Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Foe
Tiffany Chang
Sociology 001
Professor Alvarado
Overview
The Institution of medicine is highly involved in defining and treating illnesses
of members of a society
1840s is the first noted observation of mental illness in the U.S. by Dorothea
Dix
Her observation of people with criminals and the environment they were
in was widely known
Late 1800s--Hospitals for mentally ill began to overflow and treatment didnt
seem to be working
History + Changes over time
1946-- President Harry Truman called for the National Institute of Mental
Health to conduct research into the brain and behavior
Mid 1950s--Dixs push for better treatment of mentally ill finally lead to
deinstitutionalization
To this day, people still debate over deinstitutionalization and the care based
around psychiatric patients
Social Perception
Media perception of medical professionals and institutions involved tend to be
skewed
Media and popular film tend to manipulate the notion of mental illness as
insanity or in relation to negative connotations
Despite that people consider the roles of doctors and nurses as appealing
occupations, psychiatrists are seen as the part of medicine that no one should
be involved in
Health Disparities
The Federal collaborative for Health Disparities Research of the U.S. stated
that mental health disparities was one of the four topics needed of immediate
attention
Sexism, racism, ageism, etc--issues that people face which further creates a
gap between society and the actuality of the notion behind mental health and
medicine
Socioeconomic factors can prevent people from getting help so statistics may
portray inaccurate numbers
More people are likely to state that theyre unable to afford any type of health care and thus
are not counted in statistics involved in mental health
Controversy
Psychiatry can be said to be more damaging than actually helping.
The social notion and stigma can cause the primary care sector to create
a power imbalance
Medialization can cause issues since it labels behaviors as neither biological
or medical
Diagnosis of mental illness can allow people to be held against their will
and insist therapy/treatment that may not be in the interest of the patient
Conflict of interest when prescribing psychiatric medication
For a period of time, people had questioned whether psychiatry was really
needed or not
Controversy
Release of DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Book 5) in 2013 created a huge social controversy because it normalized
mental health but also narrowed the scope too much
The sick persons role is to be exempt from normal social roles and to not
being responsible for their sickness but to also try to get well [5]
Sick person should follow along with medical professional to get well as
soon as possible
Dominant group-- those who make decisions how the healthcare system will
be run
Can ensure they also have health coverage while controlling the profit
made and who has access
Inferior group--those of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to fight the
system and live in unhealthy environments or not have access
Females, certain racial and ethnic groups fall under this category
Those in rural areas have a severe lack of health care options available
to them despite that roughly 20% of the U.S. population live in here
Conclusion
Brain research is needed for the
development of medicine
Reidbord, Steven. A Brief History of Psychiatry. Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 20 Oct. 2014,
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sacramento-street-psychiatry/201410/brief-history-psychiatry.
Siegler, Kirk. The Divide Over Involuntary Mental Health Treatment. NPR, NPR, 29 May 2014,
www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/05/29/316851872/the-divide-over-involuntary-mental-health-treatment.
Safran, Marc A. et al. Mental Health Disparities. American Journal of Public Health 99.11 (2009): 19621966. PMC.
Web. 6 Oct. 2017.
Sociological Perspectives on Health and Illness. Sociological Perspectives on Health and Illness , Boundless