Week 3 Natalie Lortz

When I first learned about psychology in a classroom setting, I was initially excited about when the topic of mental illness came up. I was very disappointed when I realized the diagnosis of mental illness was not the complex study I once thought it was, and instead stemmed from a standard list of characteristics that were deemed "abnormal", a lot of which were culturally subjective. In regards to the reading, I agree that the West is not equipped to handle mental illness. There is a toxic ideal that underlies the culture. This ideal reacts to the unfamiliar in a scared fashion and seeks to control things so that it can never be confronted with the unknown again. For example, the purpose of pills is to numb emotion to allow patient to participate in daily life. Rather than go through the lengthy process of recovery, society has instilled that pills are a normal, healthy alternative without broadcasting the true effects of it.

Last class Professor Valverde brought up the question of the connections between spiritual, mental, and physical health. Personally, I believe they are all connected by a person's soul. Speaking about shamanism in class has led me to contemplate whether shamanic healing and the spirit realm are really separate from us at all. The only thing that seems to separate us is our own fear that rejects the spirits from entering our psyche. Since high school, I had aspired to become a therapist, due to my own personal instances with mental illness as well as my interactions with others who suffered from mental disease. I've always felt that my purpose in life has to do with healing those who need help in the realm of mental understanding. Much as our shaman guest speaker talking about negotiating life with a spirit, I viewed my future work as negotiating life with the human mind. From my experiences in group therapy and general serious life talks with friends, I fell in love with the way it felt to connect with someone else by hearing their story and by showing them a point of view that might help them. So, learning about this point of  view, even if many Americans don't agree, can help me expand my tools to help others with mental illness.