For the last six years, I have been working in the substance abuse industry in both inpatient and outpatient settings. It would be fair to say that most people that are in need of substance abuse treatment have a co-occurring disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety. These people are diagnosed by a psychiatrist or medical doctor and are typically given medication to help the patient. However, the problem can be that if a person sees a psychiatrist and is not honest about their substance abuse history the mental diagnosis can be deceiving. For example; a person who is diagnosed with anxiety; could be in substance abuse withdrawal or intoxication. It’s likely that a person who has substance abuse problems may show signs of depression; due to family, interpersonal, social, and employment problems. An alcoholic is going to be depressed; as the drug is a depressant on the central nervous system. In my opinion, I feel that there are some psychiatrists and medical professionals out there that completely miss-diagnose people based on DSM 5 criteria. “Its diagnoses are …show more content…
Doctors and psychiatrists are too willing to place someone on medications for a quick fix. We are an overmedicated society looking for an easy answer for a solution to our problems. Research suggests that one in five Americans are diagnosed with a mental health disorder. I firmly believe that there is a mental health crisis in the United States and many people go undiagnosed. Mental health, does in my opinion, has stigmas attached to it. I have seen many people struggle with the stigma of mental illness and use substances to cope with it. There appears to be a grey line when it comes to diagnosing mental health and I think people can really get lost in the
The lack of acceptance towards mental illnesses being considered actual illnesses has left many people with a fractured truth about mental illnesses as a whole. Although society is getting better at dealing with mental illnesses, there is still the perception that mental illnesses do not need to be treated because they are not visible wounds, which is completely untrue. Both John and Kathy think like this. "... Kathy did not insist that he see a psychiatrist ad that John did not feel the need to seek help." (O'Brien 75)
As time has passed and knowledge has been gained, there have been advances in how mental illness is looked at and treated. Even though the stigma placed on mental illness has improved, there are still quite a few people and cultures that look down on the recognition and treatment of mental health
A few weeks ago on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver there was a piece covering mental health. It highlighted the lack of transparency in dealing with mental illness in the United States and the overall negative connotation mental diseases have. Currently, it is estimated that of the homeless population in the US, at minimum, 26% of the homeless have a serious mental illness (Homeless Mentally Ill Facts, Figures and Anecdotes- MENTAL ILLNESS POLICY ORG). Furthermore, according to the video, because of the large percentage of mentally ill on the streets, many are ending up in penal system instead of receiving treatment.
On November 9th, I attended an event in the glass lounge that was ran by campus ministry, involving homelessness and hunger. This event correlates with Gwynedd Mercy University’s theme of #MakeMercyReal because it allows us to show mercy and help those who are in need. This event has changed my outlook on a great deal of issues that I did not know were prevalent at our school and has made me want to make a difference. Lauren DuCharme is an inspiring woman from campus ministry and is very passionate about what she does.
There are positives and negatives to labeling mental illness that affects the treatment, family, and social situations of the patient. The diagnosis is not a “cure all” and could worsen conditions of a lot of people when they realize that the diagnosis did not help. Additionally whenever the patient is label with a mental illness people are likely to create a stigma towards the patient and start avoiding him/her.
I am the type of person who gets anxious making a phone call, but has the ability to feel completely at ease wandering around an unfamiliar city with only the slightest knowledge of how to get wherever it is I am going. There is something very satisfying about meeting new people and exploring places I’ve never been before. For someone who has always preferred to keep to herself, I have an overwhelming curiosity about the world around me, and I dedicate a lot of my time trying to understand the people in it. When I was little, maybe around five or six, I would play this game where every time strangers caught my attention, I would make up a story about how and why they met, and write about how they ended up in the same place as me. This game resulted in a dozen composition notebooks full of stories that are now stacked in the corner of my
Untreated mental illness is dangerous and over time we have learned that locking people with a mental illness is not the solution but makes it worse. People with untreated mental illness face many consequences. “People with untreated psychiatric illnesses comprise 250,000 people, of the total homeless population” (mentalillnesspolicy.org). The quality of life for these individuals is extremely heart breaking, and many are victimized regularly.
The stigma’s greatest advocate is the general public’s ignorance on the subject of Schizophrenia. That coupled with the media’s portrayal of Schizophrenia leads to an unfounded stigma that society perpetuates (Ellison et al 341). One of the universal facts about mankind is that they have a fear of the unknown. In relation to Schizophrenia, the unknown is the illness itself and following that scenario, the lack of knowledge leads to a fear of the illness. Due to the lack of knowledge about the true nature of the illness, the general public is more inclined to allow other information to fill in the void.
The key limitations of the psychiatric classification system are the system does not explain the causes of mental ill health, it can categorise into incorrect boxes, it does not include ‘atypical’ systems,
Journal Article Review Mental illness stigmatization has a crucial impact on the wellbeing of individual with mental illness by creating self stigma, preventing them from reaching their goal and inhibiting use of available services due to fear of labels. Due to these associated obstacles, stigma requires attention and reframing. This brings up the question as to if mental illness stigmatization is a problem based in public health policies or a social injustice. Corrigan, Watson, Byrne, and Davis (2005) argue that viewing mental illness from a public health perspective alone, while may provide some benefits, also produces negative byproducts, and a social justice perspective may be more apt as changing stigma.
The dispute between psychotherapy and medication has been on the rise and was debated for decades. Many people with mental illnesses may turn to psychiatric drugs instead of psychotherapy, because they are uneducated and unaware of the effectiveness of therapy and its benefits. Psychotherapy is an alternative way to treat mental illnesses rather than to use harsh medication that may potentially cause more harm than good in the long run. Medication on the other hand are just prescribed pills that just temporarily bandage the problem rather than heal it There are many cases in which proves that therapy is more effective opposed to medication in helping patients with mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety and phobias.
When society hears that it’s a mental disorder they instantly think we are crazy. When in reality, we are more afraid of society finding out our secret, then society is of our
According to statistics released by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration in 2014, 42.5 million American adults, which is 18.2% of the total adult population in the United States, suffers from a mental illness (5,6). Mental illnesses includes a wide range of diseases that affects the brain and displays changes in mood, thoughts, and behavior. People suffering with mental illnesses are not only challenged by the side effects resulting from the disease, but also they are challenged by prejudices and stereotypes based on misconceptions of these mental illnesses. Because of these misconceptions, people are robbed from opportunities to get efficient jobs, satisfactory housing, beneficial health care, or even any affiliations
Patients with mental health illnesses are many times defined because of their diagnosis and that is
Mental illnesses do not just affect a minority; they affect the people who have them and their friends. Likewise, the