Essay On A Changing Perspective On Mental Illness

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A Changing Perspective on Mental Illness My perspective on mental illness has been shaped primarily by movies and what others have told me about mental illness. I define mental illness as a brain condition, that can be caused by chemical imbalances. This condition can cause a person to have a harder time coping with circumstances and their perception of what is going on can be A Meeting My guard is up. This is my gut reaction to meeting an individual with obvious mental illness symptoms. Realizing that this is the first thought that comes to mind makes me upset with myself, teary eyed, and ashamed. I ask myself, why is this my gut reaction, why do I have this negative association with mental illness? I believe this comes from my lack of knowledge …show more content…

Ray had told me beforehand that his brother was having episodes. I did not think anything of it and we went about our evening. Late at night we were watching TV and I could hear his brother in the other room yelling. He was cursing and saying that he wanted to hurt this person he was talking to. When I heard the yelling I got scared, when I realized he was talking to himself I got uncomfortable. I remember telling ray I was scared, he told me, "it’s okay, he just yells and has never hurt anyone." It has been many years since his mom has had an episode. His brother has had many episodes over the past 6 years. He has been in the hospital several times and in jail once. I see how this illness has impacted their lives and the lives around them. Future. My perspective on mental illness has begun to change. I believe this is mainly because of my relationship with Ray’s family. It was very disheartening to see that possibly my perspective has not changed as much as I had thought. According to my mental illness Implicit Association Test (IAT) that states “Your implicit data suggest that you strongly associate DANGEROUS more with MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE than PHYSICALLY ILL PEOPLE”. Over time they have shared more information with me that has helped me understand a little more about their illness, however, I want to understand

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