Thank you!
Misunderstood
- Many individuals with mental illness are not understood and therefore, mis treated by lack of understanding.
- Media has a huge impact on how individuals see people with mental illnesses.
- As we come into contact with experiences, we are able to interpret them for ourselves.
- Individuals have to understand social norms so the individual can determine how others will react.
Mental Illness in Symbolic Interactionism Thoery
References
Current Events
- Mass shootings are considered acts of violence by individuals who are mentally ill.
- "We tend to break mass killers into two distinct groups. A brown person who kills a bunch of innocent people overseas is a terrorist. A white person who kills a bunch of people here is mentally ill" (DeBerry 2016).
- The Lafayette shooter was thought to be mentally ill, but wasn't.
- The Sandy Hook Shooter had a mental illness but his parent's didn't know the extent.
- DeBerry, J. (January 2016) Lafayette theater shooter's journal shows overlap between terrorism and mental illness: Jarvis DeBerry. The Times Picayune. http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2017/03/traffic_court_fines.html
- Parekh, P. (November 2015). What is mental illness? American Psychiatric Assosiation. www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness.
What is the Symbolic Interactionism Thoery?
What is Mental Illness?
- How people define certain situations
- How individuals learn about themselves
- Enables people to change how things happen in society
"Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in thinking, emotion or behavior (or a combination of these)" (Parekh, 2015).
It is a medical problem, just like having any other diagnosable disease.
The Connection
- According to Symbolic Interactionism Theory individuals go through situations based on their experiences.
- People view others based on what society constructs norms as.
- The mental illness stigma isn't thought of as a norm and can be viewed as unconventional.