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Allison Fisher

Professor Joyce Barnes

English 1201.505

27 October 2019

Casebook

“Mental Health in India: A Problematic Discourse Can Only Lead to Inadequate Laws.”

Economic and Political Weekly, Engage EPW, 30 Aug. 2019,

www.epw.in/engage/article/mental-health-india-problematic-discourse-can-only.

The staff at EPW Engage, wrote “Mental Health in India: A Problematic Discourse Can Only

Lead to Inadequate Laws.” This article discusses the issue of how mental health is perceived and

treated in India. In a 2011 World Health Organization (WHO) report, it states that nearly 36% of

Indians suffer from major depressive episodes and that women are more vulnerable to

depression with women making up of 50% of cases. It is believed that depression among women

goes unnoticed due to the “disadvantaged position of women in multiple facets of life” and the

current stigma that comes attached to mental disorders and professionals within the mental health

field. Another issue mentioned in this article is the lack of funds. In a 2016 WHO report, only

0.06% of India’s health budget is reserved for mental health. I found this source credible due to

its multiple examples of statistics and reports along with no advertisements on the webpage. I

will use this source to help shine light on how mental illness is viewed and treated in a country

so different from the United States.

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Office of the Surgeon General (US). “Chapter 2 Culture Counts: The Influence of Culture and

Society on Mental Health.” Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity: A Supplement to

Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug.

2001, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44249/.

Written by Office of the Surgeon General (US): Chapter 2 Culture Counts: The Influence of

Culture and Society on Mental Health, this book explains the various effects that society and

culture have on mental health and their services in regards to the culture of the patient. One

example that was provided in how culture affects mental illness is the way patients describe their

symptoms to their clinicians. “Asian patients, for example, are more likely to report their somatic

symptoms, such as dizziness, while not reporting their emotional symptoms. Yet, when

questioned further, they do acknowledge having emotional symptoms (Lin & Cheung, 1999).

This finding supports the view that patients in different cultures tend to selectively express or

present symptoms in culturally acceptable ways (Kleinman, 1977, 1988).” It is described in part

of the culture of the clinician, that most clinicians share a worldview about the relationship

between mind, body, and the environment and that they are informed by knowledge through

scientific methods and as a result of that, clinicians may view treatments, diagnoses, and

symptoms as different compared to their patients. This source is credible because it has a .gov

URL and it provides a thorough list of references used in that chapter. This information is

relevant to my new topic of how mental illness is viewed and treated among United States,

Russia, India, Australia, and China. I will use this source’s detailed information on the culture

and mental health within the United States for my paper.

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“One-Third of Global Burden of Mental Illness Occurs in China and India, Experts Highlight

Need for Action.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 18 May 2016,

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160518220605.htm.

In this news article written by the staff of Science Daily, we learn about the increase in mental

illnesses in China and India. The article also addresses the gap of mental health treatments in

those countries. A recent analysis by the Alliance of Global Burden of Disease reveals that there

will be a rapid increase of mental illnesses more so in India than China within the next ten years.

As for the treatment gap, the article states that in China less than 6% of people with common

mental disorders such as mood and anxiety disorders seek treatment and among people with

psychotic disorders 40% have never sought treatments from professionals. In India, 1 in 10

people with mental disorders are believed to receive “evidence-based” treatments. In both

countries less than 1% of their national healthcare budget is reserved for mental health. I believe

this source is credible because it provides statistics on the mental health issue in China and India

and the news article provides their references. I will use this source because I am researching the

growing problem regarding mental health in both China and India.

Petrea, Ionela. “Mental Health Care.” Trends in Health Systems in the Former Soviet Countries

[Internet]., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK458299/.

This article is written by Ionela Petrea and Milou Haggenburg and is about the mental health

issues in former Soviet countries. During the Soviet period, people who did not fit within
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the socialist ideology were seen as “incompletely developed”. They were institutionalized

and removed from their communities. Since the post-Soviet period, changes are slowly

being made. From the WHO 2011 report, 76% of paients in psychiatric hospitals are

discharged within a year of admission. It is still believed that the ineffective and possibly

even harmful treatments are still common. “Russian officials have strongly opposed

substitution treatment for opiate dependence”. The reason I feel that this article is credible

is due to the fact it provides statistics and references to the data presented in the article,

while also having a .gov URL. The site also has no advertisements. I will use this article

for the project because it provides information that is relevant to one of the countries I am

researching: Russia. This article provides detailed historical information on the topic of

mental health.

Rössler, Wulf. “ Mental Illness, Stigma & Discrimination - Wulf Rössler.” YouTube, YouTube,

10 Nov. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpDLcq3zAdY.

“Prof. Dr. Wulf Rössler: Collegium Helveticum – ETH Zürich.” Collegium Helveticum, 24 May

2017, collegium.ethz.ch/en/about-us/staff/prof-dr-wulf-roessler/.

The man who was interviewed for the discussion on mental illness, stigma, and

discrimination was Prof. Dr. Wulf Rössler. Prof. Dr. Wulf Rössler was a professor of

clinical psychiatry and director of the Clinic for Social Psychiatry and General Psychiatry

Zurich West at the Psychiatric University Clinic in Zurich. During this interview they

tackled subjects such as the stigma that follows mental health. Prof. Dr. Wulf Rössler
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classified stigma to be three- dimensional. One dimension is the stereotype. He believes

stereotypes are within everyone and at times they’re not necessarily all negative, but that

being said stereotypes surrounding mental illness are connected with prejudice. He says,

“We say people are prejudiced if a stereotype is connected with an emotional reaction.”

“This is a mentally ill person, this must be dangerous, so I’m afraid of the person.” He

believes that this prejudice some have can lead to discrimination against those with poor

mental health. One way to combat this stigma is to bring people in contact with the

mentally ill. He believes this will be an effective way to start changing the minds, opinions,

and emotions of others when it comes to this topic. I found this interview credible because

of Wulf Rössler’s intensive background in psychology. I will use this source to provide

some point of views of the clinicians. I will also use the source to provide more

information on how we can fight stigma.

Wharton, Tony, and Jeff Menzise. Mental Illness in America : How Do We Address a Growing

Problem? National Issues Forums Institute, 2014. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e900xww&AN=1232583&site=eds-live.

Written by Tony Wharton and Jeff Menzise, this e-book is called Mental Illness in America:

How Do We Address a Growing Problem? This e-book from Sinclair Community College

recommends a few options to help resolve the ongoing issue with mental health in the United

States. Their first option was described as “putting safety first”. Examples of how this might be

done include mandatory health tests for those wanting sensitive jobs (working with children is

one of the examples listed) and or applying for specific licenses, such as a gun license. The
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second option was expanding services. More mental health services should be provided in rural

and underserved areas while also expanding our psychiatric hospitals to provide more impatient

care. The last option mentioned was “letting people plot their own course” this means more

healthy-lifestyles programs such as meditation classes and gym membership being provided to

their employees and providing more support groups. I found this source credible because I found

it through Sinclair Community College’s library database and it has a .org URL. The source also

has no advertisements on it. I will use this source because it provides statistics and lists ways on

how to help the ever-growing mental health problem.

Zhu, Yifan, et al. “Attitudes towards Mental Illness among Medical Students in China: Impact of

Medical Education on Stigma.” Asia-Pacific Psychiatry, vol. 10, no. 2, June 2018, p.

1. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/appy.12294.

The article written by Yifan Zhu, Hanwen Zhang, Ge Yang, Xinran Hu, Zhening Liu, Na

Guo, Hongbo He, Bin Sun, Robert Rosenheck was published in June of 2018. From recent

studies, in developing countries, it was believed that the general public along with mental

health professionals viewed the mentally ill as dangerous and unpredictable. This could be

partly blamed on the media. “From a broader perspective, it should be noted that the

Chinese news media has covered a number of high-profile cases of violent crimes

committed by persons with mental illness. These people are often portrayed as prone to

violence because of their illness and are blamed for disrupting the social order and “social

harmony” quite broadly (LaFraniere, 2010).” But China has begun taking steps to preserve

the dignity of those affected my mental illnesses. The first mental health law came into
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effect in 2013. This law helps those with mental illness to “receive education and

employment, to be informed and agree, to apply for relief”. I found this article to be

credible because it was found through the Sinclair Community College library database

and provides the author’s affiliations and the logo of the publisher, Wiley Blackwell. I will

use this source because it shows a glimpse of the stigma and views of those who are

mentally ill in China. I will use this to compare and contrast between the other countries I

am researching.

In India, 1 in 10 people with mental disorders are believed to receive “evidence-

based” treatments.