Mental illnesses are conditions that affect a person’s mood, behavior, thinking or ability to associate with others. People that are constantly stressed or have been in multiple traumatic experiences are more likely to develop mental illnesses (NAMI). However, there are many other factors that can contribute to these mental health conditions, and they include: genetics, environment, lifestyle, brain structure and biochemical processes (NAMI). About 1 in 5 adults are affected by mental conditions annually and 1 in 20 live with serious illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (NAMI). The numbers show that many people are affected by mental health issues. Despite the large percentage of people that are affected, an awful lot do not talk
…show more content…
People demanded a more humanitarian view of mental illnesses (Farreras). One reformer, named Phillippe Pinel, took over the Bicêtre insane asylum (PBS). With his leadership, he prohibits the use of shackles and chains and even allows patients sunnier rooms as compared to the conditions in Bedlam Hospital. During the next years, in the U.S, another reformer calls for change. The reformer, Dorothea Dix, observes that in the 1840s, Massachusetts’s asylums housed naked women and men of all ages with criminals. The patients were left in darkness and did not have access to heat or bathrooms (PBS). Over the next 40 years, Dorothea Dix would have helped establish 32 state hospitals for the mentally ill. Fast forward another century and U.S President Harry Truman will have signed the National Mental Health Act, which would call for the creation of the National Institute of Mental Health to research further upon the mind to help reduce mental illnesses (PBS). During this revolutionary time of change, the public is more notified about the mentally ill. One major milestone in mental health is the publication of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. His novel is inspired by his own experiences in a psychiatric ward where he observes people labelled mentally ill. He doesn’t find that the people there have mental illnesses, just that their behaviors are unaccepting in a rigid society (PBS). Though there is a huge change on the view of mental illnesses, there is an even larger, persisting stigma that overshadows the
People demanded a more humanitarian view of mental illnesses (Farreras). One reformer, named Phillippe Pinel, took over the Bicêtre insane asylum (PBS). With his leadership, he prohibits the use of shackles and chains and even allows patients sunnier rooms as compared to the conditions in Bedlam Hospital. During the next years, in the U.S, another reformer calls for change. The reformer, Dorothea Dix, observes that in the 1840s, Massachusetts’s asylums housed naked women and men of all ages with criminals. The patients were left in darkness and did not have access to heat or bathrooms (PBS). Over the next 40 years, Dorothea Dix would have helped establish 32 state hospitals for the mentally ill. Fast forward another century and U.S President Harry Truman will have signed the National Mental Health Act, which would call for the creation of the National Institute of Mental Health to research further upon the mind to help reduce mental illnesses (PBS). During this revolutionary time of change, the public is more notified about the mentally ill. One major milestone in mental health is the publication of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. His novel is inspired by his own experiences in a psychiatric ward where he observes people labelled mentally ill. He doesn’t find that the people there have mental illnesses, just that their behaviors are unaccepting in a rigid society (PBS). Though there is a huge change on the view of mental illnesses, there is an even larger, persisting stigma that overshadows the