Mental Health Coursework Essay

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This project aim is to explore how textures and sense of touch could provoke empathy to increase understanding of mental health. Mental health problems are one of the main causes of the overall disease burden worldwide. According to NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care, 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience a mental health problem in any given year, but yet, it reminds as a taboo to have an open discussion about our mental health. A 2014 survey conducted by Time to Change shown that, 48% of people surveyed said they would feel uncomfortable talking about mental health problems.

My research is built on the basis of Jan Švankmajer’s theory of our senses; vision and hearing are objective, taste and smell are subjective; while we
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Before landing on mental health stigma, I was looking into Sensory Processing Disorder among young adult. Soon, I have learned that most adult has a supportive environment for people who are suffering from any psychological condition is equally important than the treatment itself. Therefore, I shifted my focus to mental health stigma.

According to See Me Scotland, end mental health discrimination campaign website, there are three main areas of stigma: self-stigma, prejudice, and discrimination. For the purpose of this project, I am focusing on challenging the judgemental preconceptions of mental health in the Arts industry.

At the beginning, I wanted to use external stimulus to reproduce anxiety sensations, to demonstrate how people with mental health conditions experienced the world, in hope to provoke empathy. First, I went to interview people who are suffering from depression, borderline personality, and schizophrenia to learn about their first-hand experience of mental health illness and the physical manifestation as a result of mental health problems. Second, I put together a glue glove

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