First Advisor

Todd Bodner

Date of Award

5-26-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Psychology and University Honors

Department

Psychology

Subjects

Schizophrenia, Stigma (Social psychology), Schizophrenics -- Social conditions, Mentally ill -- Civil rights, Discrimination against the mentally ill

DOI

10.15760/honors.411

Abstract

I examine stigma associated with schizophrenia and how psychiatric diagnosis, mental health professionals, the criminal justice system, and society ostracize and contribute to the suffering of approximately three million Americans. I doubt schizophrenia’s conceptualization as a progressively deteriorating biological disease and present the social conditions that accumulate stress for the individual and lead to psychotic episodes. I argue that schizophrenia cannot be understood as a “thing," but as a complex system of numerous variables contributing to a system of disorder resulting from prejudiced attitudes, discriminatory social-structural conditions, and unjust treatment of human beings needing extra resources to thrive. Ultimately, I present discrimination of people with psychological disorder as a human rights issue, parallel to the neurodiversity movement to normalize autism as existing in the greater variation of human neurodevelopment. People with psychotic symptoms do not need to be "cured;" they do need acceptance, assistance, and resources to thrive alongside their family, friends, and the greater society. I infer necessary radical structural change to diagnostics, treatment, and the criminal justice system to unravel structural discrimination. I hypothesize reducing stigma by an intermediate practical suggestion of eradicating the label “schizophrenia” from our language as stigmatizing. I draw upon 15 years of promising evidence of moderate reduction in social attitudes following Japan’s renaming of schizophrenia ("mind-split disease") to "integration disorder."

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/20405

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