Cultural Sociology of Mental Illness: An A-To-Z Guide

ISBN-13: 9781452255484 / Angielski / Twarda / 2014 / 1176 str.

Andrew T. Scull

Opis

The U.S. Surgeon General's report on mental health notes "Surveys estimate that during a 1-year period, 22 to 23 percent of the U.S. adult population--or 44 million people--have diagnosable mental disorders, according the reliable, established criteria." The report goes on to say, "epidemiological estimates have shifted over time because of changes in the definitions and diagnosis of mental health and mental illness." Indeed, some experts believe there has been an astonishing rise in mental illness. According to one report, "in 1987, prior to Prozac hitting the market and the current ubiquitous use of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs, the U.S. mental illness disability rate was 1 in every 184 Americans, but by 2007 the mental illness disability rate had more than doubled to 1 in every 76 Americans." Discussion now revolves around the questions: Are there truly more mentally ill people now or are there just more people being diagnosed and treated? And what are the roles of economics and the pharmacological industry in this controversy? At the core of what is going on with mental illness in American and around the world, we believe, is cultural sociology: How differing cultures treat mental illness and, in turn, how mental health patients are affected by the culture. In this multidisciplinary reference, we look at the culture of mental illness from the non-clinical perspectives of sociology, history, psychology, epidemiology, economics, public health policy, and finally, the mental health patients themselves. Containing more than 375 articles and 150 photos, it includes an Introduction, thematic Reader's Guide, Chronology, Glossary, and a Resource Guide to Key Books, Journals, and Associations and their web sites. The range and scope of this Encyclopedia is vivid testimony to the intellectual vitality of the field, and will make a useful contribution to the next generation of sociological research on the cultural sociology of mental illness.

Key Themes Cultural Comparisons of Mental Health Disorders Cultural Sociology of Mental Illness Around the World Economics Epidemiology Mental Health Practitioners Non-Drug Treatments Patient, The Psychiatry and Psychology Psychiatry and Space Psychopharmacology Public Policy Social History Sociology