Social and Cultural Factors, depression and Anxiety
The World Health Organization further explains that anxiety disorder and depression are characterized by factors such as emotional, physical, and behavioral symptoms that build an uncomfortable feeling that is usually described as uneasiness. Worry is usually followed by symptoms like fatigue, headaches, pain in muscles, sore throat, shivering, and irritability. There are also emotional symptoms like fear, a feeling of impending doom and agitation..
According Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (AIHW) (2012); almost 7 million which account for approximately 45% of Australians who are aged from16 to 85 will go through a common condition like depression, anxiety and drug abuse in their lifetime as per the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Another estimates from conducted in March 2010 states that 64,000 people have a psychotic illness and are seeking clinical services. AIHW also states that roughly $7 billion every year is spent on mental care in Australia. Services offered include community and residential services as well as hospital based services, consultation with experts and other general practitioners (AIHW, 2012).
[...] Today ill health in Australia characterized mainly by ailments such as cancer and heart diseases. Some people in society cannot adequately cater for their medical needs and therefore do not have appropriate access to health services. This can bring about depression and anxiety (Wright, 2008). There are a number of other factors such as social exclusion in the form of racism and discrimination, lack of food and over expenditure in transport services. These are some of the minor factors that lead to anxiety or even depression. [...]
[...] Services offered include community and residential services as well as hospital based services, consultation with experts and other general practitioners (AIHW, 2012). Busfield (2011) stated that health can be defined as a complete state of well‐being i.e. mental, physical and emotional. Therefore to be healthy means to be more than illness free and therefore for one's body to be healthy they require a stable mind and a healthy environment. Medicine is the basis for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. For these tasks to be achieved, medicine relies on other sciences like physics, chemistry, engineering, earth and social sciences. [...]
[...] This belief ignores the considerable influence of society. Sociology enlightens us that we are social beings thus the product of our environment, from the way we dress to the manner in which we manifest our interactions. Therefore, laying emphasis on social production and scrutinize the role that living and working conditions be applied in causing a general sense of well being. Social construction of health and illness states how definitions of health and illness can change from one cultures to the next and change with time. [...]
[...] Lack of this support from family and friends leads to feelings of being lonely and thus culminates to development of depression and anxiety in and individual (Hickie & McGorryare 2007). Another factor that can give rise to anxiety and depression is education. According to expert findings persons with advanced education are more have better health than those with low levels of education. It is common knowledge that education increases opportunities for better sources of income and job security. It provides individuals with ways of applying control over their lives and the different circumstances they find themselves in. [...]
[...] A good example is the fact that culture elaborates diseases as valid if they have a specified laboratory diagnosis, like lung cancer or heart disease. In past societies, conditions such as chemical dependency, whether drug addiction or alcoholism as signs of weakness in character. These conditions were not considered to be illnesses. In present societies, drug addiction, alcoholism and other addictions are recognized as diseases. We now have rehabilitation centers and those admitted are said to be sick. In the words of Germov (2013), individuals are brought up to believe in controlling their own destiny, most importantly health. [...]
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