SOC 224 Chapter 8

Mental Disorder

A phsycological, behavioural, or biological dysfuntion that interferes with daily life

Which social groups are more likely to develop mental disorders?

LGBTQIA+, immigrants or refugees, ethnocultural minorities, members of radicalized groups, and people employed in certain occupations (ex. First responders)

Social factors that contribute to mental disorders

Exposure to multiple forms of adversity in childhood (abuse, neglect, substance abuse within the household)

What is the greatest predictor of mental illness?

Socioeconomic status. There is a clear link between low income, financial insecurity, poverty, and mental illness

social causation hypothesis

The proposal that more life stressors and fewer resources characterize the lives of the lower class, contributing to the emergence of mental disorders

Retreatism

In Mertons strain theory, the mode of adaption that involves rejecting both societies institutionalized goals and the legitimate means of attaining those goals. Can be voluntary behaviours including alcohol and drug use or involuntary such as mental illness.

Social Selection Hypothesis

The reverse of retreatism. People with mental disorders can fall into power economic strata because of difficulties in daily functioning.

Anomie

This happens during times of rapid social change (covid 19). Traditional behavioural expectations no longer apply because significant social change has occurred so quickly and the existing mechanisms of social control that maintain the equilibrium in society decline. Proposed by Emile Durkheim.

Stigmatization of mental illness

One of the reasons people don't seek assistance from medical professionals. Major dimension of social control

Self-Stigma

The process of stigmatizing oneself for a particular behaviour or characteristic

Symptoms of stigmatization

Negative emotions become more pervasive, symptoms gain in severity, the effectiveness of treatment becomes hindered, recovery is impeded

Deinstitutionalization

The social control of people with mental illness in community based programs rather than institutions

Disease Paradigm

A view of mental illness that emphasizes the symptoms of the disorder that distress and impair individuals functioning and seeks to ameliorate those symptoms

Discrimination Paradigm

A view of mental illness that emphasizes the role that stigmatization plays in the daily experiences of people with mental illnesses and seeks to reduce those experiences.

"Try to pass"

A stigma management technique that involves hiding the behaviour or characteristic that is stigmatized

Divide their social worlds

A stigma management technique that involves carefully managing who is and is not permitted to know about one stigmatized behaviour or characteristic.

What is deflecting in stigma management?

A technique in which individuals block an external stigmatizing force by distancing themselves from the labels they have been given.

What is a potential benefit of deflecting as a stigma management technique?

People who engage in deflecting tend to have higher levels of well-being.

What is challenging in the context of stigma management?

A stigma management technique in which individuals actively fight back against external stigmatizing forces.

What are some benefits of engaging in challenging as a stigma management technique?

Better quality of life, fewer symptoms, higher levels of self-esteem, and a stronger sense of self-empowerment.

what percent of the world's population with mental health conditions does not have access to quality, affordable care arising from a lack of treatment coverage, services, and sustained funding?

80 percent

what are the key priorities of the MHCC? (Mental Health Commission of Canada)

• suicide prevention

• co-occurrence of mental health challenges and substance use

• population based initiatives

• engagement with Canadians.

who asked the question, "If sanity and Insanity exist, how shall we know them?"

Rosenhan

what was the meaning of Rosenhans fundamental question?

whether the salient characteristics leading to diagnosis lie within the individual or in the environment.

Schema

A cognitive, or mental, framework that helps us organize and interpret information.

what was Rosenhans conclusion?

The salient characteristics in the diagnosis of mental illness lie more within the social context, or the environment, than within the individual.

Goffmans "total institutions"

similar to prisons and concentration camps, wherein "inmates" had no choice but to accept restriction and dehumanization

labelling theories

emphasize the influence that labels have on the way people are subsequently treated

sick role

The role that ill individuals may be assigned, under certain conditions, in which they are given a temporary reprieve from some of life's responsibilities and are not blamed for their conditions.

what percent of people experience mental illness in any given year?

20 percent