William C. Cockerham

Not my favorite text ever as far as readability goes, but I feel like I have learned a lot from this book. Sociology of Mental Disorder did a great job of covering the different sociological aspects of mental illness starting with a look into the history of mental health and how it has been perceived by society, going into classification of mental illnesses in the DSM editions, to a brief overview of the different types of mental illness that are within this classification system, then on to discuss studies and research done on sociological factors which might have a correlation with mental illness, international statistics, a history of treatment plans, current treatment options, mental healthcare, and mental health and the law. I feel that the text does a good job at looking at both past and currently developing social response to mental health care, both the things that have worked and those that have not and discussing underlying issues/concerns on the forefront of mental health care.

I certainly appreciate all of the many cited sources used throughout the text, discussing a great number of studies and court cases old and new. The last few chapters of the book were particularly interesting for me, in which mental healthcare in the US and also internationally, was discussed. I learned a lot on how different countries approach health care in general differently but then also how mental health care is managed. Considering the great sociological/cultural effect on mental health, it is interesting to look into how different treatment plans arise from the values of different cultures and the results they produce. Reflecting on this can also provide insight into how US society reflects upon our current mental health care options and what things we need to improve on in order to continue progressing down the path of community and outpatient care. Some big issues with mental health care are the stigma in the community, the unwillingness to get treatment, the lack of resources, and the lack of funding. With other countries that were looked at, a national insurance coverage plan seemed to mitigate many of these issues, especially when these health care plans include proper coverage for mental health.

Outside of this, in order to progress the state of US mental health, the importance of education on: mental health, options for treatment, drug and substance abuse, and community involvement, are all paramount. Creating initiatives which can connect the different resources of a community in a combined effort for these preventive, treatment, and educational measures is the task that community mental health care must accomplish, while finding a way for funding.… (lisätietoja)