MENTAL HEALTH
The article titled “It’s time to rethink our thinking about mental health problems” by Richard Lakeman presents critical view on contemporary treatment to mental health. New opportunities open for the people, by discovering different biogenetic inventions and technological upheaval, are undoubtedly great accomplishments. However, such issues are to be considered comprehensively, as their influence is not as clear and exclusively beneficial as it may seem at first glance.
Talking more specifically, author means that there develops a new, quite hazardous, if applied blindly, method of treating mental disorders – namely, by defining them as brain diseases. Actually, as R. Lakeman argues, such characteristic is rather a mental a premature and unproven one. If explaining mental disorders exclusively by physiological prerequisites, then the sophisticated relation between our personalities and social environments will be neglected.
Furthermore, such narrow-minded explanation affects not only science by its disfiguration, but also plays negative role in treatment of people, which is totally unacceptable. For instance, R. Lakeman states that “once enormously popular anti-anxiety drugs can lead to dependency and dangerous withdrawal syndromes, and when used for long periods make treating the original or underlying problems more difficult” (Lakeman, 2011). Hence, such person will not get effective professional help, but in contrary, will get stuck and tangled with wrong conclusions, without any hope for future.
In other words, professional pieces of advice, found in this article, like “to eschew simplistic biogenetic explanations for human behaviour and rediscover bio-psycho-social-spiritual explanations” have significant value on contemporary treatment and its subsequent development. The scope of considered issues is universally important, as concerns to the tomorrow of our lives. From our either acceptance of Lakeman’s ideas and rethinking of mental health, or ignorance of such wise suggestions, depends the future of psychology and psychotherapy.
Works Cited
1. Lakeman, R. (2011). It’s time to rethink our thinking about mental health problems. British Journal of Wellbeing, 2(5), 8-9.
MENTAL HEALTH
The article “Psychiatric Issues in Palliative Care: Assessing Mental Capacity” introduces a professional research of problem moments, which clinicians and psychiatrists face when treating people with mental incapacities. Widely used nowadays client-centered approach prescribes that patient is to take all important decisions, whereas therapists are to respect them. Such policy seems to be a right and humanistic one, however, there may still occur some sophisticated ethic and medical problems.
Authors use example of people with mental disorders as an vivid illustration to previous statement. As the issue concerns the questions of life and death, which are to be decided by not healthy in mental sense people, all nuances are frequently regulated by social or legal norms. E.g., The Mental Capacity Act 2005 prescribes that a person is unable to make a decision if he or she cannot generally understand information about the decision, retain that information in mind, use or weigh that information long enough to make a decision, communicate the decision - by talking, using sign language or any other means (Udo et. al., 2013). In aforementioned situation, the power to conclude vital decisions is in the hands of independent mental capacity advocate, attorney, authorized close relative etc.
However, there are many situations when temporary mental incapacity does not forbid to rule own life. For instance, it is admissible to take unwise decisions, or decide to reject from further treatment with replacing it by non-medical ways, as aromatherapy. Author underlines that “it is important for palliative care staff to consider the situation more closely when faced with clinical circumstances in which patients withdraw from treatments, or procedures in cases where those patients actually have the capacity to make those decisions” (Udo et. al., 2013).
In other words, this article presents a broad ground for further discovering. It reveals the truth that sometimes balance between preserving of a free will of an ill person and desirable methods of treatment is almost impossible to be found. Overall, it is extremely important to move such vitally demanded topic forward by future scientific researches.
Works Cited
1. Udo, I., Mohammed, Z., & Gash, A. (2013). Psychiatric Issues in Palliative Care: Assessing Mental Capacity. Palliative Care: Research and Treatment, 7, 37–42.
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MENTAL HEALTH
The article “Mental health in primary care for adolescent parents” is a valuable combination of scientific theory and workable practice, which is able to inspire professionals to develop their qualifications as well as to make everyone more interested and tolerate to the youth, who faced parental duties rather early.
As authors state, adolescent parents, especially women, cope with numerous mental difficulties, and very frequently – on their own. It is explained with their shame to express need in help, with adult problems on the shoulders of almost children, with fear of failure in family life and execution of parental duties. Such serious problems can be overcome with professional help. Various centers with such goals are established now, however, all of them concern mainly one sphere of social life of adolescents to be improved.
Consequently, authors of this very article were enthusiastic and professional enough in order to set up institution of a new type. The Corner Health Center in Michigan “is a multimodal, multicollaborative effort and incorporates individualised care (primary care/obstetric/midwifery care, psychiatric care, individual counselling or therapy, paediatric care) and group support (a psycho-educational parenting and self-care skills curriculum delivered in group-format, the Mom Power parenting group)” (LePlatte et. al., 2012). Its ground-breaking character is explained by its comprehensive nature, which includes trainings in self-development, teaches parental skills and renews social interaction with the world.
Considered article belongs to those works of paramount importance, which are powerful enough to make revolutionary changes in societal thinking. It is because its theoretical conclusions are clear, argumentative and scientific. In addition, the article goes beyond narrow borders of theory and implements made conclusions into real practice in order to transform current drawbacks into advantages. It may become a triggering factor to emergence of similar researches and to establishment of similar centers for adolescent parents all over the world.
Works Cited
1. LePlatte, D., Rosenblum, K. L., Stanton, E., Miller, N. & Muzik, M. (2012). Mental health in primary care for adolescent parents. Mental Health in Family Medicine, 9(1), 39–45.
