Exploring Mental Health Themes in Contemporary Literature In today's literature, themes surrounding mental health have gained significant attention, offering insights into the human psyche. Literature such as "All the Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven, "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green, and "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman dive into mental illness, identity, and resilience. This essay aims to show the transformative role of literature in understanding and addressing these critical aspects of human experience. Representation of mental health struggles in literature serves as a potent means of fostering empathy and understanding among readers. By portraying characters grappling with mental illness, authors challenge societal stigmas …show more content…
Through vivid imagery, the quote captures the multifaceted nature of human emotions, despite the internal turmoil faced by the characters. Additionally, "The thing I realize is, that it's not what you take, it's what you leave," encapsulates the theme of legacy amidst mental health challenges. Here, Finch reflects on the significance of one's actions and their lasting impact on others, emphasizing the importance of leaving a positive mark on the world. Furthermore, "The problem with people is they forget that most of the time it's the small things that count," emphasizes the significance of small acts of kindness in combating loneliness and despair. These acts of kindness serve as beacons of hope amidst the characters' struggles, highlighting the transformative power of compassion. Lastly, "You make me lovely, and it's so lovely to be lovely to the one I love," underscores the transformative power of love in mental health recovery. This quote poignantly illustrates the healing nature of genuine connection and acceptance, offering a ray of hope amidst the …show more content…
Through this quote, Shusterman emphasizes the importance of empathy and open-mindedness in understanding the experiences of those with mental illness, acknowledging that truth may vary depending on one's perspective. Additionally, "Sometimes, the only way to truly be lost... is to realize you're not," addresses self-awareness and acceptance amidst mental illness, underscoring the journey towards self-acceptance and understanding. Moreover, "It's okay not to be okay." When you're not okay, you're still alive," emphasizes self-compassion and resilience in the face of struggles. This quote serves as a reminder that experiencing difficulties is a part of the human experience, and it is okay to seek help and support when needed. Lastly, "Madness is never that far away." It's as close to us as our darkest thoughts," examines the constant presence of mental illness and its stigma, urging readers to confront their own biases and misconceptions surrounding mental
From reading and reflecting her personal experience and journey with her sister, Pamela, I acquired a personal outlook of the deteriorating effects of mental illness as a whole, discovering how one individual’s symptoms could significantly impact others such as family and friends. From this new perspective mental health counseling provides a dominate field within not only individuals who may suffer mental illness such as Pamela, but also serve as a breaking point for family and friends who also travel through the illness, such as Carolyn.
Is acceptance of mental illness the key to living a more fulfilled life? I first became interested in bipolar or, manic-depression a few years ago when somebody close to me was diagnosed with it. I wanted to understand it better, but found that the jargon and detached observations of psychiatric theory and practice that you can find on the internet didn’t really help me to understand what people actually go through. Kay Redfield Jamison’s ‘An Unquiet Mind’ manages to cut through all that to create a fiery, passionate, authentic account of the psychotic experience and introduce you to the facts of the illness without you even realizing it. Kay Jamison’s story is proof that mentally ill people, with help from medication, can live a wonderful life.
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness.
Disabilities of mental health are common, but not many people are talking about them. As strong stigma is attached to them, and mishandled representation only furthers the stigma. Lori Schiller pushed through the silence to present a narrative that shows the complex ways in which a mental illness can affect someone and those around
The Day the Voices Stopped is a “Memoir of Madness and Hope,” written by Ken Steele (Steele & Berman, 2001, p. 1). As a reader, my experience of this book was like a rollercoaster and I found myself very emotionally invested. When terrible things happened to Ken, I truly felt sick to my stomach while reading them; but when good things happened, I also felt like there was still hope left. Ken Steele’s memoir described how stigma is extremely prevalent in mental illness and individuals are forced to overcome massive obstacles in their lives.
Mental illness is more common than one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road, to say the least.
Moreover, the labeling perspective on mental illness... was first formulated decades ago, when mental hospitals were the predominant type of care for persons with mental health problems… Patients were described as undergoing a moral career, which involved the loss of all previous roles because of the way mental health care was structured, and which finally lead to a so-called spoiled identity, the result being that reintegration in society was very difficult, if not impossible (Verhaeghe et al.
The discussion of mental health is slowly being brought to the social surface to create a more inclusive society for those dealing with a mental illness. However, those with a mental illness are continuously being affected by stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination by those who simply don’t comprehend the complexity of the human brain (Glaser, G.2017). As more people become mental health activist, they are exposing the plethora of issues surrounding the overall mental and physical stability of those who are negatively affected by the social construct of what it means to be normal.
middle of paper ... ... However, there is a large portion of mental health ill people that are able to find stability and maintain stability in their illness. Many of these people overcome their illness to some extent and manage to play an important role in society. Work Cited: Claire Henderson, Sara Evans-Lacko, Clare Flach, Graham, Thornicrofi.
Depression is a mental health condition which is widely recognised as one of the most common conditions for which people seek and receive care. There are many specific nursing problems which are encompassed by the medical term “depression” and these include physical, cognitive and behavioural patterns. Successful treatments of depression are psychosocial interventions which aim to identify and challenge a depressed persons pessimistic attitudes and beliefs and which promote an individuals’ participation in rewarding activities in an attempt to reduce any negative behaviours. The aim of this essay is to identify specific nursing problems which are encompassed by the term “depression” and relate these to a patient whom the author had met whilst out on clinical placement who had been given a medical diagnosis of depression. It is also the aim of this essay to discuss different psychosocial interventions and how effective these are in assisting a patient in their road to recovery.
Fordism and Scientific Management are terms used to describe management that had application to practical situations with extremely dramatic effects. Fordism takes its name from the mass production units of Henry Ford, and is identified by an involved technical division of labour within companies and their production units. Other characteristics of Fordism include strong hierarchical control, with workers in a production line often restricted to the one single task, usually specialised and unskilled. Scientific management, on the other hand, "originated" through Fredrick Winslow Taylor in 1911, and in very basic terms described the one best way work could be done and that the best way to improve output was to improve the techniques or methods used by the workers. (Robbins p.38)
The development of mental health policy has gone through many changes in the course of the twentieth century. Today, mental health policy is totally different from the policy hundreds of years ago. Because of this, it is important to emphasize the fact that mental health policy has shifted from the indifference and isolation of people with mental illness, to the delivery of social services and community integration. In other words, mental health policy has experienced a serious change that has changed the attitude of policy makers, health care professionals, ordinary people, and also to people with a mental illness. Today, people with mental health problems are no longer outsiders as they used to be. Instead they are seen as people who have different needs and social geared towards their integration into the community. The federal government now has a policy that addresses the problems faced by people with mental illness, gives the community a chance to understand these people, and sets a standard in providing mental health services. There are over seventy actions in The Federal Mental Health Action Agenda. “It offers an unprecedented opportunity to fundamentally alter the form and function of the mental health service delivery system in this country to one that puts individuals-adults with mental illnesses, children with emotional disturbances, and family members-at its very core” (The Federal Action Agenda: First Steps. Web. 24 Mar. 2014).
...erstand the importance of mental health, we would all appreciate how lucky we are to not face days where even the simplest tasks appear to be challenging, even the effort to wake up in the morning seems like a great ordeal to some sufferers of depression. It is important to let friends and family know that your support is available, just in case someone is tackling some form of mental illness. Just because someone is experiencing a hurdle in their lives, it is essential to continue to help them carry on in striving for the happiness that they deserve. We should all be aware of the effect our actions could have, to try a little bit harder to eliminate the stigma that exists within our society.
Since the 1800s, treatment methods for mental illness have developed significantly worldwide. From electrotherapy to modern practices like psychotherapy, treatment for mental disorders has greatly progressed as scientists and psychologists learn more information on the causes of mental illness and the best therapy for each particular disease. The past 200 years mark the most defined era since the beginning of humans for the progression of treatment for mental illness. Not only has treatment improved for the mentally ill, but also the perception of mental illness has greatly changed and will continue to do so as more is learned about the human mind.
Mental health refers to the state of individuals psychologically, emotionally and socially. Mental health affects a person’s emotions, feelings, thoughts, and sections when exposed to different situations. Furthermore, mental health is responsible for a person’s reaction to stress and other social conditions. Generally, mental health affects how a person relates to others and their ability to understand and interact with them. Therefore, problems that affect a person’s mental health affect the abilities to socialize, their feelings, moods, reaction to situations. The person experiencing mental health problem may portray different behaviors when confronted with different issues. Mental health issues have several