SOC 2106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Deinstitutionalisation, Chlorpromazine, Schizophrenia
20 Aug 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
SOC 2106
November 2nd 2015
Deviance and Mental Illness
-R. D. Laing: insanity as super sanity
-it is incorrect to view mental patients as inferior and their perceptions or beliefs as unreal,
invalid, false or perverse
-those defined as mentally illl are oner-oriented and may be able to see realities that have
no objective presence for others
-the label of mental illness is the response of an inferior majority who cannot understand the
complexities of the super sane (Copernicus, Einstein, Jesus)
-D. L. Rosenhan Being Sane in Insane Places
-if sanity and insanity exist how will we know them?
-8 people gain admission to 12 different hospitals and said they heard voices, upon
admission they acted normally, the length of stay was 7-52 days (average 19 days)
-never detected (first experiment)
-diagnosed with schizophrenia in remission
-diagnosis based upon individual aberration not external stimuli
-could diagnosing the insane be reversed (second experiment)
-staff informed that at some point over the next three months a pseudo patient would enter
the facility
-of 193 admittances, 41 were thought to be pseudo patients
-19 by 2 members
-no pseudo patients actually entered
-conclusions:
-family history had no impact, other patients figured out who was faking it
-created a huge uproar in the community; still reading about it 40 years later
-diagnosis made by mental health professionals are questionable
-a mental illness label is associated with a variety of negative consequences
-treatment received by patients in mental hospitals may be more harmful than therapeutic
-social and behavioural scientists and mental health care providers do not know as much
about mental illness as we think we know
-deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill
-first antipsychotic drug was introduced in the 1950s
-thorazine helped reduce symptoms in schizophrenic patients
-created a more “normal” psychological condition
-for the first time had the ability to “fix” these patents: this gives them the ability to become
outpatients
-deinstitutionalization: the release of the mentally ill from hospitals into the community
-in the mid 20th century over a half of million Americans were institutionalized by the
beginning of the 21st century this drops to under 100 000
-don’t want to keep people institutionalized because it costs money
-easier to give pills than helping them
-maintenance is different than finding a cure, all pills do is maintain the illness
-most are not normalized
-reduced costs for surgery and for the need for surgery
Substance Use or Abuse
-social costs of drug abuse include:
- accidents: alcohol consumption is associated with fatal traffic, airplane and occupational
accidents
! of !1 2
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
R. d. laing: insanity as super sanity. It is incorrect to view mental patients as inferior and their perceptions or beliefs as unreal, invalid, false or perverse. Those de ned as mentally illl are oner-oriented and may be able to see realities that have no objective presence for others. The label of mental illness is the response of an inferior majority who cannot understand the complexities of the super sane (copernicus, einstein, jesus) D. l. rosenhan being sane in insane places. 8 people gain admission to 12 different hospitals and said they heard voices, upon admission they acted normally, the length of stay was 7-52 days (average 19 days) Diagnosis based upon individual aberration not external stimuli. Could diagnosing the insane be reversed (second experiment) Staff informed that at some point over the next three months a pseudo patient would enter the facility. Of 193 admittances, 41 were thought to be pseudo patients.
