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It is my intention in this paper to build on the idea put forward by Thomas Seas 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 stigmatization. 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. Goffman's 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 nurses provide health care to injured, sick, and healthy people. Duties vary depending upon whether they work in a hospital, doctors office, health clinic, industrial plant, or a school.
General responsibilities include the nursing care of patients, teaching health care, instruction of nursing skills, administration of drugs, performance of treatments, and functioning with physicians and paramedics in a health care team to assist patients return to health. Registered nurses must have average eye-hand coordination and use of hands and fingers. They must also be able to do precise work and to see slight differences in objects and people. They should also be able to picture objects from sketches and drawings and to make decisions based on facts. Good verbal and numerical ability is important. These nurses should be able to work with others and work using facts.
Regarding the nursing role in labeling and stigmatization I can say that these functions should be fulfilled. But nursing staff also need other special qualities to deal with patients with different mental of psychological problem. First of all they have to possess a lot of patience and self-control. Another point is that the use of appropriate words is required. Labeling and stigmatization can be powerful ingredient between patients and medical staff. Research shows that in many cases the label of insane is unwarranted and points to the fact that mental illness is more of a social construction by some groups than a soundly definable disease of a brain.
It proves that nurses and other medical staff should use the appropriate words while communicating with the patient. It was proven that hospitals and its medical staff treat patients more according to the needs of the institutional bureaucracy and the opinions of doctors than to the needs of the patients in terms of proper diagnosis, treatment and care. And here again the role of nurses are very important. A nurse has to be aware of the needs of the mentally or physically ill person and do her best to provide the corresponding treatment and care. In order to stop inducing stigma in others, we need to stop using the labels ourselves, and stop owning them.
We exist in a culture of labels, we feel better when the doctor gives us a diagnosis, in other words, gives us a label. We label things we see, but it is much more difficult to label that which we can't see. It is a subjective decision. We live in a world of labels, we communicate by naming things, otherwise we would never be able to talk about anything. But there needs to be a distinction between what we know is true, (i. e.
a table is a table) and what we think is true (there is a god). It could be argued that there needs to be a distinction made between objectively applied labels with little or no emotional content, and subjective labels, usually with emotive or value ridden content. Regarding mental illness, all labels are subjective. There is no visible object that can be named. It concerns the subjective - emotions, feelings and thoughts that cant be taken out and examined. We have built up an entire culture based around the imagination and thought and we are often locked in our own worlds of dreams, fantasy and examining our thoughts.
With the language of fantasy comes the language of myth, and the language of "mental illness." Bibliography Lemert, Edwin M. 1972. Human Deviance, Social Problems and Social Control. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Schur, Edwin M. 1971. Labeling Deviant Behavior: Its Sociological Implications. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers.
Schur, Edwin M. 1983. Labeling Women Deviant: Gender, Stigma, and Social Control. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. George, J. B. 1995. Nursing Theories: The base for professional nursing practice (4 th ed. ).
Norwalk, Connecticut: Appleton & Lange. (Original work published 1980) Parker, M. E. 2001. Nursing Theories and Nursing Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Davis Company Goffman, E. 1961. Stigma Harnondworth, Middlesex. Penguin books.
Goffman, E. 1961. Asylums Harnondworth, Middlesex. Penguin books. Acker, Caroline J. 1993. "Stigma or legitimation? A historical examination of the social potentials of addiction disease models. " Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. 25: no. 3, pages 193 - 205. Barton, Judith A. 1991. "Parental adaptation to adolescent drug abuse: An ethnographic study of role formulation in response to courtesy stigma. " Public Health Nursing. 8: no 1, pages 39 - 45.
Wilson, J. 1990. The importance of nursing care. Scientific American, 262, 86 - 96.
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Research essay sample on Touch With Reality Mental Illness
