Capstone Project - Pt. 8 (Articles) - (Memes)

Finally, I'm nearly done! It's been one crazy ride doing all this research, but it's also been incredibly fun and informative. I've learned quite a lot and have an even deeper interest in Psychology than I did before. For this last, final piece, I've decided to gather a collection of memes from the internet regarding my topic. Thankfully, they're in good taste and generally reflect what people against the stigma view.

All of these memes come from a sight that deals exclusively with trying to rid the world of stigma, it's easy to see that they feel very strongly about what's going on in the world of mental health. If you wish to view more, just go to their website: http://blog.not-crazy.org/

Citation:

"I Am Not Crazy - Home." I Am Not Crazy - Mental Health Awareness. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://blog.not-crazy.org>.

Capstone Project - Pt. 7 (Articles) - (Collection of Quotes)

As of right now, this is one of the final pieces of this project. For it, I've decided to collect some quotes that I feel fit well with my topic and fit with what I learned from my articles: 

This quote, by Margaret Larson, a therapist in the UK, speaks quite directly about the stigma faced by people who have to deal with mental illness, but it also speaks about how everyone can be affected by it, like family and friends. It's really quite profound to really think about how many people we know suffer from some type of mental illness. I can guarantee that many would know quite a few. It's even more powerful to think that people are not getting the help they need, either because of stigma or inadequate services being offered.  

This quote, by Kevin Alan Lee, is exactly what my topic is about: the failure of our mental health services in treating people when they can be helped in someway. This is a disturbing trend I have witnessed through my research with this project. When most speak of this topic, it is mostly about the stigma preventing people from seeking proper treatment, but that is simply only part of the issue. We have reached a point where we are stagnating in such a field. 

This quote speaks to another part of why our mental health system isn't what it should be. This woman's words say to me that we are not educating people enough on what mental illness looks like--what it feels like. We expect to feel a sudden change, like the flip a switch, but that is simply not the case in most instances. That is why we must better not only the care but the education. 

Finally, we have a quote from former president Bill Clinton. No truer words have been spoken about the current situation in America regarding our mental health services.

For more Quotes on mental health and everything you could possibly imagine, just go here:

http://thepeopleproject.com/quotes

Citation:

"The People Project | Articles - Editorial by the People." The People Project | Articles - Editorial by the People. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. <http://www.thepeopleproject.com/>.

Capstone Project - Pt. 6 (Mid Research Review)

Over the past few weeks, my research has been leading up to this point. Throughout the investigation, I have tried to answer the question that fueled such a project in the first place: “Are we making strives forward in the area of our mental health services?” The answer was—more or less surprisingly—hard to decipher, especially with the information I had found. This paper will discuss my recent findings, how the pieces of my capstone fit together, and finally, the direction this project is heading in.

            The research I have done so far has been reading a nonfiction book, watching the episode of a television show, reading a few articles, and watching a documentary. My issue has just the right amount of broadness by having a large timeline to work with, but it is narrow enough so I know what I want to focus on, which is if we are making strives forward in this field. Luckily, the research I’ve found is very focused, and though there is a cornucopia of knowledge, it is all focused on the idea that we are stagnating as whole regarding modern day mental health services.

            The common thread that connects my research is the idea of progress and eventual stagnation. In “Sybil”, Dr. Wilbur uses tools new to psychologists and psychiatrists at the time like hypnosis and sodium pentothal (Truth Serum). The same could be said for doctors working in Bethlem Royal Hospital in the 16-1700s, who used a variety of techniques, though more torturous and now discontinued, to treat patients. As for the articles and television show, we see their modern counterparts. The articles, as well as their paired activity of a discussion show that there are many issues preventing people from getting proper care, such as stigma, and the inability to get proper care because the facilities of today just aren’t up to par with what people need. This is elaborated on by the television show episode where I watched “60 Minutes” by showing that the only place for people to really go is the emergency room, and even then, they cannot stay there long enough to get proper treatment.

In the future, I hope to find information on the treatment of mental health patients during the early 19^th century, and since the only blue boxes left are a PowerPoint and a fiction book/movie, it will have to be done through the fiction book/movie box. This information will bring everything together and make the answers I have already found very concrete, but I am aware that there may be some counter arguments. If I can flesh these out as well, I feel it will also help my research in the future.

Overall, with my recent findings, how they fit together, and the direction I think my capstone is going, I believe that I have successfully answered my question of whether or not we are making strides in the field of mental health services. Though this is only the mid research review, I know that my answers will be made concrete by the time the final research review rolls around.