The ideas of mental health have changed over time, as there has become more knowledge of how to diagnosis and treat mental illness due to technology and the understanding of cognitive processes.
Abnormality can be measured by one of four definitions. These are Statistical Infrequency, Deviation from Social Norms, Failure to function adequately and Deviation from ideal mental health
The first is statistical infrequency. This is when a population is represented on a bell curve graph.
It is evenly distributed and those at the end of the distribution are considered abnormal. Any behaviour that is considered statistically infrequent is considered abnormal. However, this is not the best measure of mental illness as it overlooks desirability. For example, on one end of the scale is anxiety and the other no anxiety. They are both considered abnormal but to suffer no anxiety could be seen as desirable. Also, some diseases cannot be measured like this and so is not useful in every case. For example, men aren’t included in the depression statistics because they are less likely to go to the doctor’s to get diagnosed. It can also be hard where to put the ‘abnormal’ line onto the graph, as everyone is different. The most important limitation is that it can rely on the time, context or culture. In one culture such as England it may not be desirable to be obese and so would be abnormal on a curve. However, in other cultures women are thought to be sexier when they are overweight and so on the curve would be abnormal but not to their culture.
The second definition is deviation from social norms. This suggests that if someone breaks the unwritten (implicit) rules of society they are considered abnormal. Examples of these codes in society are acceptable proximity between individuals or whether it is acceptable to be naked in the high street. People who violate these rules are seen as socially abnormal. This definition is not the best way to measure abnormality as it is subjective. It changes with time and it changes with context like statistical infrequency. To illustrate, wearing pajama’s to a nightclub wouldn’t be normal unless a group of people were doing it for fancy dress then it wouldn’t be considered as abnormal.
The next definition is Failure to Function Adequately. This is when a person is so ill mentally or physically that they cannot carry out everyday tasks. Rosenham and Seligman produced 7 criteria to go with this definition Personal distress, Maladaptiveness (coping with demands of everyday life), irrationality, unpredictability, unconventionality (e.g. fancy dress to go shopping), observer discomfort and violation of moral or ideal standards. This definition is better than the first two as it includes them both in this definition therefore it is used globally. This definition is good as it recognizes that there are degrees of abnormality- rather than simply saying this is/isn’t abnormal behaviour. However, the limitations of this are that it still depends on who does the diagnosis as to whether you are considered mentally ill. Also, most of the people that are mentally ill don’t realize they are mentally ill and so the criteria doesn’t mean anything to them. Also, this definition also relies on context, time and culture.
The last definition developed by Jahoda is deviation from Ideal Mental Health. She looked at health rather than illness. She considered is the person suffering, are they a danger to themselves or others, is the person in control of their behaviour, does the behaviour they display make others feel uncomfortable and do they communicate rational thoughts. This is the best definition as it focuses more on the individual rather than grouping all disorders together. However, the main limitation of this is that it still depends on who decides whether they have a mental illness.
In conclusion, it is difficult to define mental illness as every person is individual and some aspects of the illness could be related to their past. Also, it is hard to define what normal is making it extremely hard to diagnose a disorder. Finally, there are that many different mental disorders that it takes a while to diagnose as it is impossible to clump them together. Therefore, I feel that it is very difficult to define mental illness and is a long and detailed process.
Throughout time derogatory terms have been used to label mentally ill people. These terms were used because they were picked up off the family through primary socialisation. An example of someone that has been portrayed negatively is Frank Bruno. On September 23rd 2003 The Sun covered his story about how he had been admitted under the mental health act to Goodmayes psychiatric hospital. The headline read ‘Bonkers Bruno locked up’. He had been suffering from for several months beforehand. He was later diagnosed as having . His psychologist expressed the opinion that the end of Bruno's boxing career, the breakdown of his marriage, and the of his former trainer in all contributed to his condition. On , he admitted that his use, which began in , contributed to his mental health problems.
This story could have affected Bruno in a number of ways. This negative portrayal may make him seem to be incompetent and this could then affect his chances of getting a job or a role, this would then lead to low self esteem and maybe affect him financially. Also, because the story from The Sun shows him negatively he may be afraid or scared that other newspapers are going to publish similar stories. In addition, he may feel like he has been ‘stabbed in the back’ if all newspapers are printing similar stories as he used to be a very famous and well liked character in the papers. Bruno could have felt very desperate or feel like there is no hope as there was a possibility that he lose custody over the children because of his mental illness.
However, a negative portrayal in the media wouldn’t just affect Frank Bruno it would affect his friends, his family and the general public. His family, especially his wife could feel embarrassed about Bruno’s condition because of the way it is represented in the media which would then affect their relationships. They could also feel like there is an invasion of privacy and feel uncomfortable in his company. The general public may feel that if they ever get a mental illness they wouldn’t tell anyone because of the stigma. Therefore won’t get treatment and by the time treatment starts the mental illness could have got more severe.
Not all portrayal of mental illness in the media is negative. Stephen Fry spoke openly about his mental disorder and generally was portrayed positively in the media. On the 17th September 2006 The Independent covered a story called ‘Stephen Fry: My battle with mental illness’. The independent claims that it campaigns for greater awareness of mental illness and congratulates Stephen Fry for using his fame to ‘fight the stigma and to give a clearer picture of a mental illness most people know little about. In the article Fry describes his bi-polar disorder and is very open about what he went through and still goes through everyday. He released a programme (Secret life of a manic depressive) which won the Best Factual Series at the 2007 British Academy Television Awards.
This story could have affected Stephen Fry in a number of ways. He may have felt after this article that the general public will accept him more increasing his self esteem and confidence. His friends and family may feel that they can support him properly now without feeling embarrassed and may be able to find more information on mental illness that could benefit them. The effect on the general public could be that they are more aware of mental illness and know how common it is now. In addition, there is now less social stigma concerning mental illness.
We learn about mental illness usually from primary socialisation (our parents) and as we get older from the media and our friends. Our attitudes come from the people around us and the mass media. The mass media tends to associate mental illness with violence with unusual or tragic incidents focused on causing a climate of fear. In order to change the portrayal of mental illness personally one could challenge the person that has a negative view of mental illness. If it occurs in an institution then you could complain verbally to a manager etc or complain through phone or letter. The government has introduced policies that change the view of mental health. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ensures that discrimination doesn’t occur in the workplace and other settings because of a disability. The government also introduced the Mental Health Bill in 2002. This promised a safe, sound, supportive Mental Health Act. The purpose of this Bill is to introduce a new legal framework for the compulsory care and treatment of people suffering from mental disorders.
However, these policies don’t necessarily change attitudes as not many know they exist. Therefore, there should be more public awareness of these policies as it could change the portrayal of mental illness. The media is doing some things to improve the view of mental illness such as having a Press Complaints Commission (PCC). They oversee the press and deal with complaints off the public, if there is a strong public opinion that something is not suitable the PCC will ask the newspaper or editor of the programme to issue an apology or amend their information. After Frank Bruno was portrayed negatively in The Sun they set up a group called Headliners. They were a group of journalists that worked specifically with people that have mental illnesses. They have a number of aims. They are:
- To acheieve an accurate portrayal in the media. For example in 2006 stories came out of David Beckham having an OCD where all his shoes and tins in the cupboard have to be lined up straight. Also, it was stated that he only wears new boxers and has several showers a day. However, he wouldn’t be defined as having mental illness as he can still function adequately and also it is situational. He is a footballer and is very active as a consequence he may just like to feel clean after playing sport.
- To reduce the use of emotive words such as ‘nutter’ or ‘spaz’ and use more politically correct words to change people’s attitudes.
- Show Mental Health more positively to change the publics opinion of mentally ill
- Hold Mental Health day to inform the public and show how common mental illness is
- Hold campaigns such as the Respect campaign which challenges anti social behavoiur and it’s causes leading to a more positive image of mental health
SANE is a mental health organisation that to combat stigma and ignorance and improve care, giving nearly 400 interviews each year on national and local television and radio, generating hundreds of column inches in the press and participating in government and professional initiatives. This allows them to tackle the negative image that mentally ill people are asscoiated with.
Bibliography
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_4008466
