Discuss the extent to which emotional/mental health may be influenced by factors beyond the individual.

There is reason to believe that a society which sees people as 'mentally ill', call's them 'mentally ill', and treats them as 'mentally ill' aggravates by those acts the condition which it calls 'mental illness'.(Scheff,1966).

When considering how factors beyond the individual influence those deemed to have mental illness it is first necessary to determine what mental illness is and this has long been the subject of debate amongst the medical /psychiatric, scientific, religious, legal and political hierarchy. It is therefore important that popular moral, ethical and cultural influences of those in power at the time be taken into account, which itself could be considered proof.
The original definition of madness dates back to the 17th century, as the condition which justifies confinement in the asylum, is accurately demonstrated by Szasz,

“To be considered mad, it was enough to be abandoned, destitute, poor, unwanted by parents or society” and continues reflecting how such incarceration were not in the best interest of those being diagnosed and incarcerated,
“this action was to be taken on the complaint of parents, or, if these were dead, of near relatives, or the parish priest. The wayward children were kept as long as the directors deemed wise and were to be released only on written order by four directors. (The manufacture of madness, 1971).
This would therefore suggest that “madness” was in fact a societal issue rather than a purely medical one.
In British society today the medical/scientific model remains the dominant prospective. This model has its roots in the past regarding mental illness generally as a biological, genetic or chemical mal-function in the individual, and continues to follow in the traditions of Charcot (1825-1893) and keaepelen (1856-1926). Whose primary focus was neurology.
Charcot believed that hysteria (madness) was a neurological disorder caused by hereditary problems in the nervous system. It could be argued that his most important contribution to psychiatry was that he defined hysteria
(madness) as an illness rather than a mode of malingering a popular label attached to suffers of mental health issues. Charcot used hypnosis to induce a state of hysteria and studied the results, and was accredited with changing the medical community's opinion about the validity of hypnosis.
The medical model the term, (cited by R D. Laing in his The Politics of the Family and Other Essays) as the "set of procedures in which all doctors are trained." aims to find medical treatments for diagnosed symptoms and syndromes of mental ill health based on assumptions of Kraepelen.
Kraepelin identified three major severe psychiatric disorders; dementia praecox, later renamed schizophrenia, by Bleuler (1857-1939). Manic depression, which covers all mood disorders, and paranoia, which basis the diagnosis of patients under the label of delusional.
Kraepelin’s theories dominated psychiatry at the beginning of the 20th century and he opposed the approach of Sigmund Freud, who regarded and treated psychiatric disorders as caused by psychological factors within the individual that could be taken control of. The problem with the medical model as Laing argues is that because the diagnosis of mental illness is based on the conduct or behavior of the patient, and not on pathology, the
"diagnosis" contravenes standard medical procedure and therefore the medical model’s examinations and tests which are usually conducted after the diagnosis unlike with physical diseases and ailments which are diagnosed by evident pathology found during examinations and tests, mental illness is diagnosed by patient's conduct with only a hint of a pathology not cited at the time of diagnosis.
An example of this could be a teenager presenting with tiredness, poor appetite and weight loss, irritability and mood swings and the practitioner would follow medical pathways of enquiry e.g. thyroid, anemia, or chemical imbalances tests after addressing these lines of enquiry he may begin psychological and sociological lines of enquiry leading to a diagnoses of depression however the medical lines will have taken a lengthy period of possibly various drug treatments first. As the medical model approaches mental health issues from a traditional, scientific and biological medical prospective it has limitations which include a failure to appreciate the significance of internal experiences, lack of recognition of individuality and diversity, and lack of appreciation of the role of culture in mental health. It has also been suggested that by so doing the medical model contributes to, rather than elevates the problem by continuing to treat patients with mind altering drugs like chlorpromazine, Librium, Diazepam, Seroxat and other tranquilizer and Benzedrine varieties all which are often encompassed under the umbrella of anti-depressant drugs and used as anti- psychotic drug treatments over long periods which can cause side effects that in fact reflect symptoms commonly cited in the diagnosis of mental health issues such as memory loss, anxiety, insomnia, irritability, mood swings, paranoia and lethargy. As the BBC’ panorama demonstrated when it investigated Seroxat. PANORAMA. THE SECRETS OF SEROXAT BBC-1.13th oct,2002
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Freud experimented with hypnosis, but abandoned this, in favor of treatment where patients talked through their problems. This became known as the "talking cure" widely recognized as the basis of psychoanalysis. This view it could be suggested saw the beginning of a more holistic approach to mental health and widened the modes of practice used to diagnose mental illness by incorporating physiological and sociological influences.
Freud developed a theory of how the human mind is organized and operates, and how human behavior both conditions and results from this particular theoretical understanding. Freud’s biggest contribution to psychiatry was his argument for the existence of an unconscious mind. This suggested people could discover repressed thoughts about themselves and their environment and control them; Freud believed we are not completely aware of all our thoughts and sometimes react in ways unrelated to conscious thoughts. Freudian psychoanalysis brings repressed thoughts and feelings from the unconscious mind to the conscious realm, by encouraging patients to talk in
free association. . Freud used a form of treatment based on that developed by Breuer which he modified and called "pressure technique". His findings from this suggested that many of his patients were victims of childhood sexual abuse.
The problem with talk therapy and transference is that transference allows the client to transfer his feeling to the therapist and can therefore work in reverse, with the therapist transferring his ideas subconsciously or even through metaphoric language misinterpretation to the client; the client may say what he thinks the therapist wants to hear in order to gain points.
In Freud's opinion, reasoning occurs in the conscious mind the ego, the mind also contains the hidden, irrational elements of id and superego, which lie outside conscious control driving behavior and motivating conscious activities, resulting in these structures bringing into question human ability to act purely on the basis of reason. Since hidden motives are also always at play. This model of the mind makes rationality suspect motivated by hidden urges or societal forces e.g. defense mechanisms, where reasoning becomes "rationalizing" reflecting some of the theories encompassed under physiological mental health models.
Freud was criticized for his theories of the unconscious mind and dream analysis since unlike the medical model his conclusions where not based on matter or the physical aspects of health and his theories were seen to be delving into what has been labeled as suedo- psychiatry and mysticism. He was also accused of being obsessed with theories related to sexual deviance however given the strict moral structure of western culture at that time most mental health diagnoses deemed mental health patients to be guilty of some form of sexual deviance as Thomas Szasz illustrates (the myth of mental illness(1962) the manufacture of maddness1971)
The deviant label has historically been synonymous with mental health diagnosis as the behavior of the mental health patient deviates from the accepted norm of the cultural and societal rules laid down by the hierarchy of those making the diagnosis. It has long been recognized within the sociology camp that certain groups of people are more likely to be labeled thus e.g. woman, unmarried mothers in the 60’s were made to give up children and seen as unfit, black (people men in particular) were more likely to be found guilty of crimes and homosexuals were regarded as perverted and sick in the mind.
Social class will also be a contributing factor. Historically British society’s hierarchies and rule makers have traditionally belonged to upper and middle classes and are predominantly white Christian males. It is also notable that often the deviant/ mentally ill label may be applied to someone without them ever having committed an act of deviance by there association with those labeled under the vast umbrella of deviant behaviors, as is explained by Becker in his The outsiders (1963).
Since the 1960’s there has been a sway towards the humanistic approach and client centered therapy devised from Maslow (1908-1970) and Rogers (1902-1987). More recently the existentialism approach of Laing, (1927-1987) and May (1905- ) which it could be suggested has developed from Jungian theories.
Existentialisms encourage patients to face life’s inevitabilities, and to recognize and take responsibility for there own issues, behaviors and actions. It approaches mental ill health from the prospective of a healing journey.

) In 1966-1967 Laing and colleagues David cooper and Joseph Berke established Kingsley hall in London and set about what was called the deconstruction of madness and the madhouse. Effectively patients were taken on what was described as a journey through madness, and called the life-death-life theory. Many former patients of Kingsley hall and subsequent projects which have developed from the basic principles of Kingsley hall i.e. the Soteria project (1971-1983), have written about there experiences and benefits of the therapy/treatment received. (Morton Schatzman)
In conclusion according to Socratic assertion “the unexamined life is not worth living” it could therefore be suggested that as life’s inevitabilities are a result of medical, physiological sociological and environmental events affecting the individual which may or may not be within or beyond his /her control given the infiniteness of the universe and the limitations of scientific and medical knowledge, and therefore the focus of issues under the umbrella of psychiatric and mental health categories should be best approached from a societal, humanistic and Existentialist approach which is in keeping with the principles of basic human rights that are so often denied those diagnosed with mental health illness.
REFERANCES
Beker,H. (1963). The outsiders. Free Press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_model`
Laing,R.D.(1971)The Politics of the Family, Tavistock .
Morton Schatzman, Madness and morals Joseph Berke(ed.), counter-culture; the creation of an alternative society, Peter Owen, 1970.PANORAMA. THE SECRETS OF SEROXAT BBC-1.13th oct,2002 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/2310197.stm
Scheff,T.J.(1966),Being Mentally Ill; A Sociological Theory, Weidenfeild & Nicolson
Szasz,T.S (1971).The manufacture of madness, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
Szasz,T.S (1960) The myth of mental illness,