The American Psychological Association (APA) Invites Applications for the 2008-2009 William A. Bailey Health and Behavior Congressional Fellowship

2007 ◽  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Frankham

© 2017, American Psychological Association. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the final, authoritative version of the article. Please do not copy or cite without authors permission. The final article will be available, upon publication, via its DOI: 10.1037/sah0000121 This paper examines the types of stigmatizing language and frames present in news reports about persons with mental illness killed by police. A sample of 301 online news reports was content analyzed, of which 132 reports contributed to 231 examples of stigmatizing language or frames. Analysis indicates that the construction of stigma in these news reports does not fully adhere to existing frameworks for identifying stigmatization. Stigmatization that is implicit, and often seemingly innocuous, is almost three times as common in the analyzed news reports than overt and explicit forms of stigmatization. A modified framework for identifying stigmatization is proposed that includes the presence of stigmatizing syntax, implicit stereotypes, stigmatizing myths, and behavior labeling. To the author's knowledge, this study is the first to examine media stigmatization of persons with mental illness killed by police as well as explore stigmatization regarding suicide by cop. Implications of the findings for efforts to destigmatize mental illness are explored.Comments and queries about this project are welcome at [email protected]



2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-524
Author(s):  
Brent Pollitt

Mental illness is a serious problem in the United States. Based on “current epidemiological estimates, at least one in five people has a diagnosable mental disorder during the course of a year.” Fortunately, many of these disorders respond positively to psychotropic medications. While psychiatrists write some of the prescriptions for psychotropic medications, primary care physicians write more of them. State legislatures, seeking to expand patient access to pharmacological treatment, granted physician assistants and nurse practitioners prescriptive authority for psychotropic medications. Over the past decade other groups have gained some form of prescriptive authority. Currently, psychologists comprise the primary group seeking prescriptive authority for psychotropic medications.The American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy (“ASAP”), a division of the American Psychological Association (“APA”), spearheads the drive for psychologists to gain prescriptive authority. The American Psychological Association offers five main reasons why legislatures should grant psychologists this privilege: 1) psychologists’ education and clinical training better qualify them to diagnose and treat mental illness in comparison with primary care physicians; 2) the Department of Defense Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project (“PDP”) demonstrated non-physician psychologists can prescribe psychotropic medications safely; 3) the recommended post-doctoral training requirements adequately prepare psychologists to prescribe safely psychotropic medications; 4) this privilege will increase availability of mental healthcare services, especially in rural areas; and 5) this privilege will result in an overall reduction in medical expenses, because patients will visit only one healthcare provider instead of two–one for psychotherapy and one for medication.







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