Choose ONE of the following questions to answer. To earn full credit your answer should be 100 words or more.
1. What have you learned about the definition of mental illness after reading the first chapter. Why is mental illness so difficult to define?
2. Think about the social forces that impact your own life. Using your sociological imagination, how have these forces shaped your emotions, thinking and behaviors? What social forces have been positive or negative emotionally for you?
3. Most of the history of mental illness tells us that people with mental illness have been treated harshly and cruelly. Do you see vestiges of that history today? give examples.
4. Describe situations in your own culture in which the idea of “social suffering” is a better term to represent mental health conditions than psychiatric concepts. Why is it harder to see “social suffering” in another culture than your own?