Comparing Freud's Vulnerability To Emotion And Mental Disorders
"Emotional and mental disorder is widespread in human societies" (Ingham, 1996: 142). Vulnerability to emotional and mental disorder is inherent in the psychological characteristics of human beings because, like personality, disorder is a response to life events and particular social circumstances. Social experience and cultural settings are pertinent in the observation of the origins of disorder, as they affect both the inner experience of disorder and its outer manifestations. More important is an understanding that emotional expression - namely that of disorders such as depression, hysteria and schizophrenia - is both a natural and socially constructed part of social interaction (Ingham, 1996: 116). While a particular expressed emotion may
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In his view, the person in grief identifies with the missing object in the sense where it becomes part of the self. While his theory may be true when applied to western cultures where childhood losses and separations may be precursors of some adult depression, it is unlikely to be the case in societies such as Bali for example, where aggressiveness is inhibited. If one were to apply western ideas of depression to the Balinese, who are by nature passive and emotionless, the conclusion may be that they are all suffering from an emotional disorder. Therefore, it is almost impossible to define a mental illness unless by the standards and ideals of a particular culture. Dissociative reactions in the syndrome of hysteria include temporary psychosis and so-called mass hysterias (Ingham, 1996: 122). Hysteria itself illustrates the susceptibility to fragmentation in human personality, where the unconscious wishes and fears may take control of the body from the conscious ego, and the ego itself may develop separate selves. The severity of fragmentation can be witnessed in sufferers of schizophrenia (Ingham, 1996: 144). A person with schizophrenia may confuse the imaginary with the real, which can in turn radically undermine their capacity for productive activity and social relationships. Like depression and hysteria, schizophrenia occurs in social and cultural contexts, and the …show more content…
Because of the cultural relativist implications of labeling theory, Jane Murphy sought to test it on the basis of data on mental illness from her research among the Eskimo of Alaska and the Yoruba of Nigeria. Upon collecting data through interviews and participant observation, she found that in both of these cultures there was a label for the term 'insanity '. "Descriptions of insane persons included reference to hallucinations, delusions, disorientation, and bizarre types of behaviour, and resembled what would be called schizophrenia in western societies" (Bourguignon, 1975: 275). The processes that produce disturbances of thought, feeling, and behaviour in the illness not only exist in most cultures, but also are recognized and labeled. However, a clear distinction is made between insane persons, and those with special gifts who are able to hear and see things that others cannot, as well as look into the future. In western societies, a person who claims ability in the latter would be considered crazy, because it is not socially accepted, nonetheless normal, to have such beliefs in oneself. There is occasionally confusion among Westerners between pathological and visionary states, between madness and shamanism, however this confusion is not
In his view, the person in grief identifies with the missing object in the sense where it becomes part of the self. While his theory may be true when applied to western cultures where childhood losses and separations may be precursors of some adult depression, it is unlikely to be the case in societies such as Bali for example, where aggressiveness is inhibited. If one were to apply western ideas of depression to the Balinese, who are by nature passive and emotionless, the conclusion may be that they are all suffering from an emotional disorder. Therefore, it is almost impossible to define a mental illness unless by the standards and ideals of a particular culture. Dissociative reactions in the syndrome of hysteria include temporary psychosis and so-called mass hysterias (Ingham, 1996: 122). Hysteria itself illustrates the susceptibility to fragmentation in human personality, where the unconscious wishes and fears may take control of the body from the conscious ego, and the ego itself may develop separate selves. The severity of fragmentation can be witnessed in sufferers of schizophrenia (Ingham, 1996: 144). A person with schizophrenia may confuse the imaginary with the real, which can in turn radically undermine their capacity for productive activity and social relationships. Like depression and hysteria, schizophrenia occurs in social and cultural contexts, and the …show more content…
Because of the cultural relativist implications of labeling theory, Jane Murphy sought to test it on the basis of data on mental illness from her research among the Eskimo of Alaska and the Yoruba of Nigeria. Upon collecting data through interviews and participant observation, she found that in both of these cultures there was a label for the term 'insanity '. "Descriptions of insane persons included reference to hallucinations, delusions, disorientation, and bizarre types of behaviour, and resembled what would be called schizophrenia in western societies" (Bourguignon, 1975: 275). The processes that produce disturbances of thought, feeling, and behaviour in the illness not only exist in most cultures, but also are recognized and labeled. However, a clear distinction is made between insane persons, and those with special gifts who are able to hear and see things that others cannot, as well as look into the future. In western societies, a person who claims ability in the latter would be considered crazy, because it is not socially accepted, nonetheless normal, to have such beliefs in oneself. There is occasionally confusion among Westerners between pathological and visionary states, between madness and shamanism, however this confusion is not