12.6 Chapter Summary
Kathryn Burrows and Kimberly Puttman
In this section, we have explored the different explanations for mental health, mental wellness, and mental illness. We have looked at what sociologists care about when they study mental health, and we have looked at some of the leading explanations for mental challenges—including stress and social role conflict. We have seen that People of Color, and people who are poor, are more likely to have mental health challenges—and we have seen that this is probably both an effect of being poor, as well as a cause. We ended the chapter by looking at innovative ways social service organizations have responded to mental illness problems in their communities. While it’s OK to be not OK, supporting mental health is social justice.
Essential Ideas
Learning Objective 1: What is the difference between mental health, mental illness, and mental well-being?
Distinguishing between mental health, mental illness, and mental well-being is important. All of us can understand more about our own mental health and the mental health of others. This allows us to live resiliently. Some of us have mental illnesses or diagnosed conditions. And even people with mental illness can experience mental well-being, an active process that allows us to thrive mentally and emotionally.
Learning Objective 2: How can we understand mental health as a social problem?
Even though individuals experience poor mental health or resilient mental health, we can see mental health as a social problem because:
- Different groups experience mental health in different ways. Old people and young people have different rates of mental illness
- People differ in their willingness to support or fund mental health services
- people experience unequal symptoms, access to services, and outcomes based on their social location.
- The way that we understand mental health and mental illness changes over time. Therefore what we do to support and treat people with mental illnesses changes over time also.
- COVID-19 has demonstrated that it takes both the collective action of establishing more community-based, culturally appropriate mental health services and individual care for mental health for everyone to be mentally healthy.
Learning Objective 3: Why do people experience different mental health issues, diagnoses, and treatments based on gender, race, class, and other social locations?
Like physical health, groups’ experiences with mental health vary based on intersecting social locations. For example, People of Color tend to experience more symptoms of mental illness but receive less treatment and have poorer outcomes.
Learning Objective 4: How does the social construction of the identity of mixed race explain social inequality, particularly in relationship to mental health?
People who are mixed-race tend to experience poorer mental health outcomes partially because they experience prejudice and discrimination from multiple groups. They may be considered not White enough or not Black enough, for example.
Learning Objective 5: How is mental health and mental illness an underlying factor in other social problems?
Sociologists study whether mental illness can contribute to making someone poor or whether being poor can partially cause mental illness. They find that both directions of this relationship are partially true. Furthermore, it is relatively common to be houseless and mentally ill or have harmful drug use and be mentally ill. These complex experiences make social problems challenging to impact.
Learning Objective 6: How does the structural oppression of patriarchy impact social problems, particularly related to women, queer, transgender, and non-binary people?
It’s not that gender identity or expression causes social problems directly. Patriarchy, the social structure, and behaviors that empower men and oppress women and non-binary people limit options and cause harm. Almost any social problem is worse for women and non-binary people than it is for men.
Learning Objective 7: How do sociological explanations of mental health and mental illness differ from primarily medical or psychological models?
Psychologists, doctors, and sociologists use different models to understand why people experience mental health or mental illness. These different models support different kinds of treatments or social change. Sociological models emphasize the social determinants of health and focus on changing related social structures.
Learning Objective 8: What creative solutions to providing mental health services combine individual agency and collective action to expand social justice?
COVID-19 has made it clear that people need more mental health support that is effective and culturally appropriate. As individuals, we can take action in our daily lives and communities to support our own mental wellbeing and the health of others. Collectively, community mental health services like CAHOOTS and The Loveland Foundation provide these services effectively. However, the work doesn’t end there. Generational and systemic inequalities partially cause mental health issues, and limit equal access to mental health services. Fighting for equity and resilience in our mental health is social justice.
Key Terms Review
[H5P60]
[H5P61]
[H5P62]
[H5P63]
Key Terms List
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM): the handbook used by health care professionals as the authoritative guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders. DSM contains descriptions, symptoms, and other criteria for diagnosing mental disorders.
gender expression: the external appearance of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, body characteristics, or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.
gender identity: one’s innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither – how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. One’s gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth.
mental health: a state of mind characterized by emotional well-being, good behavioral adjustment, relative freedom from anxiety and disabling symptoms, and a capacity to establish constructive relationships and cope with the ordinary demands and stresses of life.
mental illness: a wide range of mental health conditions, disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addictive behaviors.
mental wellness: an internal resource that helps us think, feel, connect, and function; it is an active process that helps us to build resilience, grow, and flourish.
models of mental health and illness : biological model: understands mental health and illness to be a combination of genetics and neurochemicals. It understands mental illness to be a defect of brain chemistry. biopsychosocial model: an interdisciplinary model that looks at the interconnection between biology, psychology, and socio-environmental factors medical model: a theory that states that psychiatric conditions are caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. psychological model: an approach to mental illness that assumes mental health and mental illness lie within mental processes, such as beliefs, attitudes, thinking patterns, and life experiences. sociological model: an approach that emphasizes that a society’s culture shapes its understanding of health and illness and practice of medicine
patriarchy: a form of mental, social, spiritual, economic, and political organization/structuring of society produced by the gradual institutionalization of sex-based political relations created, maintained, and reinforced by different institutions linked closely together to achieve consensus on the lesser value of women and their roles.
racial trauma: a term used to describe the physical and psychological symptoms that People of Color often experience after being exposed to stressful experiences of racism
role strain: a situation caused by higher-than-expected demands placed on an individual performing a specific role that leads to difficulty or stress.
sex: A biological categorization based on characteristics that distinguish between female and male based on primary sex characteristics present at birth.
stigmatization of illness: when shame or disgrace is aimed at a person with a physical or mental illness or condition
Discuss and Do
- Mental Well-being: In Chapter 2 Angela Davis proposed that we practice radical self-care. Caring for your own mental well-being is a radical act of resistance. Why is this true? How might you implement it?
- Mental Health and Social Location: In this chapter, we discuss several groups who may experience challenges to their mental health. Please pick one group to discuss.
- What evidence do you have of inequality for that group?
- How might sociologists explain this difference?
- Do you agree or disagree?
- Correlation and Causation of Mental Health: Does poverty cause mental illness, or does mental illness cause poverty? Please use evidence to support your answer. You may want to apply your understanding of correlation and causation that we presented in Chapter 5.
- Community Activism for Mental Health: Finding mental health resources can be challenging. Please identify a community mental health resource.
- For your answer, please describe the service you found. This description might include the name of the program or meeting, phone number or address, type of service, and other useful details.
- Do you think this intervention is effective? Why or why not? (You may be able to find outcomes evidence)
Licenses and Attributions for Chapter Summary
Open Content, Original
“Chapter Summary” by Kathryn Burrows and Kimberly Puttman is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
a state of mind characterized by emotional well-being, good behavioral adjustment, relative freedom from anxiety and disabling symptoms, and a capacity to establish constructive relationships and cope with the ordinary demands and stresses of life.
an internal resource that helps us think, feel, connect, and function; it is an active process that helps us to build resilience, grow, and flourish.
a wide range of mental health conditions, disorders that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and addictive behaviors.
full and equal participation of of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs