Calderas 1!

Lissette Calderas

Professor Trisha Herrera

English 1A

8 December 2017

The Stigma on Mental Health

The American dream, for some, is considered more nightmarish in reality. We live in one

of the most privileged countries in the world, but why are we still not happy? Mental heath issues

are on the rise in the United States and yet they arent treated like other health problems. When

in fact it is just as important as physical health and should be treated as seriously as cancer, but

the stigma against depression, anxiety, stress, ptsd and schizophrenia disorders keeps viable

treatment options from being developed. Many people continue to suffer because the stigma on

mental health isnt a vital concern and having access to help and treatment options is declining.

Researchers such as the Canadian Mental Health Association has reported that shame is

an isolating reality for many sufferers because they fear how others will judge them. Suffering

from a mental disorder is already hard enough because of prejudice views or being

misunderstood and it keeps the individual from living a complete and satisfying life. We have the

power to free our minds from official definitions of things and how it shapes our understanding

of the world. Neil Postman, a great American author, educator, and media theorist asserts that

...the world is not the way we see it. What we see is a summary- an abstraction, if you will- of

electronic activity. But even what we can see is not what we do see. Reality is what we make it.
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We still have so much to learn about the universe, and the brain is a universe unto itself. We only

understand a fraction of it, or so we think. We don't understand the full effects of mental

disorders or even the scope! Its endless and therefore more research should continue being done.

Researchers from Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit medical practice and research group in Rochester,

Minnesota, point out that, Stigma doesn't just come from others. You may mistakenly believe

that your condition is a sign of personal weakness or that you should be able to control it without

help. Seeking psychological counseling, educating yourself about your condition and connecting

with others with mental illness can help you gain self-esteem and overcome destructive self-

judgment. This can be the biggest vulnerability for most people, accepting they have a problem

and seeking help.

We as a society are not viewing and treating mental health as seriously as our physical

health. Judith Weissman, a lead study investigator of the CDC data and a research manager in the

Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center puts it best, When a person goes in

to get their blood pressure checked, they need to be screened for depression, anxiety and suicidal

ideation. Mental illness needs to be viewed as something as serious as having a stroke or

cancer.. Most insurance companies are not addressing mental health in coverage, when it is the

most vital part of our health. Reality is what we make it. We still have so much to learn about the

universe, and the brain is a universe unto itself. We only understand a fraction of it. We don't

understand the full effects of mental disorders or the even the scope! More research should be a

must. We need to encourage insurance providers and physicians to incorporate behavioral mental

health check ups just as serious as yearly physical exams. Only since the past century has the

field of psychology helped us into better understanding the infinite universe that is our minds.
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We have made some great strides in understanding and diagnosing the field of Psychology that

has lead to a better grasp on the infinite universe we hold within our minds. But progress is

contingent upon the continual search and drive for knowledge, and to improve we need to

dedicate more resources to this field, not take them away. A recent report published by the

nation's leading community-based nonprofit, Mental Health America has reported a drastic

decline of mental health professionals to meet the demands for services. In order to bring more

attention to the field of mental health, we need to talk about it without biased beliefs, invest in

research, and simply educating everyone on these topics, whether it affects them or not.

Mental illness doesnt just go away over time, but with therapy one can learn skills that

can be used to manage their own mental state and an overall well being. Some dont have that

option, mental health services can be a money drainer as affordability is the number one cause of

seekers not getting help. States across the country have suffered from massive budget cost, we

see the closing down of state mental hospitals and leaving behind those with the most desperate

need. Although, it seems that some states are trying to reestablish lost programs due to those

budget cuts in alternative ways such as privatized mental health care, also known as managed

care in which referred patients go to a network of private providers contacted by the state. Some

critics will argue that a business plan is the only way to keep mental health care cost effective

because managed care approaches destroy the safety net that a good mental health community

system can provide. It seems both private and government funded institutions are battling the

line between mild cases to the most severe, through a chaos of funds. In her online article,

Rachel Pruchno, a professor of medicine at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine,

reports that:
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[T]hose favoring CBT and those believing it is ineffective for persons with severe mental

illness agree about the magnitude of the effect size (a measure of the strength of a

finding) in these meta-analyses. The two recent meta-analyses found effect sizes for CBT

to be approximately .3 similar in magnitude to that of studies examining the effects of

clozapine [sedative drug] for controlling psychotic symptoms. But drugs have serious

side effects, and at least 50% of patients either refuse or fail to take them. This is not true

of CBT.

It seems further research needs to be done on one of the most effective treatments out

there, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), for example, is promising positive results. It teaches

people how to change negative harmful thoughts and beliefs into positive reinforcement. It is

also very helpful in the treatment of people with severe symptoms and how having that mutual

trust and agreement between patient and psychiatrist or therapist is vital for successful treatment.

Thats why their needs to be a fine balance between the intake and therapy talk, as both are

necessary in on-going treatment. Training and increasing mental health specialist wont

necessarily help those who need care because most specialists need to take into consideration

further serving those in the poorer urban and rural areas. Those with low socioeconomic status

are generally more affected than those in high socioeconomic status, with higher chances of

psychiatric disabilities, and poorer access to health care. However, some psychotherapist are

seeking alternative ways to help those who cannot come out and seek support. Setting up an

online counseling therapy gives a patient more privacy in the comfort of their own home, and is

becoming increasingly popular in our sky rocketing digital era. It seems even more research

needs to be done on what works with individual patients and what they feel is helping them,
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whether it will be through talk therapies such as CBT, psychoactive drugs, group sessions, and

many more to meet their needs.

Cognitive behavioral therapy wasnt always an option until the founding fathers on

psychoanalysis brought new hope and ideas to how society has viewed mental health throughout

centuries. It wasn't too log ago that mental asylum victims endured harsh prison-like conditions

with no hope or cure, but were restricted of their lives in many ways. They faced personal

changes in state laws, restrictive marriage laws and the thousands of involuntary sterilization

laws that were put into effect; insulin coma therapy, bloodletting, metrazol-shock treatment,

electroshock therapy, and lobotomy, just to name a few. The unfortunate ones between the years

1907 and 1940 suffered inhumane and poor surgical sterilization, often leading to disastrous

results; brain damage, chemical poisoning, and bone fracture. The saddest part is that more than

half these experiments were being done here in California. Only with time, precarious

experiments and improvements in technology has the world been able to better empathize the

psychological effects of the mind. Neil Postman expresses, Of special importance are the ways

in which the forms of questions have changed over time and how these forms vary form subject

to subject. Postman (295). It seems we have come along way in so little time with psychiatrists

improving to classify patients according to what has provoked their symptoms and any family

history of mental illness.

Edmund S. Higgins, a clinical professor of psychiatry and family medicine at the Medical

University of South Carolina, asserts that despite people consuming more psychiatric medicine,

progress on mental health, research has drastically stalled. It seemed that the life-changing
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medications brought to market during the turn of the 20th and 21st century brought new hope to

some of the most mentally ill. In contrast their has been an increase in substance abuse on opiates

use, suicide rates, and especially the struggle U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has had to

keep up with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Higgins best puts it, I would argue that a

lack of precision and objectivity in diagnosing and treating mental illness has stalled our

progress. We must embrace new strategies in research and prevention to move forward. It seems

that there is still a lot of controversy on the vague nature of psychiatric diagnostic tests. An

improvement on medications pros and cons has improved to an extent, Higgins further argues,

The new medications tap into the same brain mechanisms as the old ones, albeit with fewer side

effects. Finding novel treatments for mental illness has become so discouraging that several

pharmaceutical companies have shut down or reduced neuroscience research.

In addition, pop culture has brought more attention to societys stigmatized views on

mental health. People talk about their struggles on popular talk shows such as that of the Oprah

Winfrey Show, and spread into the realm of sitcoms shows of The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and

many more. Some critics argue that the publicizing milder cases of illnesses does not help those

suffering of more severe mental illness. Kay Redfield Jamison, an american clinical

psychologist, professor, and author on bipolar disorders comments that, We need to start within

our own clinical community and have more honest and open discussions about impaired doctors,

psychologist, and nurses. Unless we are willing to talk about how to deal with mental illness

among professionals the problem is going to remain Unless we are willing to talk about how to

deal with mental illness among professionals the problem is going to remain undiscussed,

creating more fear and more stigmatization. We also need to standardize the teaching of the
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clinical science underlying these illnesses. Some of the stigma associated with mental illness

exists because there has been so much bad teaching and inadequate treatment over the years.

Another movement that took place in the 1960s and 70s was that of the anti-psychiatry

movement in movies such as One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest and The King of Hearts. Their

message about psychiatry being oppressed was clear; the inmates were not the crazy ones, but

their keepers were. Meanwhile, the 1960 classic American psychological horror film that still

terrifies many to this day, Psycho brought widespread attention to schizophrenia.

An on-going dispute that still remains is how managed care approach to health care

blocks access to mental health treatment. Consequently many private insurance companies

benefit only from their defined version of a patients necessity to receive treatment or not. Gayle

Brooks, vice president of The Renfrew Center, the nations largest network of mental health

facilities asserts that, The greatest fight in the treatment of mental illness isnt only improving

the physical and emotional health of patients; it is also the constant effort to move patients own

insurance companies toward a better understanding of their illness, so they will remove the

barriers to effective care. Hence why most insurance companies need to further take into

consideration The American Psychiatric Associations guidelines to determine the appropriate

level of care with its certain criteria. Professionals need to be the ones involved in patients care

and not the insurance companies who have little to no experience with individual mental health

illnesses. Many more treatment facilities and hospitals will be facing conflict surrounding

whether or not to choose to help a person whose coverage has been denied. They can however

choose whats morally right in helping out those seeking out aid, regardless of their

socioeconomic background.
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The more we talk about this taboo illness, the better understanding we will have

towards each other. Some will never seek or be able to receive help and hit rock bottom,

destroying themselves in the process. Everyone will suffer at some point in the their lives from a

mental health disorder whether it be themselves or someone close to them will need to know the

correct steps and study treatments options. In the end, we can all do more to look past the

pervasive beliefs and begin treating it just as serious as any other physical heath problem.
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Works Cited

Angell, Marcia. The Epidemic of Mental Illness: Why? The New York Review of Books, 23

June 2011. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/06/23/epidemic-mental-illness-why/

Berlatsky, Noah. Introduction to Mental Illness: Opposing Viewpoints. Berlatsky,

Greenhaven Press, 2016, login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/

apps/doc/ EJ3010154179/OVIC?u=pasa19871&xid=731f73c9.

Higgins, Edmund S. Is Mental Health Declining in the U.S.?. Scientific American, January 1,

2017, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-mental-health-declining-in-the-u-s/

Holmes, Lindsay. Mental Illness Is On The Rise But Access To Care Keeps Dwindling

(Its time to wake up and address this problem), Huffington Post, 17 April 2017, https://

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mental-illness-is-on-the-rise-but-access-to-care-keeps-

dwindling_us_58ee9a13e4b0da2ff85de60a.

Kemp, Donna R. "History of Mental Health Care." Mental Health Care Issues in America: An

Encyclopedia, vol. 1, ABC-CLIO, 2013, pp. 315-322.

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Maldonado, Marissa. How Stress Affects Mental Health. Psych Central, 5 Feb 2014, https://

psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/02/25/how-stress-affects-mental-health/
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Postman, Neil. The End of Education: The World Weavers/The World Makers. Vintage Books,

26 September 1995.

Pruchno, Rachel. "Psychotherapy May Be an Effective Treatment for Severe Mental Illness."

Mental Illness: Opposing Viewpoints. 2 Apr. 2014, http://link.galegroup.com/ apps/doc/

EJ3010154290/OVIC?u=pasa19871&xid=9e7a62ef.

Jamison, Kay Redfield. "The Stigma of Mental Illness Must Be Overcome." Mental Health,

Current Controversies: Opposing Viewpoints in Context, edited by Ann Quigley,

Greenhaven Press, 2007.

Szasz, Thomas S. The Myth of Mental Illness. First Harper edition 1974, New York City,

U.S.A.