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Jackie Ayala

ENG 1201- 215

Dr. C

6 November 2018

Mental Health and Society

Ever since I could remember, I have been fascinated by crime shows, especially the ones

that involved people committing the most heinous acts. It’s not that I enjoyed seeing the people

suffer and such but rather so I found the person actually doing it to be quite interesting. For

example, why. Why do what they did? What caused them to be filled with so much hate? How?

How did they even come up with the plan? How was no one aware? How has an event changed

that person? Is there any help for that person? Is this a personal problem or a societal problem?

All these types of questions just floated and consumed my brain, I was intrigued. It’s then

when I was curious, what exactly happens in the brian to make a person act the way that they act,

more specifically, addressing mental illnesses? I want to know the answer to this question

because I want to know if there is something that can be done to prevent the transformation of a

mentally ill person or if it is just the way that their brain was formed to be or maybe it's the way

society makes us to be. We grow up and everything changes. Soda becomes alcohol. Bikes and

tricycles become cars and motorcycles. Race issues were about who could run the fastest. War

was just a card game. Goodbyes were only until the next day. We age and so does the purity of

life. It’s no surprise as to why there has been a shocking 400% increase of mental illnesses from

just the last past 10 years. Times are changing, but is it for the better? With different eras comes

different fashion trends, lingo, and values. American culture’s values along with social media
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platforms discourages people with mental illnesses to seek the help that they need and are also

responsible for the mental illness epidemic.

What exactly is a mental illness? As defined by the American Psychiatric Association,

mental illnesses are “ health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a

combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning

in social, work or family activities” ( American Psychiatric Association). Mental illnesses come

in various shapes and sizes. Some for example, can be light and mild and only cause some

difficulty while performing everyday activities while others are more serve and may require

advanced help and treatment. Additionally, mental illnesses do not discriminate. Everyone and

anyone can get them.

Fig.1. Mental Health Month, USA Today, 3 May 2017

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/03/mental-health-month-united-

states-stats-on-mental-illness/101238906/

As shown by the visual above, one in five adults experience a mental illness and nearly one in

twenty five adults in America live with a serious mental illness. This is an outstanding number

that shows how many people are actually not as “okay” as they appear to be. Everyone is dealing

with their own issues. However could all these issues have a direct relationship with the values

that a society has?

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The values of a society impacts on mental illnesses and their treatment, whether humans

want to believe it or not. There are many causes for mental illnesses that vary all around the

world. However, the two most powerful causes are social and cultural factors. Each society has

different cultures and social norms, however, one thing that all societies share is that all their

individuals want to be liked by their fellow members of society. This causes them to adapt to the

mindsets and attitudes that the general society has, to fit in. If people in a society view mental

illnesses as bad and a disease then no one wants to admit they have, and they are more reluctant

to seek treatment and help. Vice versa, if society places a great deal of importance on the mental

states of individuals, more people will be inclined to go seek treatment and help if they have a

mental illness. Society plays a big factor on the actions, feelings, and beliefs relating to mental

illnesses (Office of the Surgeon General).

Now more than ever there has been such an increase in mental illnesses that it is now

being seen as an epidemic. According to Martin Seligman, then president of the American

Psychological Association,

"We discovered two astonishing things about the rate of depression across the century.

The first was there is now between ten and twenty times as much of it as there was fifty years

ago. And the second is that it has become a young person's problem. When I first started working

in depression thirty years ago ... the average age at which the first onset of depression occurred

was 29.5.... Now the average age is between 14 and 15." ( as quoted in Levine)

What has caused this exactly? There are many causes, but they all come back to the root of the

problem, American culture’s values and how dehumanizing they are. These values place such an

importance on education, jobs, and money, that individuals have started to just go through the
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motions in order to fit in and play by society’s rules. No one is happy with their jobs. According

to the June 2013 Gallup survey, “ 50% were "not engaged," simply going through the motions to

get a paycheck, while 20% were classified as "actively disengaged," hating going to work, and

putting energy into undermining their workplace”. This is what a vast majority of people are

feeling. Going to a place in where there is no passion or enthusiasm can have a direct and

negative effect on the health of a person's mental state ( Levine).

Education also plays a role in the mental state of a person. As a result of how much

pressure there is to get a degree and get an advanced education, it’s no surprise as to why people

with higher education jobs are reported to be less content with their workplace. Education then

connects to money because in the American culture, the more education that a person has, the

more money that they are likely to have. Like the old saying goes, “Money can’t buy happiness”.

This is true. Society places such a pressure on an individual to make a set amount of money, hold

a certain social status, have a title introducing their name, etc.. to the point where people are no

longer seeking to live happy content filled lives but rather so, money and power filled lives that

align with the tastes of society. Because of this external struggle to constantly please society,

individuals lose themselves, leading them to be in a constant struggle within themselves, aiding

to the deterioration and harm of their mental state. The dehumanizing culture of today’s society

is without a doubt responsible for the reason as to why there has been a mental illness epidemic

(Levine).

According to the Mayo Clinic, which specializes in mental illnesses, there is a negative

stigma on mental illnesses. This stigma then leads to the discrimination of people who have

mental illnesses. The discrimination plays a result on the person with the mental illness and

makes them think they will never succeed and that they are just who they are and they can’t do
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anything about it, feel like there is no need to get help or treatment, and makes them more of a

victim to bullying and harassment. This is all then traced back to the values of the American

culture once again.

The values of American culture expects everyone to be “normal” and to function

“properly” and if they see any slight instance of an individual not doing so, they get rejected by

society. Rejection is one of society’s cruelest punishments. Thus, explains why numerous people

comply to what society says. People would rather prefer to appear to be this model and mold of

what society finds acceptable rather than accept who they truly. Society crams it into society’s

mind that there is something wrong with not being okay when in reality it is perfectly alright to

not be okay. This negative stigma on mental illnesses not only discourages people to feel

reluctant to seek the help and treatment that they so desperately need, but also increases how

many people actually will develop a mental illness. Needless to say why there is a mental illness

epidemic. Not being able to vocalize and release these feelings of not feeling okay leads to the

suppression of these feelings and thoughts, causing a great harm to the mental health.

Suppressing and bottling up all these feeling causes dertitmentive harm to the mental

state of a person. However, what is not always discussed is how getting the wrong type of

treatment is also just as bad to their mental state. According to Bruce Levine, a clinical

psychologist, there has been an immense increase of mental illnesses diagnosis. He attributes this

overdiagnosis to three factors. The first one being the lack of knowledge of mental illnesses such

as not knowing the difference between sadness and depression and then anxiety and nervous, for

example. Some psychologists don’t invest enough time to differentiate the two and just prescribe

the medication even though it is not needed because they do not actually have that illness. The

second one is giving antipsychotic medications, they turn out to actually worsen the state of the
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“mental illness”. It causes people to have a dependence on these medications in order to feel

okay. Without them, they feel as if they can’t function properly. Lastly, he states that the values

of the American culture is to blame. The way society portrays mental illnesses plays a big role on

how they are treated.

According to Lara J. Jakobsons, a psychologist at NorthShore, social media can have an

immense effect on the mental health of teens. For example it creates skewed perceptions and

social comparison. This allows for the want to fit in, often resulting in social pressure. A perfect

example of this is the way that women in general are portrayed by social media. Social media

emphasizes that in order for a woman to be seen as “pretty” and “beautiful” they have to be

skinny yet still maintain curves, have long healthy hair, have the perfect smile, etc… This

pressure to appear “perfect” results in a low self esteem and causes self-loathing and self-doubt

which in many causes has an extreme direct effect on the mental health of the individual.

( Lara J. Jakobsons)

One platform is social media, which is also one of the major causes of cyberbullying.

What is cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is the harassment or bringing down of a person via the

world wide web. This usually has a direct effect on the mental and emotional states of the victim,

usually also portrayed through their physical states. People don’t have a physical face to connect

their insults to so it is highly more easy for people to become targets and victims of

cyberbullying. In other words, cyber bullying is just like regular bullying expect that instead of

the attacker physically hurting them, they are rather hurt mentally and emotionally instead. This

is sometimes more damaging than physically because a physical mark or bruise can easily go

away in a short amount of time unlike an emotional or mental attack that is ingrained into the

victim’s mindset that can take years to heal. Cyber bullying leaves the victim feeling hopeless.
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Since the internet exists everywhere, the victim cannot escape it. The internet exists at school,

the store, their home, everywhere. Social media is all about exposure. The more an individual is

exposed to social media, the more likely they are to be in harm’s way of developing a mental

illness. The saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is

proven to be false and social media is the answer why. Words hurt. They hit where it hurts the

most, the heart. Human individuals seek validation and approval by their fellow members of

society. That's why many of them would prefer beautiful lies rather than hurtful truths.

(Jakobsons).

Social media is the master of deception. There is a want or more so a need to have to

appear “perfect”. As a result many people use photoshop and other forms of photo enhances to

appear more “beautiful”. This causes a sense of false identity not only to the external people but

also to the person themselves. An internal struggle is shown through the destruction of one’s self

because it is no longer held in the power of the individual but rather so on the amount of likes or

retweets they get on a photo or post. Nowadays a person doesn’t post or go on social media for

them but rather so for the opinions and validation they can get from others. These attitudes tend

to lead to an abundance of health disorders such as anorexia, depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Another social media platform is music. According to Debra Rodgers from the University

of Canterbury Christ Church University, community music can be used as a way for tackling the

negative mental health related stigma. Through community music, awareness can be raised and

thus provide support for individuals struggling or dealing with mental illnesses. Music is without

a doubt one of the most impactful forms of reaching an audience in today's society. By providing

a positive message through music the message will be reached by a greater audience because

everyone loves music. Music can be used as a way of therapy. It serves as a way for an
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emotional and mental outlet. In many cases, what a person can not express into words is felt

through the notes and rhythm of a particular song. (Debra Rodgers)

Although this may be true, there is also a lot to support that music is one of the triggers of

mental illnesses. Everyone is in full agreement that no one is as happy as people in the past. As

society progresses, so does their discontent with life. As a result of this discontentment and

feeling of hopelessness many people turn to drugs, which explains why society is facing a drug

empedic. A mental illness and drug empedic at the same time? This is no coincidence. People see

that the only way to relieve these feelings and thoughts is through drugs. In times like these

desperate times call for desperate measures and if the only way to reach happiness even though

just temporal is through drugs, then it’s no wonder why the drug market is one of the highest

paying domains.

Music can therefore be seen as a drug. As crazy as it sounds, there is evidence to back up

this saying. Costas Karageorghis, who has spent 25 years studying music and its effect on the

human brain makes the claim that “Music can be a stimulant or a sedative. It can enhance mood,

improve muscle control and help the brain build key muscle memories.” (Karageorghis). In other

words, just like a drug can improve muscle control and mood, music can do so as well. This can

all be found in the brain. As found from his research, many areas of the brain are activated when

listening to music. More importantly, the release of dopamine. Dopamine is connected to

pleasure and enjoyment. The more pleasure a person gets, the more dopamine that is released.

This dopamine release is what is associated to a huge amount of drugs and hence why people

feel addicted. Surprisingly, this same release is also found when people listen to music, hence

creating the feelings of pleasure and enjoyment whenever a person listens to a certain song of

their liking.
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All a person wants is to feel happiness so if music can provide that temporal happiness

many people go to it. Although as mentioned above, music can be a good outlet, it however does

not address the problem at hand. Not only does it not address the problem but also music triggers

many feelings of sadness and people listen to this on repeat, in many cases worsening the

problem. Since most of society is not happy, the music that is released is usually sad and

depressing and this is what society is left to listen to, aiding to the epidemic of mental illnesses

that is occuring today.

American culture’s values along with the platforms of social media not only discourage

people with mental illnesses to seek the help that they need but also, are responsible for the

mental illness epidemic. They create and enforce these high and nearly impossible expectations

and it causes an internal struggle among the individual, which in many cases is portrayed or

demonstrated through a mental illness. As a result many people show to have discontent. Is

having happiness a realistic goal in today’s society or is it just a false hope individuals have?

Can anything be done at this point? It may seem as if society is doomed and all sanity is

gone however there is still time for change. It all starts with one person. The person in the mirror.

The person reading this. The person within everyone. Everyone should strive and make it their

goal to please the person within themselves, not their fellow peers or anyone else. In order to do

this, passions need to be found and established. Once the passion is added to life and everyday

activities, a new point of view will be formed.

Self-encouragement and courage is also a must. It is key to remember that at the end of

the day, as long as one is happy with themself they don’t have a thing to prove to anybody else

or seek validation or acceptance because they already have it within themselves. It’s important

be a support system for ourselves because at the end of the day, it is all about self love. If a
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person is at a state of complete happiness with themselves, then they will never be truly alone.

As cheesy as it sounds, the only way to defeat this mental illness epidemic is to start with the real

problem, our thinking of oneself.

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Works Cited

Chtourou, Hamdi. “Benefits of Music on Health and Athletic Performance.”

Journal of Communications Research, vol. 5, no. 4, Nov. 2013, pp. 491–506.

EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr

ue&db=ufh&AN=93708110&site=eds-live.

How Social Media Effects Teenagers' Mental Health | NorthShore,

www.northshore.org/healthy-you/how-social-media-effects-teenagers-mental-health/.

Accessed on 30 October 2018

Levine, Bruce. "Mental Illness Is Overdiagnosed." Mental Illness, edited by Noah Berlatsky,

Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010154287/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid

=31ede458. Accessed 18 Oct. 2018. Originally published as "Why the Rise of Mental

Illness? Pathologizing Normal, Adverse Drug Effects, and Peculiar Rebellion,"

Madinamerica.com, 31 July 2013.

“Mental Health: Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for

Medical Education and Research, 24 May 2017, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-

conditions/mental-illness/in-depth/mental-health/art-20046477.

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,

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

Accessed 23 October 2018

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Rodgers, Debra. “Community Music as a Vehicle for Tackling Mental Health-Related Stigma.”

London Review of Education, vol. 15, no. 3, Nov. 2017, pp. 474–487. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&b

=eric&AN=EJ1163211&site=eds-live.

Accessed on 30 October 2018