This is an old revision of the document!
Audrey Schroeder –
1. Do people see mental health as only a field because that is all they know about it or is it because they do not want to humanize a difficult topic (Bertolote)?
2. Society blames medicine, the devil, etc. for impacting mental health, but in reality the real culprits are societal expectations. 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 calls 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
1. According to Grob, mental institutions that were once considered the solution to the growing mental health crisis are now thought to be more of a problem. How do you think innovations in modern medicine and the study of psychiatry have led him to this conclusion? — Lyndsey Clark
2. Andrea Tone’s The Age Of Anxiety brings up the issue of pharmaceutical companies and the commercialization of drugs. From your own experience, how has this commercialization drawn Americans to use certain drugs? What effects have you seen in the past and more recently with COVID-19? — Lyndsey Clark
3. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the book used by the American Psychiatry Association for the classification of mental disorders. The first iteration of this book was published in 1952. Shorter claims there was a revolution in the field from roughly the 1950s onward. Why do you think this was so? What events made prompted psychological research to expand so much in so little time? — Lyndsey Clark
Mallory Karnei-
1) Does the relationship between patient and doctor (Butler and Kirkbride) show how we cannot analyze certain historical norms or events in today’s lens? Could this be important when looking at a topic such as this where so much has changed overtime and many things from back then would be seen as horrible today? (Tomes)
2) Does the convenience of antidepressants ad tranquilizers impact the view on mental health? Would people possibly feel more inclined to take medicine rather than go to therapy to prevent being embarrassed? (Sandowsky)
3) The hierarchical behavior of Kirkbride’s mental institute has impacted the idea that those who are mentally ill are less capable or “human” than those who are not mentally ill. (debate)
Parker Siebenschuh
1. When writing on the relationship between the mental hospital and the community Gerald N. Grob in his text “Mad Among Us A History of Care of America's Mentally Ill”. He places both as being in an almost opposing manner. However, Nancy Tomes in her text “The Art of Asylum-Keeping” mentions the role that family and by extension the community has played and is playing in modern mental health. Either as the actor admitting people without their consent to asylums. Or as those trying to help their family members by taking a part in their treatment. Does this relationship between patient and family show that the lines two “opposing forces” seems extremely blurred in context?
2. Jonathan Sandowsky in his text “The Empire of Depression A New History” speaks of two main forms of talk therapy for patients, Depth Psychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) these two talk therapy being based on Freudian ideas or working to correct behavioral errors through counseling. Now after reading through “The Art of Asylum-Keeping” by Nancy Tomes. I find that there is a connection between CBT and the concept of moral treatment. Is there any deeper connection between the two beyond what seems like a some what superficial glance? Or was the seeing the “failure” of moral treatment over time in the asylum system lead to the rapid adoption of Freudian ideas?
1. Has the vagueness that comes with diagnosing modern depression and anxiety lead to an increased willingness to accept pharmaceutical treatment over talk therapies, which may have less drawbacks? 2. There are parallels between how we view the use of pharmaceuticals today as it was viewed in the 1950’s when taking pharmaceuticals were a sign of struggle and many did not see them as embarrassing, rather signaled an individuals desire for personal growth. Debate topic. – Jack Kurz