Week 6: Samantha Nguyen

Samantha Nguyen

ASA 2 A03

Week 6

I found the article, “Pathologizing Everyday Life,” to be an interesting read, as it sheds light upon the increase of diagnosis for medical disorders. There is an increasing difficulty of distinguishing between what is a “mental disorder” and what is a “mental distress” in response to predicaments of everyday life. Whitaker points out that the number of people disabled by mental illness in the United States tripled over the past two decades. How can we trust doctors when we know that they can misdiagnose in order to expand the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments? The market includes pharmaceutical companies, physicians, and other professional or consumer organizations.

I had an experience with thinking that my everyday problems that caused me stress was a medical disorder back in middle school to mid-high school. A few close friends of mine had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders and were given medication. I thought it was abnormal to be feeling gloomy or sad when it really is normal. I remember thinking that I had to go to the doctors and get medication for feeling depressed. However, it’s completely normal to feel sad, to have anxiety, to be afraid, and to have an urge to arrange objects in a specific manner. I was lucky enough to have my mother teach this to me, as she encouraged me to exercise more and take vitamins in order to relieve my stress. All in all, from my experience and from this reading, I can conclude that society has incorrectly made everyday distress and stress into a medically defined mental illness.

Question: How can misdiagnosis affect an individual who may not have a medical disorder? How can we trust doctors when we know that they can misdiagnose in order to expand the markets for those who sell and deliver treatments?

References:

1.     Wasserman, Theodore (2016, July 15). Pathologizing Everyday Life. Retrieved October 28, 2017.

2.     [Digital Image]. Retrieved October 28, 2017, from https://thementalhealthreview.blogspot.com/2014/05/why-is-misdiagnosis-of-mental-illness.html