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Mental Health

Mental Health. Chapter 9. Main points. Many more people in contemporary society are reporting and experiencing distress and depression. Sociology helps us understand how mental health is framed in and by society.

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Mental Health

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  1. Mental Health Chapter 9

  2. Main points • Many more people in contemporary society are reporting and experiencing distress and depression. • Sociology helps us understand how mental health is framed in and by society. • The attitudes of others and wider society greatly affect the well-being of those experiencing distress. • Wider social inequalities are also visible in the distribution of diagnosed and reported mental health problems.

  3. The contribution of sociology … the importance of social processes in a range of areas: in the definition, boundaries and categories of mental disorder; in any adequate understanding of the factors that give rise to mental disorder; and in the understanding of the character of mental health practice and the professionals and others who shape that practice together with the ideas that underpin it. (Busfield 2000: 554)

  4. All societies recognise some form of mental illness. Two pitfalls: Biological determinism Cultural determinism ‘Judgments about health and illness (physical as well as mental) are value laden and reflect specific norms in time and place.’(Pilgrim and Rogers(1994) ‘Madness’ and civilisation

  5. Concept: the ‘other’ Society constructs various groups of people as being: • different • dangerous • threatening • criminal

  6. Mentally ill people and the ‘other’ • Mental illness carries particular social consequences. • Highly stigmatised. • Images of danger and violence.

  7. What is a ‘stigma’? • An attribute that is ‘deeply discrediting’. • Goffman notes three types of stigma:– physical deformities– character blemishes – tribal (social)

  8. Stigma terms • Language is used to delineate social differences. • Language reflects power relationships. • Language is often contested by groups who are stigmatised.

  9. Media content (Philo et al. 1996)

  10. Gender and depression • Brown and Harris’ (1978) classic study on social causes of depression • Vulnerability factors • Provoking factors • Symptom formation factors

  11. Durkheim and suicide • A purely personal event? • Suicide rates in different countries and communities follow patterns! • Anomie • Egoistic • Altruistic

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