This study does not reflect in any way the actual prevalence of the disorder in one country compared to another. The data simply shows that there are more psychiatrists trained in the US to diagnose such problems or other doctors are more aware of the possible symptoms of bipolar disorder, and thus more likely to recommend that a patient see a psychiatrist. In addition to these great differences between the two health care systems, the cultural impacts of the disorder are even greater. There is a much higher awareness in the United States of bipolar and its effects. This means that there is a much better chance of a family member, friend, relative or the person themselves realizing they need help and going to seek it in the US than in India. In addition to the high level of health education in this country, there is a much higher chance that someone in India realizing they need help, but choosing not to seek that help because of fear of being outcast.
The authors of the article argue that some heightened exposure to social media, etc. in the US make Americans more disposed to these disorders, but I think that these trends are drastically more impacted by irregularities in diagnosis. The article is another sad reminder of how far we still have to come in dealing with mental health problems, especially in the developing world. Are there any solutions to these daunting statistics?
I found this article to be really interesting. I think that in the case of any disease, a high income, higher educated country is more likely to notice the symptoms of disease first. However, I think that in the case of mental health problems, this gap between low/middle income countries and high income countries becomes even greater. I think that this has to do with the fact that symptoms are not as overt as symptoms of diseases like malaria and others. I think a main consideration that was mentioned was the idea that many people in developed countries are aware of the risk that mental disorders pose, as well as signs for these disorders. Therefore, there is a higher level of self-diagnosis or diagnosis by someone other than a trained professional. I think that overall, mental disorders are hard to classify. However,with education of these increasingly important diseases, I believe that more people will become more aware of their significance on the lives of those affected.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of "solutions," I don't think that we are ever going to be able to completely cure all mental illnesses, simply because there isn't a vaccine or something that can prevent mental illness, and even when it is diagnosed, it's such a subjective problem that effective treatments can be hard to find. However, that doesn't mean that mental illness is something that should be ignored, simply something that requires more creative solutions. I think that part of this has to involve training more people in developing countries, and even within developed countries, to recognize the signs of mental health disorders so that the right specialists can be contacted. Also, we have to eliminate the social stigma around this in order to make people feel comfortable seeking out treatment that they need. I also think that more research needs to be done regarding what we discussed in class the other day about the difference in success rates between just using therapy, using medications, and using a combination, as I had a hard time finding any reliable data on the topic.
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