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Questions/debate topics
HIS471 8-23-2021 Akkerman, B
Dr.McClurken- I pledge…
1.The United States is a young country that has always been in a mental health “quagmire”. COVID-19 did nothing to help this situation. How do you think the societal distance mandates, fiscal uncertainty, and new social norms and behaviors will impact the mental health of the 18-25 generation? Will your children see the “scars” of COVID-19 in the values and behaviors you exhibit? Will isolation and sacrifice create more stoic minds? Will your generation have its own “Roaring 2020’s” when we reach some type of global herd immunity? How do you feel about it?
2.Our current pressing global concern is a physical malady and the various ailments that seem to accompany this virus. Mental health concerns and treatments in the US were already scarce for the marginalized. Now with a life-threatening virus consuming all our resources, what do you think will be the fate of those mentally ill marginalized souls who were already living on the fringes of society. Will “tent cities”, like San Francisco, crop up in many more of our major cities? Will big government have enough vision to predict if a social and mental health crisis is looming ahead. What will be done? What can be done to provide these folks with economic self-sufficiency (Grob ix)? Is compassionate care going to be at the forefront? Or will economic concerns continue to overshadow the US health care system?
3.Edward Shorter’s preface call the history of psychiatry “a minefield” and emphasizes that it is still a “young field” of study with much to be discovered. What is your opinion of these statements particularly with regard to the United States history of mental health care and treatment? Is Shorter being pragmatic or naïve as the human mind has been referred to as “a mystery” for at least two millennia? Submitted by B. Akkerman