Mental illnesses Research Essay

They are taken as individuals who are less important and hence they are treated with contempt, to the extent that their conditions deteriorate to uncontrollable levels or even death. The book "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman represents this issue immensely. The book presents the case of a ‘narrator' who is a female and who is married to a physician. Sometimes the narrator gets mentally ill, diagnosed and prescribed by her husband to stay at home and fail to involve herself in straining issues such as writing. The narrator is left alone to wallow with little medication attention given to her. Researches show that a great percentage of the mentally ill patients do not access the right treatment based on the costs (Slade 26).

Most families find it rather unwise to find some good mental care cover for their patients. They rather provide some medical care to the patients in their homes fearing that the investment in their health will not help after all. Affected patients who are lucky will find some home doctor who diagnoses them at a cheaper cost (Insel 664). However, the home doctor is very unlikely to address the medical needs of the patient effectively. His view is guaranteed by his belief that medical patients do not have a say in what they do. As such, she is denied the right activities that would at least improve her condition. Recognizing that activities that one is instructed to undertake are part of medication, it is wise concluding that the narrator is denied access to her medical rights and this violation of her medical rights worsens her condition in the very end.

Corrigan & Wassel (2008) explain the extent that mental illnesses push people to. These authors explore the instrumental benefit of giving moral support to people with mental illnesses. However, this is not the right mental attitude that he should have had towards his wife. She needed an ear to listen to her; she needed someone to converse with about her feelings and the implications of the disease in her life (Gilman 37). It is however rather illogical that the husband finds it worthwhile to make the gross assumption of her condition and decide to lock her up in a room where she rarely finds someone to talk to. Her medical condition, therefore, worsens as a result of not being catered for emotionally by the person who is closest to her.

To give the right emotional support to a mentally ill patient, there is need to understand their illnesses squarely. They should be agreed upon by the two, and the inclination of the activity should be directed towards making the patient feel encouraged (Corrigan & Wassel 48). In any case, the patient themselves understand they are in a critical condition and hence they live in denial. Agreeing on the roles that each should undertake is, however, a significant move towards making them feel essential people in the society. The narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" does not, however, receive such treatment. She is coerced to denounce every role including her writing. Her husband upon seeing her is profoundly upset and collapses. In the end, the book ends as the narrator goes around him and possibly hurts him too.

Should the right emotional support have been to her, she would most likely not have reached such a position. To offer emotional support to a client suffering from mental illness one needs to listen at least, offer reassurance and to be patient with them. Looking to the patient provides them space to talk freely. However, offering them emotional support requires an individual to avoid confirming or disapproving their beliefs. They may be feeling anxious about certain things around their lives but when offering emotional support extending an understanding and giving a personal opinion is most likely to help them (Corrigan and Wassel 52). For instance, when the narrator visualizes about the wallpaper, should there has been someone to emotionally support her and give her a different opinion of the wallpaper, she could not have hurt herself.