Mental Illness and Individual Self Identity - Essay Example

?Mental Illness and Individual Self & Identity Introduction This essay attempts to analyze the concept of mental illness from the perspective of the patient, and the manner in which conventional psychiatry distorts it (illness), for furthering its ulterior motive. For this purpose, the essay would refer to the articles “Mental Illness, Psychiatric Drugs and Elusive Self” written by David Karp, and “The Moral Career of the Mental Patient” penned down by Erving Goffman. Also, as and when appropriate, reference would be made to the movie “A Beautiful Mind” and the documentary film “Psychiatry: Industry of Death”. Individual Reality in Relation to Social Reality It is rather perturbing to be making note of the fact that, a patient afflicted by a mental disorder is almost coerced to interpret the reality of their self, from the viewpoint of society. Here, it is not at all an exaggeration in maintaining that, when a person is considered to have developed some mental ailment, they are forced to comprehend the reality, which is defined by the society. Firstly, just based on some facets of the person’s behavior that are rated to be abnormal as per the accepted social standards, the relations and friends (of the person) lose no time in coming to a decision that they are suffering from grave psychological disorder. In fact, this can be deemed to be the first step taken by the society, in eventually making sure that the person accepts things in a manner desired by it (society). (1) Subsequently, the patient is brought to the mental asylum by his close relations, and then the efforts for diagnosing the ailment in question are just intensified not just by the concerned psychiatrist, but by the entire staff. Any past deviations from accepted behavioral patterns, by the patient, are hastily attributed to the ailment that the doctor has in mind. In this context, it would not at all be an exaggeration in stating that they (psychiatrist) are very much eager to decide about the disorder afflicting the person. Finally, the asylum succeeds in convincing the relations that the person is down with a condition warranting a long stay in the asylum, and they (relations) are relieved that the treatment has started. (1) After that, as an inmate of the asylum, the patient is left with no other option but to steadily surrender to the situation in such a way that they slowly start perceiving the reality of the self, as per the dictates of the asylum. The strict regimen of the asylum, the derogatory remarks by the staff and malicious gossip, to cite a few, finally make sure that the reality defined by the society is accepted by the inmate. Any attempts made by them (inmate) in describing some past happenings of theirs’ as being the reasons for their present condition are seen as manifestation of the ailment’s symptoms. And eventually, the patient completely forgets his real self and gets defeated by the immense power wielded by psychiatry. (1) As a matter of fact, the contents described in the preceding two paragraphs are excellently presented by Erving Goffman in his article “The Moral Career of the Patient”. He describes almost in a heart-rending way about the manner in which the patient is victimized by the asylum, which in this context is nothing short of being omnipotent. At this juncture, it won’t be out of place in making a mention of the documentary film “Psychiatry: Industry of Death”. This film vividly elaborates about the way in which the avenue of psychiatry is propelled by a purely commercial objective where, even the well-being of the inmates is being conveniently ignored. And it is this very commercial motive that is the primary reason behind the endeavors of the asylum’s staff in literally making the inmate a hapless victim. Using his own experience of interacting with inmates of an asylum, Goffman very effectively conveys about the precise process followed by the place (asylum), right from the time when the patient walks in with their relation/s. In the article, he very subtly throws light on the fact that after spending some duration in an asylum; the patient ends up as the loser with the society emerging as the winner, with regard to perception of reality. It is the reality as defined by society that wins. (1) Is Mental Illness a Disease? Contrary to popular opinion, not all mental illnesses can be categorized as diseases. At least, as far as mental conditions are concerned, both the terms (illness and disease) cannot be used synonymously. Here, a mental illness is nothing but just a not-that-serious deviation from established standards and which can be corrected in fairly simplified manner. But the present day realm of organized psychiatry has left no stone unturned in convincing people that mental illness is nothing but a disease. Here, it has to be conceded that this is diametrically opposite to the fact. And also, it is the very profit motive, a mention of which has been made earlier, which is responsible for furthering this scenario where the terms “illness” and “disease” are viewed as one and the same. (1) In the article “Mental Illness, Psychiatric Drugs and Elusive Self”, the author David Karp clearly enumerates as to why mental illness cannot be viewed as a disease, by default. In fact, he appropriately cites several true cases where, the inmates of asylums who were supposed to be down with grave mental diseases went on to demonstrate their intellect. David Karp does not fail to highlight the fact that, there have been several instances where, the persons who have been diagnosed with mental ailments went on to convert their very illnesses as a springboard for attaining success in their preferred vocations. At this point, it would very much be appropriate in making a reference to the movie “A Beautiful Mind”. This movie is the story of a man who is forced into a mental asylum after being diagnosed with Schizophrenia. As a matter of fact, at that point, it appears as if there is no hope left in his life, and that he needs to spend a major chunk of rest of his life as an inmate. But the protagonist battles against all odds and makes a mark for himself by his academic achievements. What is most surprising is the fact that he eventually goes on to win the Nobel Prize, in the discipline of Economics, in the year 1994. (1) Here, it has to be noted that the above is just one of the countless examples that add immense strength to the argument that, mental illness need not necessarily be a mental disease. Along with the profit motive of the psychiatrists, the powerful drug companies also play a major part in making sure that asylums are left with no other option but to magnify the disorder of the inmate. And as stated earlier, the patient ends up as being the unfortunate victim. (1) In fact, it is rather disturbing to be making a note of the fact that, there is no dearth for cases where, the illness in question was a minor one, when the patient first walks in for psychiatric consultation. But subsequently, the concerted endeavors of the entire staff of the asylum make sure that the patient develops several mental disturbances that were not there earlier. And this is used by the psychiatrist in strengthening his initial diagnosis. (1) Here, it has to be specifically emphasized that, notwithstanding the contents elaborated in the last few paragraphs, there indeed are some serious psychological disorders that can be termed as being diseases. And for properly treating those conditions, it is indispensable that the patient becomes an inmate in the asylum. For instance, when disorders leading to violent behavior endangering the people in the vicinity are taken into account, it is imperative that the concerned patient is given a treatment strictly as per the norms of modern psychiatry. Barring such extreme conditions, most of the other forms of milder illnesses cannot be treated on par with serious diseases. Mental Patient and Individual & Social Identities The contents to be enumerated in this section are closely related to the ones focused in the first section of this essay (Individual Reality in Relation to Social Reality). It is a well-known fact that, in a mental patient, there is a constant clash between their own identity and the identity determined by the society. When persons afflicted with mental illness are considered, the society loses no time in giving them the identity as persons who are of abnormal and unsound mind. This might be true in cases of disorders such as those leading to acts of violence by the afflicted individual. But it has to be admitted that, apart from such serious cases, in majority of instances, the aforesaid identity given by the society is overall a wrong one, and the identity felt by the person is the one that is closer to the truth. (1) Here, it would be apt to again refer to the protagonist of the movie “A Beautiful Mind”. The society and the realm of psychiatry gave him the identity of a schizophrenic, but he did not allow that to be a hindrance to his goals. He combated several negative forces and went to attain phenomenal success, and this subtly stresses on the fact that, the identity that he accepted turned out to be the real winner. Everyone who maintained that his only identity is the one that is related to his illness were left flabbergasted, to say the least. (1) In his article, David Karp gives a very detailed account of the manner in which the individual identity is also dependent on the various psychiatric drugs taken by the patients. Using numerous real examples, he vividly explains the role played by drugs, in this regard. Some patients feel that the drugs make them lose their identity; whereas; some others (patients) maintain that the drugs in fact have helped them in expressing their real identity. This varies from one case to another. There are instances where, the patients felt that, because of usage of these drugs, they became unable to express some feelings, which were hitherto an integral part of their identity. Likewise, there are several patients who feel that it is only because of taking the medicines that they started feeling that there was something drastically wrong in their personality. As a matter o fact, David Karp also mentions some cases where the persons felt that they lost their identity when drugs were taken. Also, they emphatically maintained that, almost immediately after they discontinued medication, it appeared as if they regained their real identity. And owing to that, they never regretted that they put a stop to usage of the drugs. All these are just few of the numerous true instances that have been elaborated by him (David Karp), while speaking about the aspect of “drugs and identity of the patient”. (1) In most of the cases in the asylums, the inmates repeatedly experience this clash. On one hand, the society has given them the identity of persons having mental diseases, and also went on to decide that they cannot be in the midst of sane persons. On the other hand, the patients feel that what they are experiencing is just a minor deviation in the mental pattern that can be rectified by them, on their own. But the sad truth is that in a substantial chunk of cases, it is the society and psychiatry that emerge victorious in this clash, and the patients are left with no other choice but to accept their identity that has been defined by them (relations and psychiatrists). Conclusion This essay can be concluded with the remarks that, at least based on the articles that have been referred here, it needs to be candidly admitted that organized psychiatry has done more harm than good. It should be hoped that, in the near future, the avenue of psychiatry would be changing for the better so that, things are viewed also from the perspective of the patient. The topic of this essay is an exhaustive one, and it is not possible to be covering all the points in a brief write-up such as this one. Yet, a sincere attempt has been made to encompass the most important of all the aspects. Source 1) “Class Writing Assignment Two”, rapidshare.com/files/3780445462/Inside_Social_Life.pdf , Internet, NP, 2011. Read More