Community Magazine June 2009

72 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE HISTORY OF MENTAL HEALTH SCIENCE The definitions of mental illness have changed over the years, and different theo- ries have been developed regarding its causes and treatments. Initially, it was believed that a person who exhibited strange behaviors and could not cope with day-to-day living was insane and needed to be “shocked” back into sanity. Patients who suffered from mental illness were put into group hospitals or asylums where they were housed and treated with electric shocks, insulin induced comas and drug treatments that would cause them to vomit for days. These treatments had the effect of exhausting the patients, thereby altering their behavior, which doc- tors back then interpreted as a medical success. This practice was in effect as late as the 1960’s. Our community was no different than the general public in regards to mental health issues. “Back in those days,” says Molly Haber, a pivotal community leader with Bikur Holim, “the world was ignorant and so were we. We didn’t understand mental illness and we didn’t treat mental illness. We hid it. We knew a handful of people who were off, but we didn’t know what or why. There were certainly anxiety disorders but we would say, ‘She’s a worrier’ or ‘He’s a bit high strung.’ Nowadays, we are treating mental illness but we are still not talking about it enough.” Mrs. Haber does acknowledge, though, that while ignorance continues to create stigmas associated with mental health, when it comes to shid- duhim (matchmaking), “mental illness is not untouchable anymore.” Since the 1970s, as developments in genetics and neuroscience (the study of the brain) have identified physical causes for many problems, the irrational and excessive practices of the past have been abandoned. Studies of brain chemistry and its effects on mood and anxiety have allowed scientists to create drugs that can safely treat most psychiatric disorders. Mrs. Haber believes that the development of effective medica- tion has led more people in our community to seek and receive professional support. Currently, people working in the field of mental health are recognizing that mental distress has many different causes, and many different disciplines and approaches play important roles in treatment. Distress may be explained in terms of responses to circumstances, brain chemistry or genetics. These factors are increasingly being seen not as mutually exclusive causes of distress, but rather as interacting factors that play different roles in mental health. Life events almost certainly affect brain chemistry, and different treatments may be effective in different circumstances. Experts in the field have developed techniques to identify the various causes of each patient’s condition, allowing the mental health professional to determine the most effective methods of treatment in every case. Has Mental Health GoneMainstream? MOZELLE MIMRAN, LCSW It’s been said that what we don’t understand, we usually fear. Perhaps nowhere is this more relevant than in the field of mental health. There is so much that is unknown and mysterious about the workings of the mind that even educated people can fall prey to the myths and stigmas associated with disordered mental health.Our community is now in the midst of a renaissance of mental health awareness,with new programs and organizations offering referrals, counseling, workshops, and a host of other mental health services. With increased education and awareness,mental health disorders are becoming better understood within the community and this enlightened approach is helping to cultivate compassion – rather than stigmatization. While it is perfectly acceptable and standard to visit your doctor when you experience recurring headaches, to see your dentist for a toothache, and undergo physical therapy after an injury, much of society continues to attach a stigma to consulting a mental health professional.We all agree that a diabetic should take insulin, and a patient with a thyroid condition needs medication. But when people are diagnosed with a chemical imbalance that causes depression, they frequently resist medication.Without a clear understanding and acceptance that mental health disorders are biologically and environmentally induced, and not a reflection of some grave character flaw, many will continue to suffer unnecessarily.