Matters of The Mind
Catherine Wright
12-12-14
English 1010
Prof. Dickinson
Final Paper
Matters of the Mind There are four students in front of you. The first student, Jessica, is bright eyed and ready to learn. She has her pencils lined up on the desk and her notebooks are stacked neatly. It looks like she got up early to do her hair and makeup perfectly. The second student, Tyler, looks like he didn’t get much sleep last night and is having trouble focusing. Wearing what appears to be yesterday’s dirty clothes, he barely made it to class on time. The third student, Ashley, is quiet. She is what you would describe as a background kid: she is perfectly happy to stay out of the limelight. She completes her work on time and then fades into the masses. The final student, John, doesn’t seem to know what is going on. His eyes are darting around the room and he is talking a thousand miles per hour about bees, soup, and tornados to no one in particular. If I asked you to pick the student who has signs of a mental illness, which student would you choose? Most people would have chosen John. He is the epitome of mental illness. However, as you might have guessed, each one of the students mentioned has a mental illness. There are many different types of mental illness and it is very hard to find a definition that covers all areas. One of the definitions of mental illness is “any of the various forms of psychosis or severe neurosis” (Dictionary.com). This definition does not work because it uses words most people would have to look up to fully understand the meaning. Psychosis means loss of contact reality and hallucinations. Neurosis means a “mental and emotional disorders that affects only part of the personality.” (Merriam-Webster) Even understanding the words does not help to understand the whole definition of mental illness. A simpler, more accurate definition would be someone who is fighting a losing battle inside their head. The person may appear to be completely normal, but
12-12-14
English 1010
Prof. Dickinson
Final Paper
Matters of the Mind There are four students in front of you. The first student, Jessica, is bright eyed and ready to learn. She has her pencils lined up on the desk and her notebooks are stacked neatly. It looks like she got up early to do her hair and makeup perfectly. The second student, Tyler, looks like he didn’t get much sleep last night and is having trouble focusing. Wearing what appears to be yesterday’s dirty clothes, he barely made it to class on time. The third student, Ashley, is quiet. She is what you would describe as a background kid: she is perfectly happy to stay out of the limelight. She completes her work on time and then fades into the masses. The final student, John, doesn’t seem to know what is going on. His eyes are darting around the room and he is talking a thousand miles per hour about bees, soup, and tornados to no one in particular. If I asked you to pick the student who has signs of a mental illness, which student would you choose? Most people would have chosen John. He is the epitome of mental illness. However, as you might have guessed, each one of the students mentioned has a mental illness. There are many different types of mental illness and it is very hard to find a definition that covers all areas. One of the definitions of mental illness is “any of the various forms of psychosis or severe neurosis” (Dictionary.com). This definition does not work because it uses words most people would have to look up to fully understand the meaning. Psychosis means loss of contact reality and hallucinations. Neurosis means a “mental and emotional disorders that affects only part of the personality.” (Merriam-Webster) Even understanding the words does not help to understand the whole definition of mental illness. A simpler, more accurate definition would be someone who is fighting a losing battle inside their head. The person may appear to be completely normal, but
Cited: Joseph, Tyler. Migraine. 2014. 10 December 2014. <http://www.twentyonepilots.com/music/migraine>.