. It is apparent that there is a negative connotation, but most people aren’t even aware.

One of the three requirements before a patient can be subjected to compulsory treatment is that a cure for the mental illness have to exist. However, this requirement for the compulsory treatment will cause certain mental illnesses that does not fit the requirements to be viewed more as a stigma due the incurability. It is similar to how preconception gender selection of only one gender would promote sexism (Robertson, 2012, p. 87). The selection of one gender over another inherently assumes that one gender is more superior to another in society. By replacing gender with mental illness, society will eventually see mental illnesses that can be cured as a better type of illness to have and stigmatize the illnesses that cannot be cured. The assumption that certain types of mental illness is better than another will eventually flow down to the mentally ill patients themselves with certain patients becoming more stigmatized by society compared to the patients diagnosed with mental illness that are deemed curable. The requirements placed down to restrict compulsory treatment of mentally ill patients is admirable, as the only

This film was made in the 1960’s, a time in which there were lots of changes occurring regarding institutions. Those changes significantly affected the medical model, in which was based on the assumption that mental disorders are diseases or illnesses that impair an individual’s ability to function. The disease or illness responds to medical interventions such as medications, laboratory studies, and physical therapies. Often the individual or patient

Mental Illness’, have a stigma attached to them unlike physical illness’. People with mental illness’ show behaviors that is unlike what is normally experienced in society and because of that they are considered to be abnormal, and dangerous. The relatively quick and recent rise in the number of mental health cases has also only furthered this gap between what people consider normal and abnormal, simply because the jump was too fast and too unexpected for society to properly understand. Even today, doctors often misdiagnose what a mental illness may be because the human brain is so complex (Jimerson). This lack of understanding from loved ones, coworkers, and family members causes people with mental disorders to experience trouble developing

Beliefs about abnormal behavior change depending on cultural differences. During medieval times a lot of mentally ill people were mistreated, some were believed to be witches and in cohorts with the Devil. Some mentally ill people were put in asylums. Often they were chained to their beds and left in unsanitary conditions. As time went on people stopped believing that abnormal behaviors were the result of witchcraft or demonic possession.

Mental illness can affect different areas of the body. “Abnormal behavior or disturbing feelings, thoughts, or actions that interfere with with everyday functioning constitute mental illness” (“Mental Illness”). This means anything that someone does that someone would not normally do might be a cause of a mental illness. This affects things that someone would do on a day to day basis. “A specific abnormal behavior is referred to as a symptom” (“Mental Illness”). This can cause a person to create an irrational fear of what causes their abnormal behavior. Because of this a person would need to keep an eye on that person to help avoid the situation. Therefore since it was understood what a mental illness was they began to try and treat them.

In my essay, I will be looking to answer this deceptively simple question by exploring various avenues, mainly making a comparison both the medical and philosophical differences. I will attempt to first make a distinct definition of what mental illness is as a medical term, defining exactly what it is, how it affects us and people around us. I believe this is an important definition to make as it allows us to better understand mental illness in medicine, mainly how it affects our minds and daily life, which will greater allow us to approach the question philosophically. I will be explore how some believe that mental illness is an encroaching problem on modern society in terms of the amount of people affected by it,