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
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