Article 1
The article The Deterioration of Britain’s Mental Health can No Longer be ignored informs that the country’s depression rates have doubled in the recent past. The above story illustrates the functionalism theory, which perceives every aspect of a society – institutions, norms, and roles to play a critical role towards the society’s survival. The theory emphasizes the interrelationship of parts within systems. Failure in any part of the system affects the overall functioning and consistency. As noted in this article, neglecting mental health significantly affects the functioning of the other aspects of the society. The author blames the government, alluding that it has neglected its citizens' mental wellbeing. The Coronavirus pandemic has subjected most individuals to traumatic experiences with little time to process these events or grieve (Ryan, 26) . Moreover, it has resulted in financial struggle and hardship, exerting unnecessary pressure on people’s mental health. According to the article, one in every five individuals in the country experienced depression in June 2020, with the majority being women, the disabled, young people, and key workers.
Although the pandemic has affected almost every household, low-income families have suffered the most. Research by the Child Poverty Action Group found that about half of these families have experienced mental health problems as they struggle to meet their basic needs (Ryan, 26) . Furthermore, about half of the people with special needs are experiencing mental breakdown as some of them are losing their jobs, while others are on the path of becoming jobless.
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The article argues that these individuals require urgent help and proposes that the government should be ready to invest substantially in mental health services. It also suggests that the government consider other factors that may help reduce mental stress that leads to mental disorders. These aspects include housing insecurity, discrimination, low wages, and isolation. The author asserts that mental health is inseparable cannot be separated from other material conditions since homes, working conditions, and physical health are associated with mental wellbeing.
Mental health is a sociological issue. Individuals with mental health problems manifest various behavior and thinking disorders. The condition affects the brain and manifests through mental symptoms (Szasz, 1960) . These symptoms comprise one’s communications about one’s self, other people, and the world. It is worth noting that these symptoms are derived from psychosocial, legal, and ethical concepts. For instance, the symptom of excessive repression is based on the psychological notion for judging mental health, while hostility and divorce are based on ethical norms. On the other hand, the idea that only the mentally ill commit homicide is based on the legal concept of mental health. These concepts imply that mental illnesses arise from problems in living. This idea seems to concur with the information in the above article, where the author mentions that the pandemic's adverse effects have worsened the problem of mental health.
Consistent with the functionalism theory, failure in one aspect of the society affects the other components. Within the lens of functionalism perspective, mental health deterioration is associated with various consequences. This sociological approach focuses on environmental and social context and describes the mental problem as a breakdown experienced due to overwhelming environmental stress. According to this theory by Durkheim, a fast-changing society gets into an anomie state, weakening bits collective conscience (Avasthi, 2016) . Consequently, it leads to problems, such as mental issues, in society. This theory relates to the mental health breakdown facing Britain because it explains the increased rates of mental problems in British society. The Coronavirus pandemic changed society rapidly by promoting lockdowns and social distancing, resulting in an anomic society.
The theory also explains the origin of high depression and anxiety rates in the current British society. According to the theory, people’s emotions influence social interactions, physical experiences, and cognitive processes resulting in quantitative and qualitative development changes. In this case, conflict in these emotions results in anxiety and depression symptoms. The theory proposes that society needs to minimize such conflicts, equip individuals with various coping skills, and boost personal resources (Thoits, 1999) . Although this theory seems to explain the mental cases, it disregards the motivations for the rise of mental illnesses. It also considers society as a whole and assumes that all elements in society are interconnected.
Another theoretical perspective under functionalism is the structural strain theory that explains the origins of mental issues in society. It advises governments to restructure society to minimize stressors and improve coping strategies. This theory by Merton focuses on various aspects such as cultural goals, anomie, prescribed and proscribed behaviors, and institutional norms (Bessa, 2012) . The theory postulates that imbalance between financial goals and ways to realize these goals results in anomie, contributing to disorders. As evident in this story, the pandemic has interfered with achieving financial goals by disrupting employment opportunities. This aspect has exposed individuals, especially women and the disabled, to adverse conditions and created discrepancies between people’s expectations and their actual achievements. These conditions and discrepancies affect mental health.
Article 2
The article Drug Deaths have hit record High in England and Wales, Says ONS , reveals that recent drug-related deaths affect more women than men. This story illustrates the social-conflict theory, which links social and economic factors to deviant behaviors, including drug use The author mentions that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that England and Wales had 4 393 drug-related deaths in 2019, the highest since 1993 (Grierson, 2020) . These statistics indicate that two-thirds of the cases wer e due to drug misuse. The report also suggests that while drug deaths reduced among males, it increased among females by almost 1.6 deaths per million. Markedly, cocaine deaths rose by 26.5% among women, while it increased by about 7% among men. Experts link this rise to an increase in cocaine purity in the market. Social conflict theory attempts to explain the increase in drug use among women. This analysis invokes the concept of social conflict theory to elucidate the issue of drug related deaths in England and Wales, especially among women.
A sociological analysis reveals that the factors motivating women into drugs differ significantly from those motivating men. In most cases, women use drugs because of their spouses’ influence. The Alliance for Women and Girls at Risk argue that men get into drug use because of their friends. Conversely, this group mentions that most women use drugs to cope with the effect of abuse and traumatic experiences in relationships. High rates of drug-related deaths among women can also be attributed to the difficulties women go through when seeking help for their addiction. The article in question indicates that men dominate most of the drug services; thus, most women feel uncomfortable going to such places to seek help. Women also avoid seeking help for their addiction because they fear child support agencies may take their children away.
From a sociological standpoint, different theories expound the concept illustrated in this story. These theories focus on individuals’ social worlds. Social-conflict theory links social and economic factors to deviant behaviors, including drug use. These theories consider society as a ground of conflict and inequalities. According to this theory, conflict stems from both material and immaterial disparities. Material imbalances include differences in wealth and property, while immaterial inequalities include power, group identity, and ideological differences. This theory postulates that individuals with significant cultural and socio-economic assets control social structures. In contrast, those at the lower socio-economic level become powerless and live under the authority of others.
The first theoretical perspective of the social-conflict theory is drug use in deprived urban areas. Individuals in these areas turn to drugs due to various adverse conditions affecting them. These conditions include racial inequalities and poverty. Illegal drugs help them feel better partly and serve as an income source. A study focusing on women incarcerated due to clandestine production and illicit use of methamphetamine reveals that the main interviewee in the story started using the drug as a means of weight control and to help her feel better. She gained considerable weight after separating from her second husband for molesting her eldest child sexually (Jenkot, 2008) . The story by Grierson also reveals a similar aspect. The author mentions that drug use among women in England and Wales is on the rise because of escalating unemployment and homelessness (Grierson, 2020) . Unemployed and homeless women turn to drug use to escape from the realities and comfort themselves.
Conflicts within the law also potentially promote drug abuse. The rationale for deciding which drugs to legalize and those to illegalize remains uncertain. Although crack cocaine and powdered cocaine are pharmacologically identical, crack cocaine attracts harsher penalties than the latter. This aspect is due to socio-economic inequalities. A majority of the people using crack cocaine are disadvantaged individuals from marginalized races, while those using powdered cocaine are from wealthy households. As noted in Grierson’s article, cocaine is responsible for most of the drug-related deaths among women. Nevertheless, one cannot discriminate the form of cocaine causing more deaths.
Class power imbalance also contributes to disproportionate drug abuse among women. Dominant groups impose cultural standards on the subordinates, making their behaviors illegal (Shaw, 2002) . This asp ect is applicable in the story highlighted in Grierson’s article. Since women appear as subordinates, serving under the cultural standards imposed by some dominant groups in society, they focus on making themselves better. They use drugs but refuse to seek help for the fear of being separated from their children. This lack of help results in high mortality rates.
References
Avasthi, A. (2016). Are social theories still relevant in current psychiatric practice? Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry, 32 (1), 3-9.
Bessa, Y. (2012). Modernity Theories and Mental Illness: A Comparative Study of Selected Sociological Theorists. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2 (17), 31-38.
Draus, P., & Carlson, R. (2009). Trading sex for crack: Gender and power. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography , 475-484.
Grierson, J. (2020, October 14). Drug Deaths have hit record High in England and Wales, Says ONS. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/14/drug-deaths-have-hit-record-high-in-england-and-wales-says-ons
Jenkot, R. (2008). Cooks are like gods: Hierarchies in methamphetamine-producing groups. Deviant Behaviours, 29 (8), 409-418.
Ryan, F. (26, August 2020). The Deterioration of Britain’s Mental Health can No Longer be ignored. The Guardian . https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/26/deterioration-britain-mental-health-support
Shaw, V. (2002). Substance use and abuse: Sociological persepectives. Praeger Publishers.
Szasz, T. (1960). The myth of mental illness. The American Psychologist, 16 (2), 113-118.
Thoits, P. (1999). Sociological approaches to mental illness. In A. Horwitz, & T. Scheid (Eds.), A handbook for the study of mental health: Social contexts, theories, and systems , 121-138. Cambridge University Press.
