Title: The Forgotten Illnesses: The Mental Health Movements in Modern America - Inquiries Journal
Headings: The Forgotten Illnesses: The Mental Health Movements in Modern America
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The Forgotten Illnesses: The Mental Health Movements in Modern America
By Grayson A. Bodenheimer
2016, Vol. 8 No. 07 | pg. 1/2 | »
I. Institutionalization of Mental Health in History
II. The Beliefs, Goals, and Proponents of the Mental Health Movement
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Content: The Beliefs, Goals, and Proponents of the Mental Health Movement
One of the fundamental beliefs of the MHM is that those suffering from mental illnesses are individuals, whether they are psychiatric patients or the one of the twenty percent of Americans who experience a diagnosable mental disorder (Pols, 2005; Obama, 2015). As a reformative movement, mental health advocates emphasize relatively minute societal changes that depend largely on changes in the political structure. In this way, many view the MHM as a “typical social reform movement” that stands in opposition to the modern condition of turning individuals into objects (Pols, 2005). This often implies that the group, specifically the larger society, must come before the individual, and that individuals such as those struggling with mental conditions are a burden upon the society. Thus, both the families of and those diagnosed with mental disorders are often burdened with the medical costs and the struggles of a condition that is often out of their control. By being viewed by members of society as individuals, people with mental conditions can gain a sense of agency, which is often proposed as a crucial step towards overcoming societal stigma. Another fundamental belief of the proponents of the MHM is the wish for solidarity among the disenfranchised individuals suffering from mental illnesses that are often perceived as detrimental characteristics to society in general. This solidarity emulates Tilly’s notion of unity as central to social movements (Collins, 2010). The members of the MHM share the belief that mental illnesses can be treated as conditions with which people can cope, not simply as obstacles that prevent any attempt at productivity within a society (About NAMI, n.d.).