Mental Illness a Social Experience?

According to Max Weber and his theory of symbolic interactionism, social life is subjective. We, as humans, are active participants in the construction of social life. In order to understand our social world, we must give meaning to and interpret everything around us. In essence, we make culture, and the culture makes us who we are. We do this by the construction of symbols, beliefs, values, and norms. What is stigmatized here in the United States might be normal in another country. For instance, illness has been socially constructed and the way individuals experience it is determined by their culture. The social constructionist approach to illness states “illness is shaped by social interactions, shared cultural traditions, shifting frameworks of knowledge and relations of power” (69).

Our cultural beliefs have influenced us to have biased opinions on what is a legitimate illness and what is not. Often individuals will state a mental illness is “all in the head” or those with it are faking their symptoms. It is evident through the readings, that individuals who suffer from mental illness, not only have difficulty with its symptom, but struggle with the social stigma attached to mental disorders.

Conrad and Barker discuss how a constructionist approach reminds us that how a problem is defined, affects how the individual experiences and responds to it. For instance, some illnesses are branded, and others are not. Due to misunderstandings of mental illness, individuals feel the need to cover up their symptoms or not attend to their failing health. In Chinese lay theory, the authors discuss the stigmatization of mental illness and how not only the individual would be stigmatized, but their family as well. This type of stigma is more collective compared to that of western medicine. The traditional values of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism see illness as disharmony and weakness, and the reputation of the family is jeopardized. In traditional Chinese culture, the value of family is very important, and if shame is brought in by mental illness, the family unit is challenged. The individual suffers from their mental illness symptoms and also must endure guilt and lowered self-esteem brought on by family alienation.

While it can be said that our culture has shaped us as individuals and has defined what we think is bad or good, healthy or sick, there are only a few individuals that have had great power in developing our cultural norms and beliefs. Conrad and Barker discusses medicalization and raises the question, “are there any limits to what can be medicalized, or are all human problems and variations in socially desirable characteristics fodder for medical diagnose and treatments?” (75). A pill for every ill, or an ill for every pill? In Japan, depression is compared to a cold or a sickness, one that can be fixed with a drug. When an illness is defined as a disease and is cured with medicine, it is less stigmatized. Japan’s beliefs of depression focus on how specific societal entities play major roles in shaping thoughts. In Japan, it is the pharmaceutical industry that is influencing depression as a disease cured solely by medicine. When I think of the Japanese depression slogan that is represented in the article, “your suffering might be a sickness. Your leaky vital energy, like your runny nose, might respond to drugs”, it is similar to televised prescription drug commercials in the United States. It is easy to diagnose oneself with a disease when they see common symptoms. Yet, then again is it really a pill for every ill or an ill for every pill?

Lastly, the theme of how one’s culture influences their experience of illness is well represented in Luhrmann et Al.’s article. By looking at the experiences of individuals who hear voices in the USA, India, and Ghana it is evident that mental illness is more medicalized in the United States. Europeans and Americans see themselves more individualistic compared to non-western countries which are more collectivistic. The Americans used more medical terms compared to people in Accra. Those people interpreted voices to be spirits, and while these individuals understood the concept of mental illness, it was more socially accepted in their culture.

In the end, Conrad and Barker state “all illnesses are social constructed at the experiential level based on how individuals come to understand their illness, forge their identity, and live with and in spite of their illness”. When an illness is stigmatized like mental illness, an individual is going to suffer from social rejection of those around him/her like what occurs in the traditional Chinese family system. Before mental illness disorders can be healed and treated appropriately much work is needed to inform and educate the public and medical professionals to dismiss myths, prejudice, and stigmatization.