Question

For centuries, people have believed myths and misconceptions about psychological disorders and the people who suffer from them. Modern psychological research has allowed us to correct some of these misconceptions. As a result, many people have changed their ideas about mental and emotional disorders. Think of a common misconception you have observed in society or in your personal experience. How could information from research be used to change people's views of psychological disorders? How can this information help us to better understand people who experience mental and emotional disorders?

In a multi-paragraph essay, describe the misconception you observed and discuss how information from research could be used to change this misconception about psychological disorders and the people who suffer from them. Be sure to include details from class materials, readings, and research on psychological disorders to support your discussion.

Answer 1

Depression – Major Misconceptions

In the society where I live, depression is a very common psychological disorder which is often misunderstood and there are a number of myths and misconceptions related to Depression. Depression is a very complex illness, in the sense that it is very difficult to explain how it feels. It is purely subjective and it requires proper treatment too. The following misconceptions or myths are very commonly prevalent in my society about depression.

First of all, people do not consider depression as a psychological condition; they often believe that it’s all ‘made up’ in your mind. They think that it is not something to be taken seriously; it’s just the mind-set of the people suffering from it. Also, I’ve come across people saying that a person with a healthy mind can never be depressed and that depression affects people who are weak. It’s a major misconception that depression is merely a feeling created by oneself in their head.

Another major misconception regarding depression is that ‘A person is depressed because they don’t receive enough love and care”. Well, this is not the actual case. People with a very loving and supportive environment around them can also suffer from depression at some point in their lives. Love and care is not exactly related to depression at all. Yes, it’s true that providing people suffering from depression with more love and care can help them fight their situation but it is not entirely correct to say that only people who are deprived of love and care suffer from depression. Feelings and symptoms of depression dos not disappear by giving more love and care.

Another major myth is that mental illness like depression is caused by weakness of our minds. In reality mental illness including depression has no relation with being weak or strong. It can happen to any normal individual just like having fever or a muscle cramp. Depression HAS biological causes too.

People often believe that people who are suffering from depression will be unable to lead a normal happy life again. As explained earlier depression is just like a fever that can be cured with proper treatment. Depression is caused by certain neurochemical imbalances occurring in our brain and with proper treatment, it can be completely cured. People with depression can lead a life that is as normal as anybody else’s’.

Finally, a major misconception about depression I hear a lot is that depression is always caused by some tragic events in one’s life. Yes, tragedies like death of a loved one can cause depression but not all people who experience such tragedies in life suffer from depression. It is high time people start accept the fact that depression CAN occur without any specific reasons to point out, again, just like a fever.

Researches – How to clear these misconceptions?

In my opinion, People should have more awareness about what causes depression especially the biological causes and how it is related to our brain than our mind. Misconceptions arise because of lack of proper knowledge. I live in a society where people still have social stigma towards mental disorders, where people believe that visiting a Psychiatrist or a Psychologist means “He/She is crazy’. Hence people often do not take a step forward and seek help when it comes to psychological problems. Things have to change for better and for that, more research and studies should be conducted in order to create awareness about these illnesses.

Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist (PSY11404) practicing in Los Angeles wrote an article in Psychology Today about ‘Is Depression an Illness?” The article gives us a complete idea about what is depression, what exactly causes depression and what are the genetic roots of the disease. At the end of the article he explains that depression is a disease or a psychosocial syndrome that require more than just pharmacological treatment.

In April 2008, a research article was published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry, “Understanding nutrition, depression and mental illnesses” by researchers T. S. Sathyanarayana Rao, M. R. Asha, B. N. Ramesh, and K. S. Jagannatha Rao. The research was based on how nutrition is related to depression. It tries to explain that depression is not entirely rooted fro emotions rather; it can have other causal factors apart from the biological ones too. This perspective throws light on our food patterns that may lead to certain mental illness including depression.

There was an article called “The roots of mental illness- How much of mental illness can the biology of the brain explains?” By Kirsten Weir Published in the American Psychological Association on June 2012. The article explains clearly, the nature of mental illnesses and how they could be diagnosed. The author explains that mental illnesses are very much different from other illnesses like a cardiac arrest or a brain tumor. The article provides details about the roots of various mental illnesses.

Well, these are just a few examples of studies conducted on depression and other mental illnesses, understanding them would probably change the attitude our society holds about psychological disorders especially depression

In my opinion, more than research studies, understanding the real-life experiences of people, maybe famous celebrities whom we adore a lot who have experienced some kind of mental illnesses would create more impact and would lead to a better understanding of the condition. For examples, in the Indian context, Deepika Padukone is one of the leading ladies of Indian Film Industry who openly talked about how she battled depression. Manisha Koirala, yet another Film star in India had battled clinical depression as well as cancer. Yo Yo honey Singh, a singer from India, suffered from Bipolar disorder. And Ileana D’Cruz, an Indian film actress suffered from Body Dismorphic disorder, depression and anxiety in the past. All such real-life stories help in creating a better understanding of such conditions and people come to know more about how it feels to suffer from one of them.