Week 6

Camille Joy Abutin

Week 5

Section A01

A friend once asked me, “What is better, Western Medicine or Eastern medicine?” and I ignorantly answered, “Western Medicine.” When I first think of Western Medicine, I think about the world class research when it comes to medicine, the expensive machines, and the newest drugs. While these things show the major advancement we’ve had in medicine the West has tried to impose it’s view on mental illness on all parts of the world; however, it’s worth questioning if all this has been counterproductive in the destigmatizing of mental illness. Ethan Watters’ piece, “The Americanization of Mental Illness” sheds light on the argument that western medicine isn’t necessarily better. From what I’ve gathered from his piece, there are different perspectives that accompany mental illness and thus different approaches to preventing and remedying it. 

I think a recurring theme in the west is this idea that Western thinking is the best and that the world should follow western thinking. We assume that that because we’re so advanced, everyone else is behind us; which as Watters points out in his article, that isn’t quite true. Although some remedies of the East are “prescientific” it would be unfair to cross out the cultural aspect from medicine. The results exist, so who are we to impose our views of mental health on people across the world if what they’re doing is working? Just because people have different views on mental health that doesn’t make it problematic. A point brought up by Watters was that we should consider the different degrees of compassion and cruelty in mental illness because there is a significance to the context culture gives to mental illness. Like any other patient, people affected by mental illness should be treated holistically and not just by their symptoms. Compassion has the capacity to be great medicine, and I think culture plays a big part in the compassion and understanding that patients deserve.

Question: Why don’t we ever hear about Eastern medicine in regard to mental health? And how can incorporate what works in Eastern Medicine into Western Medicine.

1.Bevington, H. (n.d.). Chinese Medicine and Mental health [Digital image]. Retrieved May 7, 2017, from Watters, Ethan (2010). The americanization of mental illness. New york times. Retrieved 05/07/17 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html

2.Watters, Ethan (2010). The americanization of mental illness. New york times. Retrieved 05/07/17 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.html