Health: mental illness; medicine, health professions and the global health industry

Introduction to Mental Illness and the Health Industry

Welcome to this section of your Sociology 7192 studies! In this chapter, we are going to explore some fascinating and sometimes controversial areas of health. We won't just be looking at "germs" or "biology." Instead, we will look at how society decides who is "mad" or "sane," why certain groups of people are more likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues, and how medicine has become a massive, profit-making global business. Don't worry if some of these ideas feel a bit abstract at first. We will break them down into simple steps, looking at mental illness, the power of doctors, and the role of the global health industry.

1. Mental Illness: What is it?

In sociology, we don't just accept that mental illness is a simple medical fact. Instead, we look at the social construction of mental illness. This means that what one society calls "mental illness," another might call "spiritual giftedness" or just "being eccentric."

The Social Construction and Labelling of Mental Illness

Interactionist sociologists argue that mental illness is often a label applied to people who don't follow social rules.

• Labelling: Once a doctor labels someone as "schizophrenic" or "depressed," people start to see everything that person does through the lens of that label. This is known as a master status.
• The Power to Define: Doctors and psychiatrists have the "expert power" to decide what is normal and what is "crazy."

The Social Distribution of Mental Illness

Not everyone has the same chance of being diagnosed with a mental illness. It is unequally distributed across society:

• Social Class: People from lower social classes (working class) are much more likely to be diagnosed with serious mental illnesses. This could be due to the social causation theory (the stress of poverty causes illness) or the social drift theory (mental illness makes people lose their jobs and "drift" down the class ladder).
• Gender: Women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression and anxiety, while men are more likely to be diagnosed with personality disorders or struggle with drug/alcohol addiction. Feminists argue this is because women face more stress in the family, or because doctors are more likely to label female emotions as "medical problems."
• Ethnicity: In the UK, people from certain ethnic minority backgrounds (particularly Black Caribbean men) are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and are more likely to be sectioned (forced into hospital). Sociologists suggest this may be due to cultural bias in the medical profession or the stress of facing racism.

Quick Review: Mental illness isn't just about the brain; it’s about how society labels people and the stresses caused by class, gender, and ethnicity.

2. The Role of Medicine and the Health Professions

Have you ever wondered why we go to a doctor for almost everything today? From sadness to childbirth, medicine has expanded its reach.

Medicalisation

Medicalisation is the process where human conditions and problems come to be defined and treated as medical conditions.

Example: In the past, being very active as a child was just seen as "having high energy." Today, it is often medicalised as ADHD and treated with drugs.

The Health Professions and Power

Sociologists look at the power that health professionals (like doctors and surgeons) hold in society.

• Functionalist View: They see doctors as essential for society. Doctors act as "gatekeepers" to the sick role. They decide who is legitimately ill and who can stay home from work, keeping society stable.
• Marxist View: They argue that the medical profession serves the interests of capitalism. Doctors fix workers so they can go back to being exploited in factories or offices. They also see medicine as a way to hide the fact that poverty makes people sick.
• Professional Dominance: For a long time, doctors had "autonomy"—they controlled their own training, pay, and rules. However, some sociologists argue this is changing as the government and managers take more control over the NHS.

3. The Globalised Health Industry

Health is no longer just something that happens between you and your local GP. It is now a global industry worth trillions of dollars.

"Big Pharma" and Transnational Corporations (TNCs)

The global health industry is dominated by massive pharmaceutical companies (often called Big Pharma).

• These companies are Transnational Corporations. They operate across many countries.
• Profit over People? Marxists are critical of this. They argue these companies are more interested in developing drugs that people have to take every day (like cholesterol medicine) rather than curing diseases that affect the poor (like malaria), because there is more money in the wealthy "Western" markets.
• Medical Imperialism: This is the idea that Western medical ideas are being pushed onto the rest of the world, sometimes ignoring local or traditional ways of healing.

Globalisation and Health Choices

Globalisation has changed how we "consume" health:

• Medical Tourism: People now travel across borders for cheaper surgery or specialized treatments (e.g., flying to Turkey for dental work or Switzerland for specific treatments).
• Global Risks: Health is now global because diseases (like pandemics) spread rapidly across borders, requiring global cooperation between health professions.

Did you know? Many of the drugs we buy in the UK are researched in one country, manufactured in another, and sold by a company based in a third. This is globalization in action!

Key Takeaways for Exam Success

• Labelling: Understand that mental illness can be seen as a social label, not just a biological fact.
• Inequality: Be ready to explain why Class, Gender, and Ethnicity affect your chances of being diagnosed with mental illness.
• Medicalisation: Remember that more and more parts of life are being turned into "medical problems."
• Big Pharma: Think about health as a global business where profit is a major factor.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Don't ignore the social side: In a sociology exam, don't just give biological reasons for illness. Always link it back to social factors like poverty, labels, or power.
• Don't forget the perspectives: Try to use terms like Marxism (focus on profit), Feminism (focus on women's experiences), and Interactionism (focus on labels).

Don't worry if this seems like a lot to take in. Just remember: Sociology asks us to look behind the "white coat" of the doctor to see the social and global structures that shape our health!