Mental Health in China by Jie Yang

Author:Jie Yang [Yang, Jie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Published: 2017-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

In Dr. Li's view, self-stigma depends on social stigma. He argues that a blend of social stigma and self-reproach can ultimately slow down treatment of mental illness and even intensify patients’ experiences of social pressure as well as their symptoms. Afflicted individuals internalize the social prejudice and so turn their feelings of prejudice toward mental illness against themselves.

Some people afflicted with distress, however, manipulate the diagnosis of mental illness for their own advantage. A deputy director at the transportation bureau in Zhangqiu tried to leave the public sector to become a lawyer because of his constant failure to get promoted and his resentment of “hidden rules” (see Chapter 1) and demotion in his workplace. His efforts to secure a six-month leave to prepare for his bar examination were unsuccessful. Finally he went to the local hospital and told them he suffered insomnia, anxiety, and depression. With his diagnosis of depression in hand, he obtained his leave and is now a successful lawyer. He manipulated his symptoms in order to get the diagnosis of depression, which many still often attribute to environmental factors. He deliberately chose depression over, for example, schizophrenia, as the latter has greater stigma attached to it, and is held to be incurable, which would thereby impact his future practice as a lawyer. Also it is harder to manipulate the symptoms of schizophrenia, especially when, as was the case with this man, people do not know what these symptoms are. It is much easier to imitate the symptoms of depression, as it has become as widespread and popular as the flu. Much to this man's surprise, the diagnostic procedures were also quite “easy.” The doctor wrote the diagnosis without even asking him why he could not sleep, or what other symptoms he might have. Within five minutes he had been sent to the hospital's pharmacy. This man's remarks also reveal how the diagnostic procedures assume a biomedical basis in the individual, which may contribute to the widespread biomedical perception of “depression” in China. The complexities of situational depression (associated with social and environmental factors) and biomedically induced depression are to the fore here. But because many others (especially medical professionals) think of depression as primarily biomedical, this official succeeded in getting a diagnosis and prescription without difficulty.

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