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Elizabeth Dixon
8/6/2014
English 1010-026, 1:15
Professor James Celestino
Argument Essay 3
rd
Draft
People with Mental Disorders
Mental disorders can affect many people at one time or another in your lifetime, whether
it is anxiety or depression or any other mental disorder. US population need to be informed about
mental disorders because so many people are affected by it, whether you know someone with it
or not. The population need to be more understanding about mental disorders because you dont
know what the person is going through regardless of their mental disorder. The US population
needs to be informed about mental disorders in the work place, medicine and in crime because
mental disorders can be complex to deal with.
Mental disorders affect many people in the work place. According to a recent study by
the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey states Americans ages 15 to 54, reported that 18% of
those who were employed said they experienced symptoms of a mental disorder in the prior
month (1). So mental disorders usually go unrecognized or untreated in the work place. Many
people may feel that if they seek help for their mental disorder because of job security, looked at
differently by employers and co-worker, less productiveness and less wage earnings.
The structure and physical aspects in the work place is the working tasks, working
conditions and the work environment. The working tasks are the day to day tasks. It is usually
routine and automatic. According to Lanctt, the working condition not only include your wages
and bonuses but also a social benefit (1420). The work schedule can be important for a person
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with mental disorders because it gives you structure. It also gives the person with mental
disorders a sense that you belong and are contributing to society. According to Lanctt the work
environment is the physical setting of a job. It also included the location, equipment, materials
used to perform your work (1420). By having the same task and routine people with mental
disorders may feel secure that they can perform the job to the best to their ability.
Interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects in the workplace is having a sense of belonging to
the company, being a good worker, and having a relationship with coworkers. According to
Lanctt the sense of belonging to the company is feeling good with their work and having a
sense of well-being and workers are satisfies with their work (1420). Also according to Lanctt
being a good worker is to meet the requirements of the supervisor, being productive, proper work
behavior, make an effort and discipline (1420). Also having a feeling of pride and
accomplishment of their work. Having a relationship with coworkers should be of trust, support
and helping each other. Having a good relationship in the workplace helps people with mental
disorders can makes it a bit easier for them to do their jobs. People with mental disorder dont
want to be labeled a being mentally ill because you get discriminated against.
Mental disorder medications have increases considerable over the last decade. When
going to any type of doctor for mental disorders the first thing that they will do is prescribing
some kind of medication for your specific illness, doctors dont look at alternative ways of
handling mental disorders. In a recent overview of Australian prescribing trends showed the
rates increased 95% for antidepressants and 72% for ADHD between 2000 and 2011 (Partridge,
1). Sometimes you wonder if the doctors are diagnosing a person properly. With the over use of
medications can deter people of going to seek help or treatment when they need some sort of
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help. Most medications for mental disorders are not cheap, so how is everyone supposed to be
able pay for these medications that doctors want us to take.
Medication is on the increase in this day of age. Medication is the first thing that doctors
prescribe to people. According to Partridge widening diagnostic criteria, off-label use drugs and
effective pharmaceutical industry marketing have been suggested as factors contributing to the
rise of medications (2). With the over use of medication can deter people from going and getting
the help that they need from a doctor or mental health clinic. You can see ads on television and
in magazines for medications but you dont hear or read able other alternatives that can help
people cope with their mental disorders. For instance yoga can help a person with depression.
Peoples attitudes towards medication can vary. Some people may think the prescribing
medication is the only way to go. Other people may belief in alternative ways of dealing with
certain mental disorder. According to Partridge, in a 2011 Australian surveyed 1265 members of
Queensland public, finding that 55% of people believed it was acceptable to use prescription
drugs to treat depression; however about 15% disagreed outright and about 30% were unsure or
neutral, indicating that there is considerable room for acceptance for anti-depressants (2).
People with mental disorders are convicted of more crimes than the general population.
Mental disorders can be connected with almost all types of crimes. According to Short:
Schizophrenia-spectrum patients who had been charged with a criminal offence were
4.80 times more likely than schizophrenia-spectrum non-offenders (n=2,413) to have a
record of violent victimisation, and 3.07 times more likely to have a record of non-violent
victimisation, after controlling for the effects of age, gender and substance-use disorders
(4).
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Mental disorders are related to all types of crimes but that some specific crimes. In a recent pre
trail forensic report, according to Vinkers, psychotic disorders are associated with all types of
crimes, except rape, developmental disorders are associated with homicide, personality disorders
are associated with sexual crimes and homicide, and IQ lower than 85 points are associated with
sexual crimes (318). The general population dont know what people with mental disorders can
do or what their stressors are to go commit some form of crime.
The relationship between mental disorders and crime was examines through the
accountability. According to Vinkers, relationship can be established between mental disorders
and crime, this is not much use in practice, unless there is some understanding and whether the
crime maybe directly attributed to the disorder or whether there is an indirect association, for
example through low socio-economic status, previous institutionalization or substance abuse or a
common antecedent (318-319). The relationship of mental disorders and a crime has different
aspects to it depending on the crime and the mental disorder and how the person was treated as
while growing up.
The perspectives of crimes can be looked at in many different ways. The population may
be concerned that people with certain mental disorders are not getting the help that they need or
medicated properly. Sometimes people with mental disorders may not think that they need help
or even refuse to get the help that they need. According to Matthias, some research has shown
that people who experience delusions act upon them frequently and that persecutory delusions
are especially likely to be acted upon (64). Sometime people with mental disorders may need an
intervention from their family or a close friend to get the help that is needed. People with mental
disorders may not think that there is anything wrong with them.
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The population needs to understand that people with mental disorders need a sense of
belonging in society. People with mental disorders would like to have a sense a belonging in the
workplace. Medications are being prescribed way too much and need to be looked at, to see if it
is needed according to the person with mental disorders symptoms or if there is an alternative
way of treating the person without medication. People with mental disorder are convicted of a
crime more than the rest of the population. People that have mental disorders that commit a
crime needs to understand why it that they have committed the crime is. Mental health agencies
should have certain steps to deal with people that have mental disorders and how signs of hate,
hurting other people or themselves.














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Works Cited
Lanctt, Nathalie, Marie-Jos Durand, and Marc Corbire. "The Quality of Work Life of People
With Severe Mental Disorders Working In Social Enterprises: A Qualitative Study."
Quality Of Life Research 21.8 (2012): 1415-1423. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11
July 2014.
Matthias, and C. Angermeyer. "Schizophrenia And Violence." Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
102.(2000): 63-67. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 July 2014.
"Mental Health Problems in The Workplace." Harvard Mental Health Letter 26.8 (2010): 1-
3. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 July 2014.
Partridge, Brad, Jayne Lucke, and Wayne Hall. "Over-Diagnosed and Over-Treated: A Survey
Of Australian Public Attitudes Towards the Acceptability of Drug Treatment for
Depression and ADHD." BMC Psychiatry 14.1 (2014): 1-9. Academic Search
Premier.Web. 13 July 2014.
Short, Tamsin B. R., et al. "A Case-Linkage Study Of Crime Victimisation In Schizophrenia-
Spectrum Disorders Over A Period Of Deinstitutionalisation." BMC Psychiatry 13.1
(2013): 1-9. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 July 2014.
Vinkers, David J., et al. "The Relationship Between Mental Disorders And Different Types Of
Crime." Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health 21.5 (2011): 307-320. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 13 July 2014.
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