Psychotropia: Medicine, Media, and the Virtual Asylum
By Lawrence Rubin
The article, Psychotropia: Medicine , Media, and the Virtual Asylum, focuses on the major increase in diagnosing mental illnesses. Lawrence Rubin includes an important explanation in the article addressing the source of the problem as well. Rubin’s article does a thorough job of explaining the problem with society’s prescription dependence referred to as “Psychotropia.”
The topic addressed in the article is focused towards the general public. Rubin discusses the concern for deteriorating mental health boundaries from society as a whole. He is not worried about one small group of people. According to Rubin, “Without such a boundary, the whole of society becomes a potential community of deviance- a global asylum- and all its citizens, residents.”
The article was well organized for easy understanding. Rubin began by explaining the previous research conducted on psychiatric institutions by Sociologist Erving Goffman. It helps lay a basis for understanding the original use of psychotropic medication for the mentally ill. Rubin goes on to explain the transition from patients staying in asylums to members of society just taking more medication. Rubin then supports his argument about the media pushing medications on society through the use of television, movies, and music before stating his conclusion.
The main topic of the article is how the media influences society to take medications they do not need. The related culprit to the issue is how major powers of society like their people to be docile and calm rather than defiant. This is a very big issue these days as parents are putting more children on “ADD” medications every day. The number of people taking pills for little problems has risen drastically. The percentage of people taking antidepressants rose from 37 percent to 75 percent between 1987 and 1997 (Gottlieb, 2002). Rubin raised a really good question in his article, “Which came first, the illness or the cure?”
The article describes the advertising seen by society through various mediums. According to Rubin, over $1.5 billion was spent on consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies once the FDA lessened the restrictions on direct-to-consumer drug advertising in 1997. People are now directly targeted by psychotropic drug manufacturers through popular magazines, television shows, radio ads, Internet, and dozens of other similar ways.
The drug manufacturers have also been focusing on subliminal advertising to the public through several mediums. Rubin made an excellent point about many movies and television shows featuring mentally ill protagonists for the sake of marketing psychotropic drugs. One example, Sex and the City, constantly shows “cool and sophisticated” women popping Prozac and Valium on a constant basis.
In Rubin’s conclusion, he reminds the reader that not all drugs are necessary if they take a step back and assess the mental situation. He expresses his concern again that society has created a virtual form of an asylum for itself. His tone expresses frustration towards society opening the doors for pharmaceutical companies so much. Society has to wonder how so many children finished school in earlier times without ADD medication. Society needs to remember how so many adults got by before without Paxil or Prozac.
I have to agree with Rubin’s message in his article. Too many people feel slightly unhappy or uncomfortable and think it should be fixed with a pill. Every time another mentally healthy person goes to the doctor for a prescription they don’t really need, insurance premiums rise, another mind is dulled, and another pharmaceutical company makes more money. Many mentally healthy members of society are letting advertising influence their medication needs far too much. I feel there would be a lot more hesitances in prescription buying if society had a better understanding of the pharmaceutical company’s marketing schemes.
References
Rubin, L. (2006). Psychotropia: Medicine, media, and the virtual asylum. The Journal of Popular Culture, 39, 2. Retrieved July 27, 2008, from The Journal of Popular Culture database.
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4 comments:
Stacy,
This was a really good article and your analysis was also very good. I totally agree that there is a pill for everything these days. How many of us have not heard of "the purple pill?" The commercials tell us to ask our doctors if the purple pill is right for us. Heck, I don't even know what the pill is for, as they never say in the commercial. Great article.
tammi :o)
I totally agree that Americans are taking way too much medications today. Just as the article mentioned, back in earlier times everyone made it without those mind boggling medications for ADD, depression, minor aches and pains, and almost all other non-threatening form of pain. Typically, I think doctors write way too many prescriptions for just about anything these days. Although, I can say they are laying off of the antibiotics. There has been a few times within the past two years where my three year old daughter has ran a high temperature, or constantly coughed her head off, and when I took her to see the doctor he just told me to keep giving her over the counter medicines Tylenol for fever and Desylin for coughing. So, I no longer waist my time taking her to the doctor for these symptoms. This was a great article.
Good job Stacy. I would agree, pharmaceutical companies are just to powerful now a days. I feel it could lead to big problems later down the road. This article reminds me of what I was told by a nurse when at the doctors office. If you've been to the doctors, you most likely have seen people with suites carrying laptops and bags of stuff. So one day I asked about it, and the nurse told me they are drug reps. She said they come in to offer sample drugs in order to get the doctors to prescribe them. The nurse also told me they get free lunches pretty much every day from those drug reps. To me this seems scary. It's like the pharmaceutical companies are trying to buy the doctors. That day there where three of them in the waiting room. Does this scare anyone else?
I agree with you that the media is pushing medications too much. I do not think they should be allowed to advertise prescription medications on television. It does not seem right to me that the patient should already have an idea of what medication they should be taking before they even see the doctor. Great analysis.
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