Psychology 1010 Extra Credit Samantha Wright

On the Edge, Mental Health in Utah The documentary, On the Edge, Mental Health in Utah goes through mental health issues that are often called psychological disorders that are seen in Utah and the type of treatment that is available. Psychology has the definition of, The scientific study of the human mind and its functions; especially those affecting behavior in a given context. Mental illness definitely applies to the subject of psychology because of the simple fact that it all starts in the brain. This subject also applies to our psychology class because we have studied about these disorders throughout the semester. In the following paragraphs, I will review how this documentary applies to the things that we learned in out psychology 1010 class. In the beginning of the semester, we studied the human brain in chapter three. In this chapter, we also learned about synapses, hormones and the neurotransmitters in our body that help us function on a day to day basis. The brain and its activity are a crucial topic when it comes to psychological disorders since the brain is where it all starts. On the documentary, one of the educators classified psychological disorders as an imbalance of hormones or chemicals in the brain. In chapter 13 of our textbook, we studied the different types of psychological disorders that are out there in the world today. The textbook classifies mental illness, psychological disorder and psychopathology as abnormal behavior. Our textbook mentions that this

abnormal behavior can be dated back to the 18th century, showing that mental illness has been a battle for human beings for a long time. With this fact alone, we as a society begin to question why there hasnt been effective treatment for something that has been around for this many years. The subject of treatment is where the documentary and chapter 14 in our textbook comes into play, with both of them summarizing the treatment for psychological disorders. The documentary summarizes the reasons for the decline in treatment and states that the main reason is money. In the documentary, the father of a son with aspergers stated that availability to treatment seems to be based on your working class. The father stated that if you are poor, you get funding for treatment. If you are wealthy then you are able to pay for the treatment and if you are right in between then there seems to be no option for treatment. The documentary also states that most people with a psychological disorder get treated by being in jail because of their actions that put them there. One action that seemed to be common involved illegal drugs. The interesting fact is that most inmates said that they were using the drugs because they were similar to prescription medications however they were easier to obtain, more affordable, and helped calm their disorders. In the textbook it also reviews suicide and its affect on those with psychological disorders. In chapter 13, the textbook states that 90% of the people who complete suicide suffer from a psychological disorder. With these few examples listed, its a puzzle as to why our government hasnt supplied easier access of treatment to those with psychological disorders. To conclude, psychological disorders have so much to do with psychology starting out with just the brain and its function alone. As we have learned, treatment for psychological disorders have shown to be highly effective, its just the fight of where and how to access it.