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 19th 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.