Week 6
Section A01
"Pathologizing Everyday Life" puts an interesting perspective on mental illness. It states that many mental illnesses should not be considered mental illnesses at all. It thinks that the scope for what is considered mental illness is too broad and that many mental illnesses are just reactions from stresses of everyday life. These stresses are normal and can be helped without the need for medical treatment. I agree with this viewpoint. I feel that setting a precedent that there is something wrong with people for having conditions that are pretty normal is bad for self esteem. It makes them think that they are lower than others for their condition. I think that making everybody take different kinds of pills for fairly minor issues is a bit ridiculous.
The article makes it seem like just because a mental condition isn't caused by a deficiency in the brain then it doesn't need medical treatment. I think this is a pretty dangerous notion because even mental conditions caused by experiences from everyday life can devolve into something extremely dangerous. I think that grouping them into two separate groups can be dangerous for people who have real issues even if they don't have a specific disease affecting their mental state.
Question:
I think that if we start to limit the size of what is considered a mental illness we will have an issue in the other direction though. Some people who might have real mental issue may get ignored because others view it as just a part of everyday life. How can we find a balance between what is mental illness and what is not?
References:
T. Wasserman, L.D. Wasserman. (2016). Pathologizing Everyday Life.Depathologizing Psychopathology. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
Positive Attitude [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/positive_attitude.png
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