Psychopathology: Overview And Analysis

In two-weeks worth of readings, it has become apparent, I have much to learn about mental illness and its impact not only on suffers but also society. Majoring in health promotion, I am more confident in addressing the importance of positive mental health in the context of home and work life and social bonds but not mental health as an illness. Thus, I am finding the readings extremely interesting, informative, surprising, and frightening. It is one thing to hear tidbits of information about mental illness, yet until you become engrossed in research and literature, you cannot begin to understand its full impact. Aside from a personal bout with depression mental illness, to my knowledge is not something that has touched my family. Years ago,

However, I now understand its relevance and importance given its description as, “a population-level description of the natural history of psychopathology. The three key aspects of the natural history of psychopathology are onset, course, and outcome” (Eaton, 2012, p. 126). In reading this chapter, I have discovered how difficult and expensive capturing data on specific mental disorders. In short, I had no cognitive awareness of the complexity surrounding mental illness; thus, I am intrigued to learn more.

Education serves to destroy stigmas and biases given it holds the power to debunk falsehoods and this is proving true with this course. I can proudly say discrimination is not something that courses through my blood, which is most likely the result of facing discrimination and adversity early in life, and at the hands of my family. Because of that experience, I understand the reason why persons suffering from mental illness choose to remain in the shadows rather than seek treatment. Society can be extremely cruel, and sadly will remain as such until the repetitive cycle of attached stigmas and discrimination ends. Although a challenging task it is achievable but only when it is a cause people are willing to rally around. A prime example of a change in the direction of acceptance is homosexuality. In the early 80s life seemed unbearable due to stigmas, discrimination, and outright hatred but because it was a cause worth fighting, people rallied and fostered