It Is My Intention In This Paper To Build On... Essay - 1,448 words

It is my intention in this paper to build on the idea put forward by Thomas Szasz that mental illness is, in fact, a myth. Labelling theorists such as Goffman believe that the label "insane" to a person may represent an important stage in the process if becoming mentally ill. It is my opinion that as labels of madness are so much a part of our everyday language, their use has a big effect not only on the individuals perception of themselves, but on the cultural perception of mental illness. These labels inevitably engender judgements and aid the process of stigmatisation. For example, the word "psychotic" elicits a response of fear in the majority of people. But it could be argued that psychotic is just another word for someone who is out of touch with reality, and we are all out of touch with reality when we daydream, or take drugs, or indulge our imaginations in books or music. The language of mental illness uses the term "phobia" to describe fear if it is judged to be unreasonable.


Yet if you described someone as finding it difficult to go outside because they fear the judgements of the general public, it would be a much less emotive description than saying they are agoraphobic, which is a label offering little explanation or reassurance. The kind of behaviours which are considered deviant and therefore stigmatized varies considerably between cultures and over time. The assignment of stigma to individuals and groups who engage in deviant behavior is a decidedly social process involving negotiation, bargaining, power and, at times, resistance. Hence, an examination of the literature on stigma within the drug using population can best be anchored in sociological theories such as the labeling perspective which explains stigma in terms of these processes. Goffman used the term stigma to "refer to an attribute that is deeply discrediting". Inherent to this definition is the idea that this attribute is something which deviates from what society has deemed normal. This attribute can be a physical marking or a behaviour .


Because of its deviation from what is considered normal, society responds to this attribute with "...interpersonal or collective reactions that serve to isolate treat, correct, or punish individuals engaged in such behaviour". As such, the response to stigma is social control. Goffmans book Asylum ( 1961) contains a set of essays concerned with mental hospitals and other institutions. He calls these institutions the total institutions. Total institutions are bureaucratically organized residential establishments whereby individuals are forced to carry out their daily activities of sleeping, eating and playing with the same people and under the same authority. He sites examples of hospitals, army barracks and prisons are being total institutions.


In Asylum Goffman found that the moral career of mental patient was given to the patients by the institution and this followed the mortification of the self under the heavy machinery of the mental hospital. He observed that hospital regimes undermine the patients civilian self by prescribing every aspect of how to behave. This has a lot to do with the nursing staff, who are mainly looking after the patient and making him/her obey the institutional rules. Another point is that overall environment of the medical institution has been found to have negative consequences for patients health and speed of recovery. This is esensically so for lower classes, and economically poor, patients who have to rely on poorly equipped public hospitals. Conversely, if the environment improved, so did the patients general health and well-being. This has been shown to be the case with schizophrenic patients in a mental hospital. Speaking about stigma it no doubt play a role in determining the attitude toward patients in medical institutions. Alcoholics and drug-addicts are stigmatized as having a weak character or disposition.


Simply being ill can attract a patronizing attitude. This again concerns the nursing staff as they spend more time with the patients. Patients are often ignored when asking questions or seeking to clarify information regarding their condition or treatment. This is no doubt the bureaucratic nature of hospitals and other medical dominance in which doctors and nursing staff seek to control patients. Speaking about the nursing role in medical institutions Id like to talk first about the their general functions. The registered nurs ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: mental illness, patient, nursing, label, social control

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