Week 3 Part 1 In this week’s readings we focus on what exactly is illness. We talk about illness often whether it’s about mental illness, calling off sick from work, or suffering from a disease. It may seem like an easy thing to define, but it’s actually very difficult because illness could mean so many different things to different people. There are two models of illness, medical and sociological. Medical models of illness are objective, nonmoral, apolitical, and result from unique etiology. These models of illness are extremely scientific in nature, that anything that deviates from the norm is illness, and pushes aside the societal factors involved. The sociological model of illness is subjective, moral, political, and results from
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One example is with the medicalization of ADHD, which according to our text books scientists have not yet found a biological marker for. ADHD was rarely diagnosed before the 1960’s because of the very addictive harmful medications that were available. Then pharmaceutical companies developed Ritalin which they released to the market coupled with a massive media campaign that targeted both the public and also doctors. This is where the sociological model comes into play (Weitz, 2013). Pharmaceutical companies and doctors often pushed Ritalin for profits and their powerful positions helped fuel the ADHD label to the public. Many teachers then favored the diagnosis and drugs to make their students more manageable and also the opportunity to shift the blame of low performance to the student. Parents also encouraged the ADHD diagnosis because it gave them an explanation to fall on instead of the poor parenting being the result of behaviors (Weitz, 2013). This shows how influential people in power are and how a society can alter the definition of illness. It is so important to focus on the sociological perspective of illness because as time goes and society changes so will the definitions and criteria of illness. When understanding an illness, it is extremely important to appreciate the scientific research gathered, but also to understand how illness can be sculpted by those in positions of power. It is also important to understand how genetics play a role in illness, but also the key role that society plays as
One example is with the medicalization of ADHD, which according to our text books scientists have not yet found a biological marker for. ADHD was rarely diagnosed before the 1960’s because of the very addictive harmful medications that were available. Then pharmaceutical companies developed Ritalin which they released to the market coupled with a massive media campaign that targeted both the public and also doctors. This is where the sociological model comes into play (Weitz, 2013). Pharmaceutical companies and doctors often pushed Ritalin for profits and their powerful positions helped fuel the ADHD label to the public. Many teachers then favored the diagnosis and drugs to make their students more manageable and also the opportunity to shift the blame of low performance to the student. Parents also encouraged the ADHD diagnosis because it gave them an explanation to fall on instead of the poor parenting being the result of behaviors (Weitz, 2013). This shows how influential people in power are and how a society can alter the definition of illness. It is so important to focus on the sociological perspective of illness because as time goes and society changes so will the definitions and criteria of illness. When understanding an illness, it is extremely important to appreciate the scientific research gathered, but also to understand how illness can be sculpted by those in positions of power. It is also important to understand how genetics play a role in illness, but also the key role that society plays as