[lit-ideas] Re: Who's Crazy? We Are
- From: Carol Kirschenbaum <carolkir@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 00:52:47 -0700
> Do ask yourself, however, if this study is valid,
ck: Is the study valid across cultures in different parts of the world? Of
course not. It can't be. The study's definitions of mental illness comes
from the DSM-IV, which is a (mostly) white US cultural product of this past
decade. Those presenting themselves for treatment are included in such a
study. The study is skewed towards more women having a mental illness, for
instance, simply because women show up at doctors' offices more than men
(pregnancy alone accounts for regular MD visits among women). Moreover, the
DSM-IV takes a preventative approach by defining, for instance, "major
clinical depression" as lasting at least two weeks. Two weeks? Loads of
people qualify who wouldn't ordinarily think themselves candidates for, say,
SSRIs.
What we've got here in the US is a case of psychiatric jitters, imo. And Big
Pharma pushing drugs, with antsy doctors prescribing more of them more often
than they do in places where malpractice suits aren't so prevalent.
Now, in other countries and cultures, if you're depressed you're sad, and
it's all right. People are allowed to be sad. But not in the US. Here, at
this point in history, even a death in the family isn't supposed to prompt
more than a day or two of feeling out of sorts and teary. And do people in
other countries and cultures develop OCD, panic disorder, and various forms
of affective disorders? Yes, according to other studies done on specific
ethnic and national groups in the US, but symptoms won't necessarily meet
strict DSM-IV criteria, and therefore can't be "counted." (How does a
psychiatrist treat compulsive praying? My guess is that this is one of the
most prevalent disorders in the world, only few would admit to it.)
The genehunters traced mental illnesses to brain chemistry--and yes,
genes--a while back. Supposedly, schizophrenia has a "genetic component"
(twin studies again), as do panic disorder, OCD, and bipolar disorder.
Brain-based diseases, not "emotional." There's no separation. Mental illness
is biological illness today. If this is true, why wouldn't we expect to find
psychiatric disorders worldwide?
It seems that certain cultures tend towards specific types of psychiatric
disorders, however, based on studies within the US. Proportions may change,
but people are loony all over--except in Mississippi. There, insanity is
properly known as "eccentricity," and is tolerated quite well. But then, so
is racism.
No, I don't know what I meant by that crack, either. Better go back into
deep lurk mode.
ciao,
Carol
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