CHOOSE A FOCUS IN MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY THAT YOU FIND INTERESTING. The focus in medical sociology that I have found most interesting is that of mental illness. Mental illness is a subject that is still not fully understood and definitely not yet widely accepted by the public. Mental illness is one of the only non-preventable illnesses that carry such a negative stigma.…
In the twentieth century, with psychiatry embracing pharmacological treatments,…
The disorders, the names, the treatment, the “solutions”, seem to never. It is not a name with a needle welcoming the voices in, but a man with an ear and pen ready to silence or quiet them to be more bearable. The voices and mood swings are the patients and doctors secret, but the insanity is everyone’s show. The ability to be…
The Rosenhan Study showed how psychiatric hospitals could not differentiate between actually sick, insane patients from patients who were faking the symptoms and completely sane. Many people have been suspicious of the pharmaceutical industry and believe they will lie and manipulate the public. There are select minorities that believe that many diseases could be cured, but the treatment has not been made public due to the damage it would do to the pharmaceutical industry. In Rosenhan’s study, eight participants with no prior history with any mental disorder were going to try gain admission into twelve psychiatric hospitals. This resulted in all of the participants getting in and getting diagnosed with the following mental disorders: schizophrenia…
In his essay, “On Being Insane in Sane Places” D.L Rosenhan discusses a series of experiments that he participated in involving psychiatric institutions and the effects of misdiagnoses of psychological disorders on the patients admitted to the hospitals. He sought to find out the validity of diagnoses and if insanity is in patients themselves or is caused by the environment they are in. Rosenhan’s research proved that the labels associated with mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, have a significant impact on the way patients are treated. To conduct his research, Rosenhan and eight sane pseudopatients were admitted to psychiatric institutions. One participant was a psychology graduate student in his 20’s and the remaining were older and established, meaning they were more settled in life.…
Mental illness is a reality for millions of people around the world. Mental illness has many different shapes, forms and classifications. The way we have explored the different facets of mental illness has evolved from even fifty years ago. However, not all individuals recognize the existence of mental illness. Some believe that mental illness is an imagined illness and does not truly affect people on a daily basis.…
The United States of America is considered by most standards to be one of the most powerful, influential, and productive countries in the world, with a population of over three hundred million citizens, and a gross domestic product of almost seventeen and a half trillion dollars (World Bank). Yet beneath the surface of this magnificent nation there lies a tragic truth. The reality is, underneath the glorious lifestyles and towering cities, the United States is sick with a disease that affects nearly twenty percent of its populace (Bekiempis). Mental illness is the general term used to describe this “disease,” which includes a number of mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and posttraumatic stress syndrome to name a few. These disorders can occur due to a multitude of reasons, however there are a specific set of circumstances that often induce and promote mental illness.…
Sylvia Nasar’s A Beautiful Mind goes in depth into the life story of a man named John Nash, one of the greatest geniuses of our time. He was very famous for his theories in mathematics while suffering from schizophrenia. He contributed with research, theories, and work that helped extend the work of mathematics and singnificantly influenced many theories from economics to biology. Sadly, during the peak of his career, he was harshly affected by a mental disorder known as schizophrenia.…
Reina Buckley October 14, 2014 Science Fiction-English 337 Prof. Joe Bisz Schizophrenia in a Parallel World Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that causes the mind and brain to lack the difference between what is real and not real, and can also cause individuals to not act normal in social settings. Marge Piercy author of “Woman on the Edge of Time,” helps us to explore the two worlds in which Connie Ramos lives in as well as allow us to meet the individuals that she interacts with in both her present and future. Although Connie is seen as a schizophrenic individual all through the novel she is an individual who is smothered by the wounds in which she has dealt with causing people to make this assumption of the disorder that has been…
The stigma that surrounds mental illness can he heavily influenced by how mental illnesses are portrayed in books and films. Although some texts are able to accurately portray the affect a mental illness can have on a person’s life, there are some texts that romanticise and inaccurately depict mental illnesses such as depression, anorexia, bulimia, bipolar, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. This can have a damaging effect on how mental illnesses are viewed in society. In turn, this can have consequences for people with mental illness as these inaccurate portrayals may discourage them to seek help. Of course, most books and films today that feature some form of mental illness are not trying to encourage the behaviours that are sometimes…
Many patients will be prescribed drugs and they will believe that the drugs will work but the patient does not improve because of the actual chemical components of the drug. An article written in an APA magazine says, “Studies have shown that people with mild depression that take antidepressants, do not do significantly better than using placebos” (Smith36). Often times prescription drugs act as a placebo effect, the chemicals in the drugs are not healing them, but the patient believe that it…
The mentally ill are treated unfairly due to the negative stigma surrounding mental disorders. Mental illness is not just a problem in the real-world, it is also portrayed in many works of literature. For example, in the novel, Sula, by Toni Morrison there is a great focus on mental illness with Plum and Shadrack who both suffer with forms of PTSD from wartime. People suffering with mental disorders are less likely to seek help due to the negative stigma surrounding mental health. National Suicide Day is a day that Shadrack, war veteran, celebrates.…
A Beautiful Mind is a film that is based on a true story and was released in 2001, starring Russel Crowe as John Nash. The film begins as Nash is beginning a graduate program in mathematics at Princeton University in 1947. From the beginning of the film it is clear that Nash does not easily get along with his classmates or anybody else for that matter. However, it is clear to everyone at Princeton that Nash has exceptional mathematical gifts, and does gain their respect. Nash is also introduced to his roommate, Charles who is an english major, and is very eccentric, and quickly breaks through Nash’s hard exterior.…
This comparative analysis has also shown me that when it comes to those who have been labelled as 'mentally ill ', writers are either very supportive of, or very against medication as a remedy. I think that the writers who are very supportive of medication have not been critical enough about when it is appropriate and inappropriate to be administering medication to individuals as some do not need it. There is also much confusion about what is being administered and why, and this needs to be changed (LeFrancois & Diamond, 2014). On the other side of things, writers who are very against medication have perhaps been too critical. Views that were brought forward were that because of so much resistance, the drugs must be doing horrible things to the individual.…
Both pharmaceutical and talk therapy treatment are valid options for treating the sociopath/psychopath (King, 2011). However, they are much more sophisticated and wielded with greater expertise than at the time of this film’s production in 1975. It is germane to note that mandated psychotherapy is not individually driven and may be less successful as was evident in the movie with…