Treatment Methods of Mental Patients are in Need of Change By Jake Plonka

Background People with mental disorders have been mistreated since the first mental health professional came to be. Over the years these treatment methods have gotten better, however there is still much room for improvement. Because of the fact that the field of mental treatment was built on a foundation of flaws, it needs to be looked at in order to be improved. Righteous treatment of patients in the medical field is so important, and this problem should not be overlooked.

My Scope of Research The scope that I took on my research took a couple of angles. The first part of my research involved the interval of treatment examined. I looked into what has happened over the past fifty years. The second part of my research involved the region. I chose to only examine the treatment methods in America. The last part of my research involved the particular mental disorder. Although I used different forms of treatment during my research, I tried to mainly use schizophrenia as a specific example.

Proof of the Problem There were patients mistreated in prison in a piece titled “detecting disorder”. “Doctoring the mind” proved that there is a flawed foundation that treatment has been built on. Examples such as multiple diagnoses from different doctors. “Treatment of Mental Disorders” gives multiple examples of treatment procedures that have gone wrong. Examples of emotional abuse of patients such as ignoring them in a group therapy session, an blaming of the patient for their inability to get better.

Why is it a problem? Patients can be diagnosed with something different from different doctors. This can be very stressful to them because it makes them believe that there are multiple things wrong with them when there really might be one. Patients will also be losing time and money going to different doctors in an attempt to discover the real problem. All patients should receive the same quality of treatment. The fact that there is still discrimination in the medical field is extremely unfair and needs to be resolved. There are no excuses for doctors to mentally abuse patients. It is the doctors job to make the patient better, if the doctor is taking their inability to cure out on the patient, there needs to be repercussions.

More examples from Class The Charcot piece, in which women were wrongfully examined in front of audiences. There is also an example in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, when Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells how her brother and husband (both physicians) write off her problem as just common depression. Although the Charcot piece takes place more than 50 years ago, it is still relevant to past mistreatment.

Questions to be Asked Who is responsible for the neglect of these patients? Should the doctors be held responsible for their poor treatment methods? What can be done to improve the treatment of mental patients?

Possible Solutions Doctors require more extensive training in order to meet the needs of the patient. Doctors who incorrectly treat a patient should be punished in some sort of way. Doctors who deal with mental problems in particular should collaborate with each other so that they don’t end up making multiple diagnoses.

Work Cited Teplin, Linda A. “Detecting Disorder” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 58.2 (1990): 233-236. Print. Bentall, Richard P. Doctoring the Mind. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Print Sartorious, N. Treatment of Mental Disorders: A Review of Effectiveness. Washington D.C. The World Health Organization by American Psychiatric Press, 1993. Print. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/25/hysteria-all-in-the-mind http://csivc.csi.cuny.edu/history/files/lavender/yellowwallpaper.pdf

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