My chosen topic for the Paradigm project is the shift in perception and stigmas surrounding mental health and the move towards psychiatric treatment. I mostly want to research how the stigma surrounding mental illness propagated by society resulted in it functioning as a taboo topic until very recently, roughly 30 years ago in the early 1990s. The time period covered by this topic is roughly the beginning of the 20th century to now, with key focus moments occurring in the 1950s, 1990s, and 2010s.
This shift is important because it is extremely relevant to today’s times and one could argue that right now we are in the midst of a kairotic moment for this topic. Moreover, mental health is pertinent to everyone and should be treated with as much concern and awareness as physical health. Because so many people struggle with their mental health and mental illness affects a large amount of the population, it is critically important that this shift is understood and explored so that people realize how harmful stigmas surrounding mental illness can be and how there should be no shame in reaching out for help, whatever form that takes.
I really like the topic you chose, I think there’s an opportunity to incorporate a lot of detail and uncover many trends regarding mental health. As someone who struggles with some of these issues, it is refreshing to see so much interest in mental and emotional well-being, which is just as important as physical well-being, yet not as talked about. The more we uncover about this phenomenon, the more progressive we will be as a society that not only accepts mental health as an important topic, but addresses it effectively, which is great. I would just suggest narrowing your focus a bit more, the time frame seems good, just identify what specific aspects of mental health you want to touch on and you’ll be good to go!! 🙂