Critical Approach
The critical approach is one of the most modern approaches that medical anthropologists use to study disease. This approach looks as what some would call “western” treatments to disease by studying things such as biomedicine, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Critical medical anthropologists sometimes reduce a person down to biological structures in order to better study a disease. With this action comes the use of dichotomies---certain “truths” that are believed in order to more easily categorize things in medicine. Some examples of dichotomies are male/female and life/death. These ideas are becoming less “clear-cut” over the years and this will be a future source of adaptation for critical medical anthropologists.
The critical approach also looks at things like rites of passage. There are certain rituals associated with biomedicine that better help one to understand why exactly things are done the way they are done. There are also divisions of cultural studies also that include areas of research such as the institutional history of biomedicine and the language of biomedical facts.
The critical approach is one of the most modern approaches that medical anthropologists use to study disease. This approach looks as what some would call “western” treatments to disease by studying things such as biomedicine, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Critical medical anthropologists sometimes reduce a person down to biological structures in order to better study a disease. With this action comes the use of dichotomies---certain “truths” that are believed in order to more easily categorize things in medicine. Some examples of dichotomies are male/female and life/death. These ideas are becoming less “clear-cut” over the years and this will be a future source of adaptation for critical medical anthropologists.
The critical approach also looks at things like rites of passage. There are certain rituals associated with biomedicine that better help one to understand why exactly things are done the way they are done. There are also divisions of cultural studies also that include areas of research such as the institutional history of biomedicine and the language of biomedical facts.
Cultural History
The political and economical side of OCD is closely related. For the most part, companies that go about doing research on drugs or treatments that would help relieve OCD symptoms are back by one of two political machines: the government or the big business which is funding the project and has its own political workings. As far as OCD goes, antidepressants have run their course. Over and over again, pharmaceutical companies have pushed for the research of the effects of antidepressants on people with OCD. Why would one keep trying the same drug over and over again when antidepressants are no more effective than placebos for people with depression---the disorder the drug is specifically meant to treat (Berg 2011). The fact of the matter is that antidepressant drugs are costly. Pharmaceutical companies want to find a drug that helps the afflicted patients---but at a cost. It an expensive drug can be marked then the CEOs of the pharmaceutical companies are sure to profit. Why wouldn’t the cheapest, most effective drug be marketed to the consumer so a patient can more easily access treatment? Politics. Capitalism runs every big business around, pharmaceutical companies being one of them. If there is a profit to be made, the companies will find it. Interestingly enough, Vitamin B6 has recently been found to be quite effective in treating OCD and is remarkably cheaper than the usual concoction of antidepressants that are prescribed (Berg 2011). |
Vitamin B6 is thought to be a more cost effective drug to treat OCD. B6 can help to actually from new chemical transmitters whereas the usual treatment for OCD is antidepressants which decrease the re-uptake of neurotransmitters (Healthy e-Tips 2012).
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Sometimes the social factors of OCD have actually been quite remarkable. When celebrities speak out about a certain disease they might have, people feel that it is more socially acceptable to admit to having this disorder. They feel like they have someone to relate to and evidence that it is still possible to live a productive life. Nikola Tesla undoubtedly shaped the modern world of electro physics but unbeknown to some, suffered from severe OCD (King 2013). He was obsessed with the number three, having to complete actions in sets of three. He also had a phobia of round objects. Despite these oddities, Tesla, and other famous people such as Howard Hughes and Stonewall Jackson, managed to accomplish great things in their lifetime. While these oddities lead to an abnormal social life, people with OCD can look to these men as examples that their productivity and creativity remains even in the wake of OCD.
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Howard Hughes was seen as "extreme" to say the least. He suffered from a very severe form of OCD which included a severe germ phobia (Rosenberg 2014).
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Medicalization & Biomedicalization
Medicalization is best described as the attempt to gain control over our bodies thru medical interactions and biomedicalization is best described as attempting to enhance our bodies thru medical interactions. I believe that OCD has undergone medicalization but not so much biomedicalization. People with OCD are trying to accomplish the definition of medicalization: gain control over their bodies. OCD is usually a symptom-based diagnosis so medicalization isn’t usually a part of the diagnosis process. On the other hand, the treatment of OCD has undergone medicalization. As previously stated, OCD is mainly treated by antidepressants. SSRIs are a common type of antidepressant used to treat OCD. Anafranil was one of the first antidepressants used to try and treat OCD (Hooper 2013). Psychotherapy is also used as a treatment, but patients more often lean toward prescription medicine. They feel that prescriptions will cure them faster and that they are more socially acceptable in comparison to psychotherapy.
Medicalization is best described as the attempt to gain control over our bodies thru medical interactions and biomedicalization is best described as attempting to enhance our bodies thru medical interactions. I believe that OCD has undergone medicalization but not so much biomedicalization. People with OCD are trying to accomplish the definition of medicalization: gain control over their bodies. OCD is usually a symptom-based diagnosis so medicalization isn’t usually a part of the diagnosis process. On the other hand, the treatment of OCD has undergone medicalization. As previously stated, OCD is mainly treated by antidepressants. SSRIs are a common type of antidepressant used to treat OCD. Anafranil was one of the first antidepressants used to try and treat OCD (Hooper 2013). Psychotherapy is also used as a treatment, but patients more often lean toward prescription medicine. They feel that prescriptions will cure them faster and that they are more socially acceptable in comparison to psychotherapy.
Popular American Culture
OCD is often seen in pop culture because it has such a broad array of symptoms that are usually just extreme manifestations of normal behavior. For example, The Aviator was a movie made about Howard Hughes, who suffered from severe OCD. Also, OCD is seen in the character Melvin Udall of As Good as it Gets. Udall suffers from irrational rituals, checking, and fear of contamination.
OCD usually starts to manifest in late childhood and is more often seen in males. OCD patients in general are not married. This can be due to the fact that their neuroticism gets in the way of developing stable relationships. Being unemployed is also a risk factor for developing OCD, which interplays with the fact that OCD patients usually have a low socioeconomic status (Kelly 2010).
OCD is often seen in pop culture because it has such a broad array of symptoms that are usually just extreme manifestations of normal behavior. For example, The Aviator was a movie made about Howard Hughes, who suffered from severe OCD. Also, OCD is seen in the character Melvin Udall of As Good as it Gets. Udall suffers from irrational rituals, checking, and fear of contamination.
OCD usually starts to manifest in late childhood and is more often seen in males. OCD patients in general are not married. This can be due to the fact that their neuroticism gets in the way of developing stable relationships. Being unemployed is also a risk factor for developing OCD, which interplays with the fact that OCD patients usually have a low socioeconomic status (Kelly 2010).
Bibliography
S.Z. Berg, “The Politics, Stigma and Experience of Brain Disorders: A Blog Series,” Huffington Post, December 23, 2011 (11:28 a.m.), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sz-berg/brain-disorders_b_1157990.html
“Health Benefits of Vitamin B6.” Healthyetips.com. Last modified August 13, 2012. http://healthyetips.com/health-benefits-vitamin-b6/
Owen Kelly. “OCD Risk Factors.” About.com. Last modified August 22, 2010. http://ocd.about.com/od/causes/a/ocd_riskfactors.htm
Gilbert King. “The Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla and his Tower.” Smithsonian. Last modified February 4, 2013. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-rise-and-fall-of-nikola-tesla-and-his-tower-11074324/?no-ist
Jennifer Rosenberg. “Howard Hughes.” About.com. Last modified in 2014. http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/p/hughes.htm
S.Z. Berg, “The Politics, Stigma and Experience of Brain Disorders: A Blog Series,” Huffington Post, December 23, 2011 (11:28 a.m.), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sz-berg/brain-disorders_b_1157990.html
“Health Benefits of Vitamin B6.” Healthyetips.com. Last modified August 13, 2012. http://healthyetips.com/health-benefits-vitamin-b6/
Owen Kelly. “OCD Risk Factors.” About.com. Last modified August 22, 2010. http://ocd.about.com/od/causes/a/ocd_riskfactors.htm
Gilbert King. “The Rise and Fall of Nikola Tesla and his Tower.” Smithsonian. Last modified February 4, 2013. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-rise-and-fall-of-nikola-tesla-and-his-tower-11074324/?no-ist
Jennifer Rosenberg. “Howard Hughes.” About.com. Last modified in 2014. http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/p/hughes.htm