Examples Of Mental Illness In Of Mice And Men

“One in four people in the world will be affected by mental health … but few of them will seek or receive help …” (Nullis). People don’t seek help for their mental illness because of the facilities they have in place them. These people who don’t receive help are categorized as violent people by a few In America and the UK. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men demonstrates the real world problem of how people with mental health issues are not treated and seen as equals and how people deal with others with mental illness. Steinbeck uses Lennie in his novel Of Mice and Men to show how people with mental illnesses are viewed and treated by the public.

Since the Middle Ages, people have been mistreating the mentally ill and retarded because they simply did not meet the norms that defined their society. Provoked by their unusual behavior and the lack of understanding of their actions, people who were not affected by the disorders began to isolate the mentally ill from the rest of society. To illustrate, during medieval times, society began locking the mentally ill behind iron gates between civilization and the wilderness; this symbolized the how society perceived the ill as part human and part beast. As time past, this cruel behavior developed into one that only punished severely those who were mentally ill and committed a heinous crime. Those with serious mental illness should not be punished or held accountable for their crimes because their mental

The novel, Of Mice and Men, talk about different characters and how things were back in the Great Depression by following two ranchers, George and Lennie. When the novel first introduces the setting at the lake, it also introduced the two main characters. George is described as the one that seems to take in everything with his “restless eyes and sharp, strong features” and Lennie follows him. Lennie is described as “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders;” George and Lennie look like opposites which draws the question, Why are they traveling together? The answer becomes clear once we get into the novel but before that, Lennie starts to drink the scummy water and plays like a toddler in the lake. This shows that he has some mental disability and this is further shown when he starts to forget everything. His disability foreshadows trouble which shows that Lennie is the one that causes the most trouble because of his mental disability to forget everything, how he isn’t wanted anywhere, and how his disability ultimately ends up ruining dreams and lives.

Overall there are many people with different kind of Disorders and Mental Illnesses, like Lennie has a one of kind mind, Lennie acts like a kid throughout Mice and Men. In chapter 1 of the novel Mice and Men Lennie acts like a child by dabbling his hand in the water and he wiggled his fingers through the water (Steinbeck, Pg. 3) . People with mental health issue are treated very differently than the people who do not have SMI. Alike there are many similarities like Lennie in the novel and the movie Mice and Men, Lennie is treated very differently from every character in the novel. From one end to the other end, Lennie is a hard worker and tall guy, because of his SMI he depends on George 100%.

Ja’Lynn Malone Mrs. McLellan English 3 11 March 2024 Poverty in America has been an everlasting problem for many decades, along with the maltreatment of the disabled. These issues were not only seen in the 1930’s, they are still widely seen in modern day. Steinbeck illustrates the average life for those in poverty and the struggle of everyday life for those with mental illness. Poverty in the 1930’s was high due to the Stock Market Crash and its lasting effects on the economy.

“Americans increasingly associate mental illness with the potential for violence” said Rick Callahan in his study entitled More Americans Associating Mental Illness with Violence. These stereotypes are what propitiate inequality with people who suffer from mental diseases. Clare Nullis points out in her article World Health Organization Urges More Attention to Mental Health Problems that “One in four people in the world will be affected by mental health or brain disorders during their lives, but few of them will seek or receive help.” These diseases effect nearly 25% of the world population, and these stereotypes force these people to feel ashamed of their conditions. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men demonstrates the 1930s problem of poverty and how places around the world neglect those who suffer from mental illness and pass judgment on them because of their disabilities.

this thinking has been perverted by the propagation of ideas about contagion, dangerous, unpredictability, and lack of willpower, which are at the core of today’s prejudices against mental patients. (Guiman, pp. 21-22)

Self-pity and pessimistic attitudes remain a topic of discussion with a mentally ill patient, however the more valuable picture revolves around the stigma that the public holds towards those with a mental illness. Unrun Ozer, member of International Committee of National Journal Editors, acknowledges that, “Stigmatization is described as attributing someone in a way that would decrease the person’s reputation because the individual strays away from the general norms of the society” ( 225). Ozer clarifies that a stigma is an unfavorable viewpoint that society has on someone that is perceived as different. Those with a mental illness are susceptible to vulnerability because they are at a small disadvantage than the normal person. Negative connotations, such as adverse viewpoints and perplexing labels, affect the care and treatment process of those suffering because their compliance to treatment decreases. Society is too quick to judge and be ignorant if someone isn’t in perfect form, and Ozer reports, “ It has been reported that individuals with mental illnesses are seen by the society as dangerous, frightening, unstable, irresponsible, unpredictable, and having communication problems” (Ozer 225). Ozer declares that these labels are degrading to an individual with a mental illness, and cause feelings of introversion, decreased self-confidence, worthlessness, shame and despair. If we want happiness to be achievable for all, then criticizing individuals is a step in the wrong

In this article, Patrick J. Corrigan, Scott B. Morris, Patrick W. Michaels, Jennifer D. Rafacz, and Nicolas Rüsch discuss various approaches to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental

While stigma may not necessarily be a cause of a person’s mental disorder, it can certainly contribute to the complication and perpetuation of their illness. The effect of stigma goes well beyond just the patient and provides a commentary on society’s overall level of intolerance of those who are considered different from the majority. By recognizing the level of stigma that exists, perhaps we can alter that behavior and gravitate towards a more productive attitude towards mental illness.

Senator Creigh Deeds story is just one of many that end in tragedy because of a mental health system that has failed. While the major proportion of people living with mental illness are not violent, they can become a victim of violence. According to the latest statistics from the American Psychological Association one in five adults has a diagnosable mental disorder, one in twenty-four has a serious mental disorder (SMI), and people with mental illness are no more likely to be violent that people without mental illness (Association, American Psychiatric, 2016). Untreated mental health care is characteristic of the violent crimes that we see happening today. Some of the reasons behind these untreated individuals are the unmet needs of people not having a financial means to pay for services, lack of insurance, knowledge about how to access care, embarrassment about having the need for services, and those that needed care but experienced delays in accessing care (Jones et al., 2014).

It’s clear to see that even if they aren’t getting treatment they do need it and should not have to suffer because of money. This means that it is so critical that health insurance companies start to follow the laws and increase the number of companies that pay for mental health treatment. The, maybe one day, if the laws if the companies start to comply to the laws maybe the number will do down to 1 in 4 suffer from mental illness in 5 years. Then maybe 1 in 3 in 10 years and so on. My goal is that less and less people every year don’t have to suffer from mental

Although about 450 million people in the world currently are suffering from a mental illness, many untreated, the topic still remains taboo in modern society (Mental Health). For years, people with mental illnesses have been shut away or institutionalized, and despite cultural progression in many areas, mental illnesses are still shamed and rarely brought to light outside of the psychiatric community. The many different forms in which mental illness can occur are incredibly prevalent in the world today, and there is a substantial debate about the way that they should be handled. Some people are of the opinion that mental illness is merely a variance in perception and that it either can be fixed through therapy or should not be treated at

If people were to learn about the misconceptions in society about mental illness, they would have a better understanding that many ideas are not true. One misconception is that a mental illness is a sign of weakness (Morin 2). For example, depression is an illness where symptoms perceive as lazy or uneducated. Having a good job and wonderful relationship, but still managing not to get out of bed in the morning and get over yourself will be seen as weak to society. The fact is, mentally ill people are not weak, but strong. The fact that people with these mental health problems are pushing through the worst makes them strong, brave, and a

Imagine a world where a third of the human population suffered from the same type of illness. Imagine a world where the government does little to help those who suffer from this terrible illness. Imagine a world where nobody acknowledged the pain and suffering that comes along with this illness. This is, unfortunately, the world we live in today. The illness is not one that others notice, but it can have terrible consequences to those who suffer from it. The type of illness are the ones that plague people mentally.