Mental Illness: A Psychological Analysis

Mental health and mental ill health is a wide subject that includes many different categories of mental health problems. According to the organisation Mind, mental health problems affect one in four people in Britain (Mind, 2013). Although, that is a big number it still is a sensitive topic for many people.

The term mental ill health is defined by Mind as ‘mental health problems that can affect the way you think, feel and behave’ (Mind, 2013). This means that it is a serious disorder in a person’s behaviour which can impact their thinking, feeling or mood and it may also affect their ability to participate with others and function on a day to day basis. There are many types of disorders and some are more common than others. For example, mood

disorders cover a wide array of mood problems, which can affect the way a person feels by elevating or lowering their mood. These include bi polar disorder, anxiety and the most common one being depression (NHS Choices, 2016). Psychotic disorders can be quite severe and can cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. It can cause a loss of touch with reality by leading to hallucinations and delusions, for example schizophrenia. Eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia nervosa and binge eating is an unusual attitude towards food which can affect someone’s eating habits and can cause them to obsess over their weight and shape (NHS Choices, 2015). Personality disorders can cause an individual deviate away from the norm in relation to how a person thinks, feels, perceives and relates to others. These disorders are widely varied and are categorised into A, B or C (NHS Choices, 2014).

The case study indicates strong evidence that Louise is affected by mood disorders as she had suffered from extreme mood changes and depression. This caused her to isolate herself from society and she began skipping meals and lectures. After suffering greatly during her university years she was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder by a psychiatrist and prescribed with different medication.

One of the classification systems widely used by doctors when trying to identify certain mental disorders is the DSM. It allows doctors to make assessments by using different psychological and physical measures (Cardwell, Clark, and Meldrum, 2008). The DSM works on a system consisting of 5 axes on which disorders can be categorised. It takes into account personality disorders, general medical conditions, clinical disorders, psychosocial and environmental problems and social or job related functions. These are then used to categorize the disorders such as, anxiety, schizophrenia and mood disorders etc. (Lawton, Gross, and Rolls, 2011). In terms of the reliability of the diagnosis, this means that professionals are able to consistently reach the correct diagnosis. By doing this they are to diagnose mental disorders easier than it was in the past and provide better treatment. This is because there are more subtypes in each category and specifiers therefore the diagnosis can be regarded as reliable which means that the validity will also be successful. However, there is an element of cultural and gender bias in the procedure of treatment.

According to the case study there could be a number of reasons why it took so long for Louise to receive a diagnosis of bipolar. From a subjective point of view, during her teenage years the extreme mood changes and depression could have been linked to puberty. When it came to the beginning of her first year at university she considered herself to be well, however she became increasingly depressed. This could have also been related to the stress of transitioning into university, studies and workload of which her GP prescribed her anti-depressants. It is only when she suffered even more during her second year and reached a crisis point that she was later correctly diagnosed by a psychiatrist.

The WHO definition mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community’ (WHO, 2014).

However, mental health is more than just the absence of mental disorders and there are a number of problems that can interfere with a person’s cognitive, social and emotional abilities. Biological approaches to mental health view all psychiatric disorders as being caused by organic factors such as genetic and biochemical factors. The role of psychiatrists or clinical psychologists is to help the patient cope with the illness or control the effects of it by means of medication or therapy (Cardwell, Clark, and Meldrum, 2008). In contrast to the biological theory, the social theory to mental ill health offers a holistic approach to try and understand mental disorders. This means that there may also be social factors that may influence a person’s resistance or susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. These could be triggered by certain life events such as a tragedy or stress. It also takes into consideration the labelling theory where society labels a person as ‘mentally ill’ who then accepts that status (self-fulfilling prophecy) and may lead to a severe mental

disorder.

This self-fulfilling prophecy can be seen in Louise where her family may have labelled her as a ‘moody teenager’ going through the phase of adolescence at the age of 14. This then allowed her to trivialize her symptoms down to the difficult period of adolescence and distress. Her G.P used a biological approach or medical model to treat Louise by prescribing her anti-depressants instead of attempting to identify other social factors.

As discussed, it is clear why social factors play a great part in mental health.

A person’s social and emotional well-being has a profound effect on their mental health. Social well-being includes the relations that you have with others, both in wider social groups, one-to-one and family level. Strong and supportive relationships with those close to you can provide you with trust and a sense of belonging. This goes hand-in-hand with emotional well-being which sets the capacity to be able to cope with the ups and downs of life and level of resilience to deal with difficulties and tackle day to day routines (Health, 2010).

In regards to Louise, there is evidence in the case study to suggest low levels of social and emotional well-being. Being her first year at university she may not have had many friends to begin with and build a social circle of close relationships. The stress and workload of university studies may have been too much for her to tackle and the increasing pressure may have been above her level of resilience. She allowed herself to be isolated from society, preventing any form of socialisation. Leading towards an aggressive downward spiral of her mental

disorder.

However, it could be argued that all of these definitions are just a social construct because society believes that certain behaviours are not socially acceptable. Most people pass through stages in their lives where they may behave oddly. A stereotyped image of mental illness is learned and reinforced though primary socialisation and those who are labelled as mentally ill will ‘know’ how to behave. More so, diagnosis is often made by means of judgement based on ethical and social ideology (Scheff, 1984). This is supported by Szasz who believes that any form of deviation from social norms such as anti-social or risky behaviour is labelled as mentally unstable. Therefore, psychiatry is a tool of social and political control because mental illness is only an illness by metaphor (Szasz, 1961). These theories can be backed by a famous experiment carried out by Rosenhan. The aim of the study was to determine the validity of diagnosis made by psychiatrists as to whether they can tell the difference between people who are mentally stable or unstable. The study showed how the daily activities of the pseudo patients such as queuing up for lunch or speaking to a members of staff were interpreted as aspects of their supposed illness.

In conclusion, there are different theories of mental health which look from medical and social model perspectives. The term has become stigmatised by society that individuals who are affected react to their label by behaving according to their status. Although anti-social behaviours should not be completely ignored or trivialised, rather there should be a holistic approach into mental ill health.