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Post by Admin on Aug 16, 2016 15:02:42 GMT -4
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Post by Roop Waraich (MS3) on Aug 16, 2016 16:13:25 GMT -4
This article I feel showcases yet again, the giant stigma that America has, regarding mental health. The president, or even any high pressure job, is prone to intense levels of emotion and stress, that can take a toll on even the most stoic or confident people. The American public always envisions high profile personnel, namely the president, to be the beacon of hope, and to also represent the country as a whole, and to have that leader be diagnosed with a mental disorder, could in a way, show weakness and vulnerability in us all. When the leader shows "weakness", then the society can also very deeply be affected, as they can take a longer look at their own lives, and their own habits, and perhaps have their eyes opened to their own mental health.
Being open about mental health is very important, and it is integral to the progression and improvement of any country, as it affects us all. Having a high profile person such as the president, be diagnosed with a mental disorder, can humanize them in a way, as it shoes that mental health affects anyone.
In politics, there have been many advances now in mental health, namely the Jimmy Carter Center, where former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, opened up a Treatment and Research center, here in Atlanta, where a primary focus, of namely the former First Lady, is to tackle the stigmas of mental health, and to advance research in treatment options, and have treatment readily available to anyone. The fact that The Carter family puts their heart and soul into the Carter Center, shows that progress is coming. People can talk more and be more open about whats on their mind, as the country works on improving itself everyday.
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Post by Brandon Brooks MS3 on Aug 16, 2016 21:34:02 GMT -4
Many people forget that political figures, and presidents, are human beings like the rest of society. Just because someone is a politician doesn't exclude them from mental illnesses. High pressured jobs can cause a lot of GAD,and MDD. Politicians spend a lot of time trying to appease others, and this type of attitude and job will bring a toll on someone's mental health. Moreover, I agree that Donald Trump has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, because he displays a lot of arrogance and self absorption, but once the polls are not in his favor he shows a lof of inferiority and low self esteem. Office holders partake in a high stressed job and they have an enormous impact on the public. It's imperative that they seek therapy on a regular basis, and that their mental health remains managed. Brandon Brooks MS3 |
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Post by Paul Lee UMHS MS4 on Aug 16, 2016 23:23:04 GMT -4
After reading this article, I think that mental illness still has a lot of negative stigma attached to it, unlike other chronic medical conditions like hypertension or diabetes. This, actually, is not surprising in the least. Why else would the people running for president resort to playground like name calling? I don't think that Hilary Clinton would ever say something like,"Don't vote for Trump. He has pheochromocytoma." This stigma is propagated by the general public's misunderstanding of mental illness, with many people thinking that the mentally ill are dangerous, or some how are responsible for their conditions. I found the fact that so many past president's suffered from differing mental illnesses fascinating; it just goes to show that although people suffer from these conditions, they still have the capacity to achieve greatness.
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Post by arifhussainmd3 on Aug 16, 2016 23:26:32 GMT -4
A lot of Politicians due to their influence or status in the society at large are not put through the same scrutiny of mental illness as a lay person is put through. As the article mentions, there have been a lot of presidents in the past who may have had mental illness but were not exposed. They were either our founding fathers, war heroes, or rich members of our society. President's office is an office with great responsibility which not only affects us Americans but the whole world. Therefore, instead of portraying them as heroes and electing them in office, we as a nation should look at their mental health, and get them help. However, they should not be put on the ballot for presidency, and hide the fact that they have mental problems. Donald Trump with his personality disorder, is not somehow going to change his attitude and personality once in the office, it is a lifetime problem that must be kept in check, and not elected into the office. I agree with an analyst from the democratic party who pointed it out. Exactly because the presidential office is a high demanding and stressful job, there should be mental health evaluation for each candidate who is running for the presidency to see if he/she can handle it.
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Post by Madhav Shyam MS3 on Aug 17, 2016 0:02:33 GMT -4
There’s no escaping the public bias a mental illness brings. If you're diagnosed with one, it’s on your record; physicians will always refer to it in your history, as they should. However physicians, mainly psychiatrists, can help you get it under control and help you lead “back to normal” lives for the majority of cases. We encourage people to come forward with their issues, but it seems that any jury will find reasons to explain your actions through your “flavor” of mental illness. We are taught while young that you cannot shame anyone’s physical disabilities or injuries, and I do not think any political candidate would ever go that far. This does not apply unanimously in our society yet to mental health issues, and it probably will not since these are invisible problems and people generally look “normal” and thus should probably be “normal”. Yet when people are told that these normal people indeed suffer from a mental illness, it’s in their nature to try and justify this person’s actions and interactions with their preconceived notions of the illness.
Medical students can undergo a lot of pressure in med school, it does not surprise many of us that depression for example is quite common. When applying for residency positions, such behavioral, potentially performance affecting illnesses are not something we are encouraged to disclose either. Granted that we are lucky to not have to undergo a public forum to establish our candidacies for these positions. A disclosed mental illness follows you around like a permanent bad credit score, and to people who apply for such publicly scrutinized positions, it just seems everyone else is better off not knowing.
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Post by Emily Keys- MS3 on Aug 17, 2016 21:00:14 GMT -4
This article highlights the stigma of mental health that has unfortunately not changed much. If someone speaks out about their mental health diagnosis, it seems as if they are instantly judged and criticized. In my opinion, if someone reveals that they have struggled with mental illness, it shows way more about their character than any stereotype associated with their diagnosis ever could. No one in this world is perfect, not even the President. Every single person encounters stresses and struggles throughout life. Just because a person needs extra help through these stresses and struggles, it does not make them inadequate or inferior.
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Post by oluwasola olawuyi on Aug 17, 2016 22:46:47 GMT -4
Mental illness, like any other physical disease, is an illness that no one is immunized from. It can affect
anyone from both low and high socioeconomic status and appropriate therapy has proven that this can be treated like any other disease. In the past, people suffering from mental illness are often labelled as incapable in performing certain task but modern findings have proofed this perception to be wrong if appropriate therapy is given. A good number of great and not-so great presidents of the united states had suffered from mental illness, like depression, bipolar disorder and this sickness did not prevent them from performing their duties when appropriate therapy was given.
We should understand, that mental illness is just like any other disease and people need to be enlightened more about this. Having a history of mental illness shouldn’t prevent anyone from pursuing their goals in life provided appropriate therapy is given. This article gives us an insight about this disease and showed us how people diagnosed with the disease can still excel in their work if given appropriate therapy
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Post by Raghda Alanbari on Aug 17, 2016 23:23:02 GMT -4
The presence of mental health ailments at the highest level of government remains little known or more common little discussed. I believe that any official department will decline to discuss the president's health.
It would be hard for any public figure afflicted by psychosis, hallucinations, or catatonic behavior to do his or her job effectively.
Mild symptoms is normal especially being in such stressful position, a leader! Its so normal to develop general anxiety disorder or depression or phobias but it's not acceptable to have sever mood illness or psychosis and lead people! It's so scary to have a president with sever mental illness, no body can be functioning normally with sick brain, president needs to make important decisions about people's life, what will happen if he or she developed an episode of mania, there is a possibility of risky behaviors during these episodes. Wars and bad decisions that leaders made are probably due to sick mentality. I don't mean they can't do better, they can but they need the right help to be able to lead people towards successful life. And that's why I think having a psychiatrist in their life is so important.
And again we really knows very little about presidents, their life considered private and public had no access to them, the little we know about their mental health comes from sporadic information found in their diaries or from a friend, family member that disclosed some information, or may be from a health records that released under specific circumstances.
I believe all the presidents are mentally sick and if not, they will be after receiving the chair, and personality disorders are also a very common conditions that the presidents could develop and here comes the importance of psychiatrist presence along their way.
Do I really want a person with serious mental illness to be one step from controlling a nuclear weapons?? No, this will be a disaster life for public!
I believe there is a need for a psychiatric evaluation for the high level jobs, candidates should get the right evaluation before control others life, there are some countries evaluate candidates' mental health for the government jobs before approving their candidacy. But that not mean they can't handle these jobs, they can but they should seek the mental help, a lot of people that I am seeing doing so good with medication but they do because they agree that they need to.
I believe anyone with mental illness can be something with hard work and the most important understanding their problems, getting the right advice and the right medication will stabilize their mood and make them functioning normally.
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Post by Nisha Sheth on Aug 18, 2016 0:26:38 GMT -4
I think its unacceptable the way people can use “mental health issues” in order to try and discredit someone. The role of an extensive psychiatric team serves the purpose to try and help certain individuals lead a healthy and as close to “normal” life as possible. So to say that a political figure should be discredited for having a mental health issue or for seeking help is distasteful. The public perception of the president or any other high ranked officials has always been held to the highest standard. I think people forget that even the president is human, and is just as susceptible to any and all health issues, including mental health.
Even under the circumstances, it’s great that certain politicians are open about their disorders. I find it unfortunate that this hasn’t been an open discussion with any of our current presidential candidates, and is still deemed frowned upon or used as a negative connotation. I’m not surprised that based on several studies, people’s perception of mental health is so negatively biased. There are so many great organizations that exist to raise awareness for certain diseases and I think more emphasis on mental health is necessary.
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Post by ekemini MS3 on Aug 18, 2016 1:16:53 GMT -4
Its sadly a reality that the society still has a keyhole view of people with any sort of mental health ailments.This article informative in its own way just reveals the larger problem,mental illness comes with a stigma and try what you may its really hard to get rid off. In light of this its hardly a surprise that high placed government personnel choose not to reveal or discuss any detail about mental illness affecting them.It not also a surprise that jobs or careers that demand long hours can be stressful and will off course cause enormous strain on whoever is in such position. It is however possible that Presidents have their private medical teams check up on them and keep the results under wraps, after all few want to vacate the seat of power and authority and have all their decisions and choices questioned and scrutinized because of a diagnosis they can easily keep private.
However it should not matter if its the president,the next door neighbor,or the keep in the store,people with any form of mental ailments should not be viewed as flawed.Most of them function and are a crucial part of the society.The key should be enlightenment and an awareness created towards this conditions,maybe the public view would change towards mental illness
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Post by Kimber Johnsen MS4 on Aug 18, 2016 11:04:03 GMT -4
Before reading this article I never thought about the way discussing mental illness could affect a politicians’ campaign. Yes, candidates throw out “diagnoses” about their opponents but how often do they talk about themselves. Unfortunately, many Americans still possess a negative stigma about mental illness and would probably be less likely to vote for someone for President if they know they are mentally ill. It is already well known that the President of the United States is a very stressful job (just look at before and after photos to see how much prior Presidents aged in their time in office).
I can see how someone would be hesitant to vote for a presidential candidate who has a history of schizophrenia or even bipolar disorder if they knew the details about the illnesses and more importantly the way the candidate acted during the episode. It would be hard to imagine how one would be able to make important decisions about and for our country when he is in a schizophrenic episode and seeing things that are not really there. Despite the fact that I can understand the rational behind this I feel that it should not be a factor voters use when deciding what candidate to vote for but rather focus on the issues.
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Post by Anthony Moon MS3 on Aug 18, 2016 13:17:51 GMT -4
In this day and age, the subject of mental health or mental illness has become nothing more than either a scapegoat or sound bite. Instead of coming together and truly trying to help the millions of Americans who suffer from mental illness, the media portrays those who have mental illness has nothing more than "dangerous," "criminals" or "unpredictable." In light of the recent horrific attacks, the media headlines immediately links the attack to either terrorism or mental illness or both. What sort of picture does that create for the millions of innocent Americans who have to live with mental illness every day? It does nothing more than scare them and their loved ones, ostracize them from their communities and have this spotlight of suspicion on them at all times. The media paints those who have a mental illness as nothing more than a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, not if but when.
Recently, there has been a move from focusing on inpatient care of the mentally ill to focusing on outpatient and community care. Instead of locking patients away at mental health institutions to having them stay a short time in order to stabilize their illness and then quickly reintegrating them back into the community so they can become productive members of society. Now imagine someone who has been at an inpatient psychiatric hospital and now has been cleared to live and continue their care at home, the fear they must endure. Not the fear of losing control of their illness, but the fear of someone finding out and potentially being excluded from their community. At the time in which the community needs to be the most understanding and accepting, the opposite occurs. At every turn and flip of a television channel they are bombarded with negative connotations and fear mongering, every time they step out into their community they are under the constant fear of losing control.
Instead of our elected leaders coming together and creating a realistic method of care so that mental health patients can receive the care they need, mental health and mental illness has become nothing more than a means to an end. Sadly it is not the end of having a realistic plan of care but one of political gain and agenda. The media will continue to link mental illness to danger and unpredictability in order to garner ratings and viewers. Society will continue to ostracize and condemn those with mental illness. At the end, those who truly need help and care continue to suffer in silence and fear.
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Post by bridgetfrpas on Aug 18, 2016 13:35:18 GMT -4
After reading the article, it’s clear that there is still a negative mental health stigma that even our presidential candidates can’t escape from. I completely agree with Stephanie Pappas when she talks about how Americans have expectations of president’s and that these expectations include their physical, mental and emotional health. Being the President of the US, I can only imagine, is an incredibly difficult job where you are under constant stress to make quick decisions that can impact millions of people and I’m sure would include anxiety and worrying about making the “right” decision. Expecting a president to have a healthy physical, mental and emotional health all of the time is a bit unrealistic. Though there is a negative health stigma against our president/presidential candidates, I do find it encouraging that brave members of our House of Representatives and Senate have been more forthcoming with their mental health issues. It is these individuals, who are in powerful positions, which will start the movement to change the mental health stigma and help to increase the awareness and acceptance of mental health issues.
BF PA-S
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Post by Dan Nguyen (MS3) on Aug 18, 2016 15:26:14 GMT -4
The stigma surrounding mental health issues is certainly and unfortunately not anything new. It hinders people from seeking the help that they need. More light needs to be shined on the subject of mental health so that ignorance does not continue to stop those from getting the help that they need. I can understand how someone in such an important and influential position like the president is meant to be seen as flawless. However, they are making light of conditions that people actually suffer from in order to sway public opinion. They are basically just grade school children telling kids the other person eats glue in hopes that no one will sit with them at lunch.
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