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Mental Health Sociology

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Certain people who were not for the betterment of the people would be the church and their cruel treatment of those with mental illnesses. In the past it was much worse than it is today due to the advancement of medicine although the church never cared much for advancement. Their involvement with the mentally ill goes back a long time and none of it makes the church look good. In the past, Christians in particular, believed that the mentally ill had the devils spirit inside of them and so it was okay to harm them (“Treatment of the Insane”). The mentally ill were subjected to harsh treatment in the form of purging, beating, exorcisms and many more. In one particular institute involved with the church called Bethlehem or Bedlam, they would allow …show more content…
Doctors have advanced significantly over the years and have led to various new and improved treatments. It is often thought of whether the stigma against mental health led to a bias coming from doctors. In the past it was apparent due to the fact that no one really thoroughly studied mental health until later on when it was thought that hey, maybe there wasn’t a devil residing in that person but a disorder in their minds that causes them to lose control. In the past, doctors seemed hesitant to pursue this field of study but in the end pushed through the stigma and ‘witchcraft’ surrounding it and were able to get in gear and find possible solutions to something that was inconceivable. Doctors of the present vary greatly than they did before considering it was a profession that wasn’t followed. Today we have all kinds of doctors who are able to treat mental illness in different ways. These doctors include primary care doctors, holistic and alternative medicine doctors, psychologists, psychoanalysts, and psychiatrists (Goldberg). Each of these doctors has their own way of treating for the mentally ill. Most of the time pills or talk therapy are the main methods and seem to work the best. There are also herbal remedies and improving one’s well-being rather than with medication such as St. John’s Wort that can be used to treat depression (Curran). Controlling a person’s mental health would make it easy for a doctor to abuse their power and sadly some of them are not above doing such things. There are stories of doctors abusing their power all the time and unfortunately it is something that happens. Doctors will sexually, mentally, verbally, and even physically abuse their patients. It may be due to the rush of power they feel when seeing their vulnerable patients or even just a lapse in judgment that left someone hurt. This is not new and worse in the

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