In the documentary Medicating Normal , the script writers indicate the harmful consequences incurred during an intersection between profit-driven institutions and people suffering from distress. The documentary reveals that at least 50 million Americans use drugs prescribed by their physicians to relief them from emotional distress and other mental illness issues. The medication prescribed to psychiatrist patients provides short term relief to individuals suffering from mental health issues. However, the pharmaceutical industries producing the variety of medication prescribed to patients with psychiatric issues have not revealed the side effects of these drugs. Subsequently, the doctors are unaware of the probable risks of medication used to manage psychiatric health issues after prescribing them to their patients. Since the documentary aim is to reveal the associated side effects with this kind of medication, it follows the journey of different patients using the antidepressant medication including a newly married couple, a waitress, a teenager, and a female combat veteran (Sedona International Film Festival, 2020). The individuals were prescribed with some medication aimed at easing their psychiatrist conditions because they demonstrated signs of mild depression, stress, concentration, trauma, and sleeplessness. The documentary reveals that even though the subjects achieve some relief from their psychiatric conditions, they endure some severe side effects. For instance, one of the subjects incurred some neurological damages that caused physical and mental issues on the individual. Moreover, some psychiatrist featured in the documentary reveals that for every five Americans, at least one among them uses psychiatric medication and an attempt to explain the reasoning behind such an occurrence.
The film addresses the concept of medicalization and social controls within the society and its impact on the affected individuals. Medicalization refers to the process through which specific body reactions are labeled as illnesses and subjected to treatment like any other health crises. Medicalization of conditions experienced among members of society is essential because it helps in eradicating associated stigma. However, medicalization can be harmful in scenarios where the institutions responsible to manufacture medication oversteps on their mandate to produce the required drugs to treat an illness. On the other hand, medical social control refers to the strategy through which medication is designed to fit the norms for a given community. The film demonstrates both the concepts of medicalization and social controls through various characters in the film because they suffer from conditions that are labeled as mental illnesses. The medicalization of their condition occurs in such that the victims are forced to take specific drugs believed to cure the mental health such as trauma, depression, and sleeplessness. On the other hand, the individuals were provided with treatment such that it was possible for them to adhere to what was considered to be normal in their respective societies. For instance, it is expected that one should be able to catch sleep at night and sleep and have some rest. Hence, individuals that fail to achieve this aspect are considered to be sick and some medications prescribed to reverse the situation.
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Another concept illustrated through the documentary is health behaviors and social structures. The concept demonstrates that when members of society lack control over some aspects of their lives such as work, family life, insecurities, and anxiety have a significant impact on the individual’s health outcome. Health behaviors refers to a wide range of activities that have the potential to influence individuals health such as adherence to prescribed drugs, sleep, physical activities, and substance abuse. Notably, the characters in the film suffered some of these issues that could have contributed to their deteriorating health conditions. For instance, the female combat veteran suffered trauma after her experiences in war zones and there was need to have her recover from what she experienced for her to lead a normal lifestyle. On the other hand, the waitress had realized that she lacked concentration as she executed her duties, which led her to seek for professional help from a psychiatrist. She was prescribed some medications that would enable her relax and regain her focus and concentration back. It was interesting to note the events that people lack control over in their lives have some significant impact on the mental wellness among individuals and compel them to use medication to resume to their normal lives.
Stress is another concept studied in class and that is featured in this documentary. Individuals experiencing stress have some tension in their physical body and their emotions. Stress emaciates from a scenario where individuals lack control over some aspects of their lives. For instance an individual might feel really stressed if he or she remembers an incident that occurred in the past and makes them feel angry, frustrated, or angry. In this documentary, stress is common among the just married couple as they try to cope with their new environment. However, in their case, stress is a negative occurrence because it leads them to issues that complicates their lives even more. However, stress has a significant impact on an individual’s body because it can lead to some health complications. For instance, individuals might experience an upset digestive and reproductive system, speed the aging process, and increases the risk of contracting stroke or heart attack. Hence, these aspects make it for an individual to access healthcare systems for medication and treatment of the probable consequences. Subsequently, this explains why the couple resulted to seeking treatment options from a psychiatrist where they were prescribed medications that targeted at addressing their stress level and enhance their wellness.
The prevalence of chronic illnesses has persisted in the society and the documentary demonstrates an aspect on the prevalence of these conditions. Chronic illnesses refers to the diseases that affects members of the society for a prolonged period such that it becomes almost impossible to cure such illnesses. The documentary demonstrates that pharmaceutical companies responsible for the production of psychiatrist medication play an essential role in increasing the prevalence of such illnesses. The pharmaceutical do not reveal the side effects associated with consuming the psychiatrist medication because it causes neurological damage when an individual attempts to withdraw from using the drugs. Hence, neurological damages might be irreversible which can lead one to acquire a chronic condition after consumption of the psychiatrist drugs. Consequently, it is essential that government agencies should demand that pharmaceutical industries provides a list on possible side effects after an individual consumes medication meant for psychiatrist patients.
The film Medicating Normal features some of the concepts on health learned in class and affirms the knowledge that was acquired from class discussions. The video demonstrates the existing gap in the production and sale of psychiatrist medication where the victims are not made to know about the probable side effects. Consequently, the sick get to suffer when they intend to withdraw from the consumption of such medications. For instance, they tend to suffer from neurological damages, which might be chronic. Moreover, it is essential to note that some concepts addressed in this film include medicalization and social controls, health behavior and social structures, stress, and chronic conditions.
References
Sedona International Film Festival. (2020). Medicating Normal Interview. In YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dkVS9ZRPt4
