Chapter 8 Flashcards
Two different dimensions of mental disorders
¬ concept of mental disorder consists of two different dimensions: it entails the experience of the disorder itself—its specific symptoms. Second, mental disorder also has a social dimension—attribute meaning to their symptoms which arise through social interaction.
Mental disorder
a psychological, biological, or behavioural dysfunction that interferes with daily life—“alterations in thinking, mood, or behaviour associated with significant distress and impaired functioning”
Contributors to mental illness
o Some social groups are more susceptible than others
o Mental disorders emerge from individual attributes such as ability to manage one’s thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and interactions with others. Also social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors such as national policies, social protection, living standards, working conditions, and community social supports.
o Greatest predictor of mental illness is socioeconomic status
The social causation hypothesis
more life stresses and fewer resources characterize the lives of the lower class, contributing to the emergence of mental illness
Social selection hypothesis
¬ people with mental disorders can fall into lower economic strata because of difficulties in daily functioning
Objective
Having a mental disorder can contributed to a wide range of negative life outcomes.
Subjective
the cost-of-illness estimates should be viewed with some level of caution. These estimates “are not just a product of biochemistry; biochemistry interacts with economic and social norms”.
What contributes to the self-stigma
¬ At the personal level, stigmatization has a negative impact on the quality of life of people with mental disorders. Awareness of the negative attitudes can lower self-esteem and increase feelings of demoralization contributing to self-stigma.
How are mental disorders medicalized
¬ Mental disorders are medicalized: psychiatrists determine which thoughts or behaviours constitute mental illness and then incorporate that into the DSM or ICD—explain these thoughts or behaviours are deviant because they cause significant distress and impairments in daily functioning. Then they provide measures of social control.
Legacy of deinstitutionalization
Movement/evolution in treatment perceived as brining nothing but benefits—to individuals (receiving treatment), to society (higher rate of recovery), and government and taxpayers (cost savings).
Those lacking social networks who have mental illness may not do well in the community
What adds to the social typing process having to do with mental illness
Homelessness and criminality both add dimensions to the social typing process
Where do policies and programs addressing treatment and support available to people with mental disorders arise from
¬ the disease paradigm—emphasized ameliorating symptoms that distress and impair individuals’ functioning.
¬ the discrimination paradigm of mental illness—emphasizes the role that stigmatization plays in the daily experiences of people with mental illnesses.
Stigma management techniques
¬ try to pass by hiding their disorders. Some may divide their social worlds, carefully managing who is and is not permitted to know about their illnesses. Others more actively resist the imposition of stereotypes about mental illness which include deflecting and challenging. People also fight back against the external stigmatizing force.
¬ The health care community is involved in trying to reduce negative attitudes towards mental illness.
Parsons on mental illness
¬ Receiving the label of mental illness enables them to be assigned a sick role. Under certain conditions people with illnesses could be assigned a role that would accord them certain rights, but along with those rights came certain responsibilities (Parsons)
Goffman on mental illness
¬ Psychiatric hospitals are total institutions wherein “inmates” had no choice but to accept restriction and dehumanization (Goffman)
