The stigma of mental illness is affecting those who seek exceptional employment, satisfying education, safe housing, adequate health …show more content…
(CCHR International 2015). CCHR International argues that the pharmaceutical/psychiatric industry has spent over a billion dollars every year to prove to the public that psychiatric disorders are medical diseases, but has not shown anything to prove it’s a medical disease, unlike the other diseases that can be verified such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. I understand why CCHR International believes that mental illnesses is nonexistent due to the fact that no test has been provided to physically prove a mental illness as a medical disease, but I believe that a physically test does not need to be …show more content…
According to The Kim Foundation some mental illnesses are linked to abnormal balance of neurotransmitters. A neurotransmitter is a chemical that is released from the nerve cell which thereby transmits an impulse from a cell nerve to another nerve, muscle, cell, organ, or other tissue (MedicineNet). Other biological factors can include genetics, infections, brain defect or injury, prenatal damage, poor nutrition, and exposure to toxins. I personally believe that psychiatric disorders are a medical disease, and are existent. My mother Tara Lee Gasaway was diagnosed with BiPolar disorder, and I personally witnessed the condition first hand. Those diagnosed with a mental disorder also face stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination throughout their daily lives, and are labeled as unstable, violent, and dangerous. According to The Mental Illness Policy Organization one of the main causes of the stigma is the “violent behavior by mentally ill persons who are not being treated” (Torrey 2011). The Mental Ill Policy Organization argues that treating people with serious mental illness will decrease the episodes of violence. Two studies were done to evaluate the effect on outpatient treatment (AOT) on violent behavior. The study was for those who were referred, and usually having a history of being