Suchergebnisse

At a time when the public discussion of mental illness in society is reaching a high point, athletes and other sports insiders remain curiously silent about their private battles with a range of mental illnesses. While a series of professional athletes have exposed the deep, dark secret related to the pervasiveness of mental illness in high performance sport, relatively little is known, sociologically, about what mental illness culturally means inside sport. This edited collection showcases research on how sport, as a social institution, may actually produce dangerous cultural practices and contexts that foster the development of mental illness within athlete groups. Further, chapters also illustrate how sport, when organized with sensitivity and care, may serve to help manage mental illnesses. Rather than analyzing mental illness as an individual phenomenon, contributors to this volume equally attest to how mental illness is socially developed, constructed, managed, and culturally understood within sport settings. The book highlights the relevance of a range of theories pertinent to the social study of mental illness including dramaturgy, cultural studies, learning theory, symbolic interaction, existentialism, and total pain theory. Chapters range from the discussion of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, drug addiction, epilepsy, mental trauma, stigma, the mass mediation of mental illness, and the promise of sport as a vehicle for personal and collective recovery.

Abstract
Persons with mental illnesses may experience stigma from their immediate family members in addition to other forms of stigma. Using semi-structured interviews, we investigated experiences of familial mental illness stigma among 15 people diagnosed with mental illnesses in a mid-sized city in Canada. We identified five themes that speak to participants' experiences of familial mental illness stigma and ways to reduce it. The themes include the following: diagnosis as a 'double-edged sword,' potential familial isolation, familial stigma as societal stigma localized, stories of acceptance, and confronting potential familial mental illness stigma. Participants' narratives indicate that familial mental illness stigma is rooted in the broader social or public stigma, which sees its way into familial relations as well. This stigma takes various forms, including relationship bias or unfair treatment, breakdown in romantic relationships, loss of status, verbal and emotional abuse, exclusion from decision-making, and alienation within their immediate and extended families. Familial mental illness stigma experiences negatively impact participant's psychological well-being and personal empowerment. However, participants also shared ways that family members create supportive environments or actively confront or prevent stigma. Overall, this study has contributed to knowledge on mental illness stigma, particularly familial mental illness stigma from the perspective of participants living with a mental illness in a high-income country. Suggestions for future research include a focus on strategies to prevent ongoing familial mental illness stigma and large-scale studies to explore familial mental illness stigma to understand why families might perpetrate stigma.

Humans are social animals and, in general, don't thrive in isolated environments. Homeless people, many of whom suffer from serious mental illnesses, often live socially isolated on the streets or in shelters. Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness describes a carefully designed large-scale study to assess how well these people do when attempts are made to reduce their social isolation and integrate them into the community.

AbstractThe National Alliance for the Mentally Ill is making great strides in reducing the stigma that has long plagued those who suffer mental illnesses.

AbstractThe tragic events in Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT have renewed public perception of mentally persons as 'dangerous' and 'criminal.' Unfortunately, this perception is based more on conjecture and fear than research. The following essay takes stock of the empirical research on mental illness and criminal behavior. Three noteworthy trends emerge from this literature. First, the prevalence of mental illness is substantially higher among individuals who have come in contact with the criminal justice system relative to the general population. Second, individuals with psychotic and externalizing behavioral disorders, particularly those who also abuse drugs and alcohol, tend to engage in higher levels of violence than individuals with other forms of mental illness. Third, mental illness does not determine whether someone will break the law; rather, it is but one of many criminogenic risk factors that interact in complex ways to influence individual behavior.

The main aim of this article is to review research and observations on the associa tion between cultural factors and the rates and symptoms of mental illness in Algeria. In addition to traditional concepts and practices, modern psychiatric services and the classification of mental illness are discussed. Research on depression, schizophrenia, drug-abuse and alcoholism are reported. Two major sociocultural fac tors related to mental illness are emphasised: the Muslim religion and social changes during both the colonial and post-colonial eras. Many culture-specific family stresses are also related to mental illness.

Mental illness and substance abuse increase the risk of violence / Richard A. Friedman, M.D -- There is a relationship between schizoid personality disorder and violence / Wagdy Loza and Samia Hanna -- Mental illness and crime cannot be compared due to varying definitions / Herschel Prins -- Criminals know right from wrong, regardless of mental illness / Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D -- Violent people should be treated as criminals rather than as patients / Dr. Peter Breggin -- The mentally ill are warehoused in prisons due to inadequate health services / William Kanapaux -- Psychiatric hospitals are not equivalent to prison / Joanmarie Ilaria Davioli -- Mentally ill prison inmates need special treatment / Kenneth Adams and Joseph Ferrandino -- The mentally ill are mishandled by the justice system / ACLU -- The not guilty by reason of insanity plea should remain valid / Mental Health America -- Insanity should be a medical, not a legal, determination / Dirk Olin -- Television shapes views of mental health and crime / Rachel Gans-Boriskin, Claire Wardle

AbstractThe current emphasis on relapse prevention in serious mental illness offers psychologists new opportunities and roles for which they are uniquely suited.