Tag Archives: Conrad and Schneider

Medications Are a Form of Social Control

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Kelly Reznick

This video ties into the reading “From Badness to Sickness: Changing Designations of Deviance and Social Control” by Conrad and Schneider. In Frontline’s documentary “Medicating Kids”, a 6th grader Noelle is diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin following misbehavior at school, including fights and suspensions. Her initial reaction to being prescribed is that the Ritalin helps her to do better in everything that she’s doing, increases her attention span, and helps her concentrate. This is important because she is involved in gymnastics and performing poor in school, and the Ritalin’s effect on her increases her performance in both. Her teachers are happy that her behavior has changed and that they no longer have to deal with her past aggressive behavior.

Noelle’s parents were hesitant to put her on Ritalin, but her mother said that she decided to go through with it after talking to two doctors. The doctors told her that so many studies had been done on Ritalin, proving it’s safety and effectiveness. This relates to the article, where it says that the technological advances of the 20th century have legitimized medical treatment of behavioral problems.

However, Noelle eventually wants to stop taking Ritalin when she realizes how it affects her mood. She is no longer vibrant and as socially active as she used to be. But Noelle’s parents encouraged her to take the Ritalin, citing her better performance in school and gymnastics. Noelle reminded her parents that they told her that she did not have to take medication if she didn’t want to, that it was up to her. This reflects the issue of patient’s rights brought up in the article, when conflicts arise between what the physician and patient want:

“In modern technological societies, medicine has followed a technological imperative- that the physician is responsible for doing everything possible for the patient- while neglecting such significant issues as the patient’s rights and wishes…” (Conrad & Schneider, 149).

Her physician’s aim was to legitimize his job and control her behavior by prescribing Ritalin. Noelle’s wish was to have a better social life in school, which was severly impeded by the Ritalin.

At the end of the video, Noelle says that ADHD is

“not something you can prevent.”

This reflects the second condition mentioned in the article pertaining to the patient’s “sick role” as part of the physician-patient relationship.

“It is this relationship that serves the key social control function of minimizing the disruptiveness of sickness to the group or society.” (Conrad & Schneider, 145).

The condition that Noelle is referring to, that her doctor most likely taught her to think, is that

“…the individual is not held responsible for his or her condition and cannot be expected to recover by an act of will.” (Conrad & Schneider, 145)

– Kelly Reznick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAA1BR5-dR4

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Protected: Medicalization of Deviance Gone Wrong!

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Justice

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From Unhappiness to Depression

Posted on August 14, 2011 by laura.szymanski

In this talk of the nation on NPR, there is a discussion between Gary Greenberg, author of “Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease” and Peter Kramer, MD, author of “Against Depression” about the increase in diagnosis of depression. Mr. Greenberg believes the disease is overdiagnosed. He says the move from unhappiness to depression was a long and gradual process. He said it all started in the 1960’s when Merck created an antidepressant drug called elavil and needed to sell it. Merck’s marketing campaign said in order to sell the drug you must associate it with a disease. At this time, Frank Ayd wrote a book for doctors called, “Recognizing the depressed patient” to provide doctors with a script to look for patients who fit into that diagnosis of depression.

Mr. Greenberg also states that Merck was not only advertising the drug but they were also advertising the idea of depression, they were advertising the “disease”. He also points out that doctors still don’t know much about the biochemistry of depression but that one wouldn’t know that when they go to see their doctor. In the discussion they also mention the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) which is a questionnaire that rates the severity of symptoms observed in depression such as low mood, insomnia, agitation, anxiety and weight loss and the fact that this scale is the most commonly used for rating depression and it doesn’t always give a depressed person the correct diagnosis and/or treatment.

Peter Kramer states that “it is hard to measure depression with the Hamilton scale and it cannot assign the right medication”. Both Kramer and Greenberg agree that those depressed don’t always get the correct treatment. Mr. Greenberg says, antidepressants don’t do much better than a placebo if one isn’t majorly depressed. He also believes that there are social issues of depression like one losing their job, working too much and not having enough time for family, etc. but says that the country doesn’t care much about that, they would rather treat it with medication.

I thought this discussion was very interesting because it shows what Conrad and Schneider wrote about in the article “From Badness to Sickness” about the power of the medical profession and how drug companies with a profit motive can create diseases such as depression to make money and get away with it. In the article by Conrad and Schneider, they state, “The medical profession dominates the organization of health and has a virtual monopoly over anything that is defined as an illness a “medical” treatment. All the medical profession has to do is make a claim and turn something like unhappiness into depression, so that they can medically treat it with a pill.

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