Misconceptions about Mental Illness

There are many societal misconceptions of mental illness. A particularly extensive circulation of "myths" concerns depression, considering the prevalence of this illness and the considerable influence it has on the culture of this nation. From the everyday usage of terms such as "the blues" to the alternative medicinal "cures" such as St. John's wort for depressed moods to discussions about chemical imbalances to the countless references to the links between the increased stress levels of modern society and the havoc that is being wreaked on our emotional well-being, we encounter at least some aspect of depression in our daily lives.

Perhaps the greatest debate about depression (and mental illness in general) is the one concerning the role of psychiatry in treating these disorders. There is great concern about the vast prescriptions and usage of anti-depressants, or SSRIs. As we saw in class, the celebrity Tom Cruise even heatedly denounced the usage of such psychotropic medications, claiming that it is just a mask that people have learned to resort to without consulting the "real" issues.

But what are the "real" issues?

Sure, one could have residual negativity that has lingered after a series of fleeting and hurtful relationships or a learned, personally-crafted mindset of philosophical pessimism.

But also, one could have a genetic predisposition to depression or could be experiencing an imbalance of hormones after delivering a child.

There are myriad possible reasons intertwined and unseen by psychiatrists, therapists and even the individual herself. Who's to say that taking these drugs is the right choice for the person? Or, the wrong one?

Let's consider for a moment a possible deep root of the malaise and lowered arousal states that are characteristic of depression: a seeping doubt of one's personal role in the world. I'm sure most people consider "the meaning of life" (particularly their own) at least once in their lifetime. This perception of our role in life is naturally tied to our own perception of the environment we are in. Now let's proceed to this dissatisfaction with the environment we are in, namely, society. Through exposure to media that could promote unhealthy ideas of self ("The Swan") and cause unnecessary anxiety (non-stop coverage headline news) and experiences with prejudice and sexual harassment in the workplace, it is more than possible to become disillusioned with the society that we are expected to participate in.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche has indeed become disheartened and distressed by the changes of her environment: she had once lived in a society where her manners and eloquence and truth and beauty were encouraged and allowed to define her, yet she had to relocate to one that was marked by depravity, debauchery and street-wise toughness. In the latter, she was a misfit, and because what had once defined her was now seen as frivolous and inappropriate, she began to unravel, despite her efforts to hold on to what she had once owned.Fully advocating the usage of drugs (without any talk-therapy of some sort), or completely deriding it, are two manifestations of adhering to a simplistic view of depression. If suicide isn't impending (for which medication could serve as an immediate intervention), and if time permits, the individual should find a way to look at the state itself, setting "quick fixes" aside (after all, no drug is perfect), and try to strive for understanding. This understanding could be found somewhere in the ebb and flow of social relationships, somewhere in the split of time between when one could remember being "happy" and being not quite so. If time isn't a luxury, or if one's cognitive processes and scope has been "caged" by the systematic negative bias that depression can bring, then perhaps medication would be a good option.