The+Backpack

Name: Patrick Hides Student Number: n8320438 Tutor: Dr Katie Page

=Topic:=

Artefact:
This cultural artefact is from an award winning mental health awareness campaign/program by ‘Send Silence Packing’. SSP is located in the United States and their activity includes travelling to universities all over the US to make students aware of suicide and the impact that it has on students. It is a part of the ‘Active Minds’, which is a university community health service for those with mental health issues and/or needs. SSP travels to many universities and college’s over the US to inform students in general, it also has blogs and YouTube interviews of people’s thoughts and opinions of the campaign and also their thoughts on any current issue.

Public Health Issue:
The backpack represents a suicide incident that has occurred and has its own story to go with it. Each of these backpacks has a story about a suicide incident, and people are welcome to add a story of their own by placing a backpack down. SSP has 1, 100 of those backpacks to represent those that have been lost to suicide for the public to observe and realize the impact it has on them.

Literature Review:
One in five Australians will have experienced a mental disorder in a 12-month period (ABS, 2007). This is a scary figure considering that 20 000 more people are found to have a mental disorder every year. These statistics, show that mental disorders/health is one of the most common illnesses in Australia. Men and women have similar rates of mental illnesses, however mental disorders are more common in people that have recently separated (22%) and divorced (18%) than those that are married/together (8%) (ABS, 2009). Another cause of a mental disorder may be because of low-income rates or unemployment with males (26%) and women (31%)(ABS, 2009). However, now that mental illness is increasing the community is becoming much more aware.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), mental health is increasingly becoming noticeable to society. AIHW conducted a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics every year to update their results from previous years to keep the public up to speed with the events of mental health/illness. The results of this survey demonstrate that 20% of Australia’s population between 16 and 85 has had a mental disorder 1 year prior to the survey (ABS 2010). Australians are very aware of mental health and are one of the countries that are striving to help lift the burden or cure mental illness. The services that are provided in Australia for the mentally ill that the public can acquire are mental health-related care in general practice, mental health-related care in emergency departments, community mental health and hospital outpatient services, ambulatory-equivalent mental health-related admitted patient care, Medicare subsidised psychiatrist and allied health services, admitted patient mental health-related care, residential mental health care, mental health-related supported accommodation assistance program services and Support services for people with psychiatric disability (ABS, 2008).

These aren’t the only providers of care however; there are many campaigns that help lift the burden of mental illness. For example, ‘Time to Change’ is a campaign in England run by two mental health charities ‘Rethink’ and ‘Mind’ in attempt to end the stigma and discrimination that faces people with mental health problems. The aims and objectives of this TTC is to create a 5% positive shift in public attitudes towards mental health problems, achieve a 5% reduction in discrimination by 2012, increase the ability of 100,000 people with mental health problems to address discrimination, provide opportunities for 274,500 people with a range of mental health experiences to come together, and produce a powerful evidence base of what works (Time to Change, 2009).

‘Beyond Blue’ is another campaign, which is similar to SSP run here in Australia. It is an independent and non-profitable national organisation for those that are associated with depression of anxiety within Australia. Beyond Blues goal is to raise the awareness of depression and anxiety to all the states and territories (Beyond Blue, 2011). Recently, to increase the country’s awareness of depression and anxiety further, BB has launched TV, radio and printed advertisements. These commercials are of real incidents from people that have hidden their disorder from friends, families and work colleagues. The commercials all focus and concentrate on depression and drug and alcohol problems. Areas of focus include depression in older people, depression in the workplace, bipolar disorder, postnatal depression, anxiety, and men and depression.

There are many methodologies used for mental health. A common methodology used in mental health is called ‘Quantitative Methodology’, which allows researchers to evaluate within a more controlled context. There are several different types of experiments that are part of this methodology. These studies include statistical and correlation analysis, surveys and controlled experiments. An example of quantitative methodology is by Meyer (2003). His research article is on the prevalence of mental disorders in lesbians, gay me, and bisexuals. Using quantitative methodology, his research shows that these groups have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals. However, knowledge produced might be too abstract and general for direct application to specific local situations, contexts, and individuals. This is a major limitation of quantitative research.

Another methodology that is commonly used is ‘Qualitative Methodology’, which differs greatly from the quantitative model, as it seeks to get information that will reflect the content and meaning of an event or the perspective of an individual. These include interviews, observation, field research and questionnaires/surveys. An example of qualitative research was used by Craven (1997). His approach contained a four-group methodology used to elicit descriptive data, opinions, attitudes, and terminology. The results were significantly more in depth as he focused on four different groups instead of just one certain group. Limitations of qualitative methodology may be due to its difficulty on testing hypotheses and theories with large participant pools and also generally takes more time to collect data when comparing to quantitative research.

Culture and Social Analysis:
In a clinical equation, culture can account for minor variations in how people communicate their symptoms and which ones they report. Symptoms much more common in some societies than others is an issue called cultural-bound syndrome which is one of the many aspects of culture. Culture bears on what types of coping styles and social supports people have, whether they even seek help, or what types of help they seek, and how much stigma they attach to mental illness.Consumers of mental health services whose cultures vary both between and within groups influences the meanings that people impart to their illness.

In a client’s perspective, culture influences many aspects of mental health, illness, and patterns of health care utilization. Research has not yet determined whether culture-bound syndromes are distinct from established mental disorders, are variants of them, or whether both mental disorders and culture-bound syndromes reflect different ways in which the cultural and social environment interacts with genes to shape illness. However, mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression appear to be distinctive to certain ethnic groups.

One way in which culture affects mental illness is through how patients describe their symptoms to their clinicians. There are some well-recognized differences in symptom presentation across cultures. Asian patients, for example, are more likely to report their somatic symptoms, such as dizziness, while not reporting their emotional symptoms. Yet, when questioned further, they do acknowledge having emotional symptoms (Lin & Cheung, 1999). This finding supports the view that patients in different cultures tend to selectively express or present symptoms in culturally acceptable ways (Kleinman, 1977, 1988).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Stigma is such a major problem that the very topic itself poses a challenge to research. Researchers have to contend with people's reluctance to disclose attitudes often deemed socially unacceptable. In response to societal stigma, people with mental problems internalize public attitudes and become so embarrassed or ashamed that they often conceal symptoms and fail to seek treatment (Wahl, 1999). A cross-national study questioned Asian Americans living in Los Angeles and found the following results. Only 12% of Asians would mention their mental health problems to a friend or relative (versus 25% of whites). A meagre 4% of Asians would seek help from a psychiatrist or specialist (versus 26% of whites). And only 3% of Asians would seek help from a physician (versus 13% of whites). The study concluded that stigma was pervasive and pronounced for Asian Americans in Los Angeles (Zhang, 1998).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Health and mental health care in the United States are embedded in Western science and medicine, which emphasise scientific inquiry and objective evidence. The self-correcting features of modern science of new methods, peer review, and openness to scrutiny through publication in professional journals, ensure that as knowledge is developed, it builds on, refines, and often replaces older theories and discoveries. The achievements of Western medicine have become the cornerstone of health care worldwide (Porter, 1997).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Artefact Analysis:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The cultural artefact that I have chosen is a backpack. This represents one of 1 100 students in the United States that committed suicide and each backpack comes with a story of the student that owned the backpack. This is a very powerful message that ‘Send Silence Packing’ is trying to deliver and that message is that help is there for you if you need it, and to not be afraid of owning up or telling someone. This coincides with the rest of my research as it is creating awareness of the dangers of mental illness and also that there is help out there if it is needed. SSP have made a huge impact on the way I think about mental health. Personally, this message has already made a huge influence on me, even though I do not have a mental disorder at this time, I am willing to listen to those and open my door to those in need as well as accept the help available, should the occasion arise.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">I have learnt that mental health awareness is one of the most important ways to prevent stigma and discrimination against those that have mental disorders. The more people know about mental health and its disorders the more people will open their doors to those in need whether it is listening, directing them to help or giving them a hand when they need it. People without mental disorders aren’t the only people that can help. People with a mental problem can also help those with the same issues by mentoring them with prior knowledge about the condition and how it manifests, by encouraging them to seek help, and by explaining to them that mental health has a high statistical correlation in the community and that they are not alone.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">References:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2007). National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Australians: Summary of Results. Canberra: ABS. Retrieved from

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). (2009). Australian social trends. //Mental Health.// Canberra: ABS.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Meyer, H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. //Psychological Bulletin, Vol 129//(5), Sep 2003, 674-697. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Craven, M. Cohan, M. Campbell, D. Williams, J. Kates, N. (1997). Mental health practices of ontario family physicians: A study using qualitative methodology. //Can J Psychiatry 42//:943–949

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Time to Change. (2008). Who are we? //Time to Change is an anti-stigma campaign run by the leading mental health charities Mind and Rethink.// Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Beyond Blue. (2011). About us. //Beyond Blues Five Priorities.// Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Lin, K. M., & Cheung, F. (1999). Mental health issues for Asian Americans Psychiatric Services //50,// 774 780.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Kleinman, A. (1977). Depression, somatization and the "new cross-cultural psychiatry." Social Science and Medicine, 11, 3 10.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Porter, R. (1997). The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity. , New York Norton

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Wahl, O. F. (1999). Mental health consumers' experience of stigma Schizophrenia Bulletin //, 25,// 467 478

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Zhang, A. Y., Snowden, L. R., & Sue, S. (1998). Differences between Asian- and White-Americans' help-seeking and utilization patterns in the Los Angeles area Journal of Community Psychology //, 26,// 317 326

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Discussion:
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Comment 1 - <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">http://healthculturesociety.wikispaces.com/Mental+Health+and+the+affects+of+Cyber+Bullying+in+Teenage+Australians

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">I found your wiki really interesting! You chose an attention-grabbing topic and the points you covered were relevant and well structured. I particularly liked that the artefact you chose had strong correlations to the teenage aspect of your topic, and is something that teenagers suffering from depression are likely to be aware of and connect with. The statistics you incorporated were very powerfull tools in backing up your message. I was amazed at the quantity of people affceted by suicide, and this was predominantly because of the very effective Slovenian adolescent statistics that you included. Another element that I believe made your wiki so successful was your incorporation global statistics related to cyber bullying. By illustrating the power held by schools in California in relation to dealing with children actively participating in cyber-bulling and then comparing this with Australia, in which only one state has jurisdiction to pass legislation regarding students cyber bulling, you demonstrated the vast gap between what Australia is doing to combat cyber bulling now, and where they can and should progress to.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">Comment 2 - <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">http://healthculturesociety.wikispaces.com/Happy+Pills+-+Are+we+just+pills+away+from+curing+mental+illness%3F

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 10pt;">I found your critical analysis report extremely interesting! You have critically analysed your artefact to an extent at which i would have not thought of personally. It was interesting how you linked your artefact to society and how, now days, society expects instant results due to technology advances. Whereas, in reality, the struggle with mental illness and depression is long term 'up hill battle'. This effectively conveyed your message that more research needs to be done into developing anti-depressants and breaking down the stigma surrounding depression. You have gone into some deep research finding a broad range of the side affects, and the percentage of people specifically affected by these side affects and to what extent.