Illness Essays

Mental Illness: Depression Mental illnesses are unseen illnesses, unlike a cut or a broken arm, you can’t touch it. Many believe since they are unseen illnesses that they are not real, but more rather made up. I will be focusing mainly on depression and why it is a current problem in society today. Depression is a problem many individuals have tried to bring attention to. “Depression is an illness that occurs episodically and can be described adequately in medical terms (Kanter et al,2008).” This

Angela’s mobility I could have benefitted from exploring the concept of illness. To me, illness is when an individual is experiencing an imbalance in their health that negatively affects their well-being. Illness as defined by Marinker is stated as: A feeling or an experience of unhealthy, which is entirely personal and interior to the person of the patient. Often it accompanies disease, but the disease may be undeclared…sometimes illness exists where no disease can be found. (Marinker,

This essay will look at the importance of illness narratives in healthcare when treating patients living with chronic illnesses. Narrative will be defined and discussed, along with chronic illness and biographical disruption. The impact of illness narratives on chronic illness and the consequent diagnosis and treatment of chronic illness in the healthcare context will also be discussed. "One of our most powerful forms for expressing suffering and experiences related to suffering is the narrative

Being a part of the MBBS programme, I had to witness first-hand the issue of mental illness, and the stigma that surrounds it. Since Emergency Medicine is the field I wish to explore further after graduating from the MBBS programme, I have dedicated a great amount of time in the Accident and Emergency department at the University Hospital of the West Indies. In this environment, I can take on a more hands-on approach and gain more practical skills in this discipline. One of the most striking things

This article is about families who have dealt with mental illnesses, mostly parents dealing with their children and their mental illness. This article tells stories about families and what they did to help with their mental illness. It talks about all the things both the family and the person with mental illness had gone through. From being hospitalized multiple times, seeing a psychiatrist, and spending a lot of money to try and fix things and nothing worked. The families seemed to be at loss and

that my project would be too broad and needs to be narrowed down to either one mental disorder or to a certain drug employed to treat mental illnesses. Therefore, thanks to the help of my panelists, I have decided change my research to one mental illness – depression. Why research depression and the medicine associated with it? Depression seems

in chronic illness is the topic for this discussion board. A chronic illness can potentially cause limitations in quality of life, productivity, functionality status, and worsening overall health ("Living well with chronic illness," 2012). Despite these negative aspects a chronic illness can bring, I believe that a chronic illness does not need to define an individual, and that wellness with a chronic condition are not to be considered an oxymoron. Self-management of chronic illness can impact the

his or her patient, but also may have to care for the patient’s family as well. Family members play a vital role during the care of a sick patient. The nurse must recognize how the family members influence the patient’s illness. This paper will discuss the impact of a chronic illness like cancer on family members and include a personal experience to relate to this topic. Last semester, our clinical unit consisted of oncology patients. Majority of these patients were very sick

rivalry with Spain, inability to adapt to the new climate...and, for Colonists suffering from a mental illness, there was the very real fear of being killed or thrown out into the wild. During this time period (and for many thousands of years before), the explanation for mental illness was simple--clearly a demon had possessed their soul(Leupo). As time progressed, stigmas around mental illness progressed as well. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not so much. Nowadays, while most scholars agree

In Illness as a Metaphor, Susan Sontag presents an argument that metaphors used to explain illnesses with either unknown or multiple causes can actually complicate their understanding rather that strengthen it. Furthermore, illnesses can be incorrectly used to create metaphors (Sontag 3). Using two prominent examples of illnesses with histories of metaphors complicating understanding, tuberculosis and cancer, Sontag is able to elaborate upon her thesis and provide evidence about how their perception

Flowers for Algernon Mental illnesses affect one in four people. Two-thirds of them do not seek help. Charlie Gordon, Flowers for Algernon main character, has this problem. Charlie has not seeked professional help, but one of his friends helps him get the help he would need. Miss Kinnian takes Charlie to a testing service that gives him a series of tests to see if he is eligible for a surgery to help him gain intelligence. In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys uses realistic research to explain

Illness as Metaphor Illness at a Metaphor by Susan Sontag discusses how metaphors complicate diseases or syndromes of multiple or unknown causes. Sontag says that the most truthful way to describe illnesses is without any influence of metaphors, to keep it as pure and scientific as possible (Sontag 3). However, metaphors are a part of everyday life and it is nearly impossible to escape the use of metaphors to describe illnesses. Tuberculosis and cancer are two diseases that Sontag focuses on

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental illness is simply a health condition that has the ability to affect one 's emotions, thought process and, or behavior overall. There are many variables as to whether or not someone may have, or develop overtime, a mental illness. These factors include one 's genetics, basic brain structures, environmental, and lifestyle influences, a stressful job, and perhaps even traumatic events (NAMI, n.d.). Native Indians had their own myths and beliefs

the mental state of an individual and how mental illness has changed overtime. The focus will be on whether specific treatments are harmful to individuals and if there has been a change overtime. Today in society, mental illness is viewed as a negative flaw to human beings, and because of it, people are often labeled as different and harmful. With the help of new advanced technology, people can pinpoint the madness behind the For ages, mental illness has been depicted as a misconception among society

An estimated forty-six percent of homeless people are suffering from serious mental illness. Mental illnesses have long been debated as to their causes, treatments, and explanations; the way in which society has handled this discussion has led to stigmas against those suffering, which keep them from living healthier lives as many are too afraid to come forward and get help while others who are not facing these same struggles continue to treat them incorrectly. For years, people who were mentally

Indifference to Mental Illness In my opinion, indifference is a philosophy. I believe that people follow indifference in their everyday lives. One thing I feel most people are indifferent to is mental illness. In my opinion, parents will say that their kids aren’t actually depressed, bipolar, OCD, etc. I have heard parents say that their kids are acting depressed or acting bipolar for attention, but in reality mental illness affects about 18.5% of Americans in a year. I believe some people also do

what is so aptly known as “locked-in syndrome,” With feelings of despair and sadness, it must be hard for many people suffering from any kind of chronic illness to remain hopeful and realistic. Chronic illness is a condition that lasts for a long time, and while some can be controlled or managed, most cannot be completely cured. Chronic illness can make it impossible to continue everyday activities, do things that people used to enjoy, and create feelings of hopelessness. Before the accident, Bauby

One in six Americans will experience some kind of foodborne illness this year according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Forty-eight million foodborne illnesses occur in the United States every year. At least one hundred and twenty eight Americans are hospitalized by the illness. Three thousand people die after eating cross-contaminated foods. Food safety has long been a focus of the retail food industry and is increasingly being focused on by consumers and governments worldwide

Couser in “Recovering Bodies: Illness, Disability, and Life Writing.” In this article, Couser explains the concept of “the remission society” (10). In this writing, he discusses the fact that medicine has helped in remission throughout the years, but the medicine itself that gave the life back to the person cannot immediately give their life significant meaning, because that is the individuals responsibility, and sometimes individuals are not completely cured of their illness. Due to this, some groups

story Silver Water is mental illness’ effect on a family. Rose is mentally ill, she has psychotic breaks and behaves inappropriately. Her family just laughs it off, even her psychiatrist father. For example, when she massages her breast in front of the therapist they started laughing out of control. This is the way they are coping with her illness, by taking it as a joke and harassing family therapists. But it is not all jokes, they really want to help Rose with her illness. Her families were going through