Attitudes to Mental Health in the Last Two Decades of 20th Century

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MENTAL HEALTH: A REPORT ON ATTITUDES TO MENTAL HEALTH IN THE LAST
TWO DECADES OF 20TH CENTURY
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Introduction
Mental health has become an issue of concern in our modern society with reported cases
of social exclusion, stigmatization and negative attitudes increasing among the general public,
the mental health professionals as well as to the young generation. However the recent
developments in mental health attitudes have existed some decades before the 20th century. The
effectiveness of mental health treatment in the society can only be achieved when the community
changes their attitude towards the people living with mental illness (Ebert et al. 2015, p.12).
People from different fields have been found to have different opinions towards people with
mental health issues, but harmful and stigmatizing approaches have been reported to be highly
prevalent in the general population. Researchers have developed and conducted different studies
to establish the efforts being made to solve this issue however during the first two decades of the
20th century no desirable change has been achieved so far or is observable (Henderson et al.
2014, p. 474). This report, therefore, seeks to provide critical analysis to the attitudes associated
and expressed to individuals with mental health issues.
Literature Review
Due to the prevalence of negative attitudes and stigmatizing, many scholars in the past
two centuries have engaged in studies aimed at providing practical strategies and solutions to
help remedy the situation.in their journal (Wahl et al. 2018, p. 77). The authors analyzed the
effectiveness of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), ending the silence presentation
on improving the understanding and acceptance of mental health conditions through provision of
mental health education (Rogers & Pilgrim, 2014, p. 225) the study focused on the prevalent
attitudes of students in America for the last decades in 20th century towards mental health

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conditions. The study was aimed at changing student’s attitudes on mental health conditions. The
results showed a positive correlation between educations on improving the attitudes of high
school students on mental health illness. In the journal entitled conceptions of mental illness by
Jennifer et al., (2014) the authors have given a comparison of attitudes of psychiatric
professionals on mental health to the opinions of the general public. They identified that there are
potent stereotypes persisted among the general public however the mental health professionals
were found to have significantly more positive attitudes towards people with mental health
problems.
The attitudes of mental nursing staff to individuals with mental problems were also
analyzed by (Martensson et al. 2014, p. 784) in their journal “Psychiatric and mental health
nursing.” These authors were able to establish that employers, employees as well as the
workplace environment have a significant impact on influencing the attitudes nursing staff
towards people with mental health problems (Reynders et al. 2014, p. 236). The authors also
established that the nursing staff working with mental health patients has real positions due to
their knowledge of mental illnesses or due to having an experience with a close friend with the
same problem.
In their study, (Svensson & Hansson, 2016, p. 311) established that persons lacking
knowledge of mental illnesses or having a personal experience of mental illness are likely to
have negative attitudes towards the people with mental problems. The authors have also
established that it is possible to find negative and stigmatizing attitudes among the healthcare
staff (Mårtensson et al. 2014, p. 786). Therefore the significant factors contributing to the
adverse and unfavorable reactions to individuals living with mental health problems include lack

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of knowledge, low education level, less professional experience as well as lack of familiarity
with the mental health issues.
Critical analysis and interpretation of the information
Psychiatric care has experienced significant obstacles through increased stigmatization
and discriminating behaviors primarily when working with mental illnesses. For positive
attitudes to be achieved there is a great need to improve individual and professional contact.
Social exclusion has to be a significant setback for people with mental health problems and has
continued to reduce their chances of responding to treatment through increased depression and
anxiety (Halter, 2017, p. 514). Discriminatory behaviors from family, friends and even from less
experienced nursing professionals have contributed negatively to the improvement of mental
health problems.
Education level which is enhanced through the creation of awareness and experience with
mental health people contribute positively to improving mental health (Funk, 2016). However
despite the levels of education and knowledge many people have been criticized for being
ignorant of mental health issues. Many families have excluded their members who may be
suffering from any mental health problem. Research provides that many people suffering from
severe mental health issues have been able to regain their mental health status just because of
love is shown to them (Hadlaczky et al. 2014, p. 469). The community at large should stay away
from the stereotypes which have persisted for generations in the society about mental health
problems and embrace the modern strategies of creating awareness of mental health issues and
providing contusive environments for the treatment of mental health patients.