Mental Illness

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the view that traditional societies are less friendly to individuals with mental illness, which leads to the perception that there is less mental illness when, in truth, it is simply more well hidden. The paper then compares views of mental illness in modern socieites, and, in particular in Canada, to those of traditional socieities such as China, the Aboriginal socieites of Canada, and Middle Eastern societies and concludes that there is no single answer to how traditional cultures treat mental illness.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Mental Illness in Modern Societies
Mental Illness in Canada
Mental Illness in Traditional Societies
Mental Illness in Canada's Aboriginal Population
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"It is this kind of practice that differentiates the Chinese and the Canadian process of caring for the mentally ill and may lead to a difference in how they are perceived. However, the practice goes far beyond simple numbers on a percentage scale. Some traditional cultures rely first on their own traditional forms of mental healing, turning only to modern solutions when their preferred methods fail to work. In Morocco, for example, a Berber family might first consult a fquih, a traditional healer, before turning to the services of the Centre Psychiatrique Universitaire Ibn Rochd (CPU) to treat mental illness."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Deciding to see a psychologist: How to choose one and what to expect. Canadian Psychological Association. Retrieved 21 July 2007 from http://www.cpa.ca/cpasite/userfiles/Documents/psychologist/psychologist.pdf
• Levahot, K. (2001). Mental illness in Japan: A need for change. Retrieved 21 July 2007 from http://artsci.wustl.edu/~copeland/keren.html
• MedlinePlus. (2007). Mental Health. Retrieved 21 July 2007 from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mentalhealth.htmlC10982
• Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada. (2006). The Human Face of Mental Health and Mental Illness in Canada. Ottawa: Government of Canada.
• Stein, D. (2000). Views of mental illness in Morocco: Western medicine meets the traditional symbolic. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 163(11): 1468-1470.

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• Analytical Essay # 3956 : "Mental Illness - A Novel Approach"
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• Term Paper # 125172 : "Mental Illness as a Social Construct"
• Essay # 70438 : "Mental Illness as a Social Problem"

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