Section A01
Week 6
In “The Americanization of Mental Illness”, Ethan Watts attributes the global rise in mental illness cases to the global exportation of an American “symptom repertoire” or symptoms the unconscious mind can express. As the American narrative has spread, a set of mental health disorders like PTSD, depression and anorexia have been rapidly spreading across cultures. The problem lies in the fact that the American school of though on mental health illnesses has its own flaws and exporting it will exacerbate the problem. When Watts discusses how cultures where schizophrenia was seen as an affliction instead of a disease, families treated them more inclusively and people were less likely to ostracize them. The warm and welcoming environment also led to lower rates of relapse. Seeing this piece of information reminded me of a study that examined cultures with the longest living people. These cultures, such as Mexico and Japan, had very strong filial cultures that had warm and inclusive environments with the elderly, keeping them company and engaged throughout their lifespan. I theorize that the having an inclusive and kind environment is key to a healthy human mind and life. Being able to express your thoughts and emotions, either to family, friends or therapists, will work much better than Xanax pills or Paxil.
Question: Should we really being administering antidepressants with such impunity? Are antidepressants actually helpful or do the cause more harm?
References:
McCoy, G. (n.d.). Anti Depressant cartoon 1 of 13 [Digital image]. Retrieved October 28, 2017, from https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=ggm100226
Watts, Ethan (2010, January 10). The Americanization of Mental Illness. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
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