Master of Arts in Ethics and Applied Philosophy
Spring 2007 Thesis Proposal
Thesis 21333 - PHIL-6050-001
Proposed Title: Over Medicated America: The Use of Pharmaceuticals in Treating
Mental Illness
Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to show how pharmaceuticals are used as a
standard treatment in the field of mental health and explore the ethical implications of
this method of treatment as a standard of practice. Pharmacology has become an
extension of psychiatry and psychology, and has revolutionized the view of mental
health in the United States. The study of the mind and human cognition are relevant
to this topic and determine the compatibility of the mental issue to the effect of the
prescription given. The limitations to cognitive science and what we know about the
mind must also be considered in addition to the larger questions revolving around
particular moral and ethical standpoints. Specific questions to address will include:
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What is the nature of human mentality and cognition?
How do pharmaceuticals enhance and improve upon individual mentality?
What is the process that must be followed in order for individuals to
legitimately acquire prescriptions of this nature?
What mandated laws and policies are in place to prevent wrongful distribution
and misuse?
Have pharmaceuticals become a necessity for mental health?
Do they enhance the quality/quantity of human life?
What are the potential adverse effects of the use of pharmaceuticals created in
the field of mental health?
Can the reasons for using pharmaceutical drugs contradict one another?
Are there alternatives to pharmaceuticals?
Do they improve upon or merely alter the individual state of mind?
Thesis Statement: The use of prescription drugs in the field of mental health should
be questioned and reconsidered on an individual level for several reasons. The depths
of the cognitive sciences have not explained the human mind or found a common
reason for mental illness. Mental health is not measurable and the method of
diagnosing mental illness should also be questioned. Finally, the pharmaceutical
market in the United States grows constantly and encourages use of its products for
symptoms associated with a diagnosis of mental health. Insurance companies, which
are in place to help individuals in times of need, promote prescription drugs to heal or
prevent physical and mental illness and reinforce the market. These considerations
and more should be evaluated before deciding for or against the use of prescription
drugs for mental illness.
Approach/Methods: In this thesis, there will be theoretical perspectives to highlight
the practice of psychoanalyzing and prescribing medications, the laws and regulations
surrounding prescription drug distribution, a brief list the potential risks and benefits
of accepting this type of treatment, and considerations of alternative forms of
treatment for common mental illnesses. Specific cases will be presented to portray
how a diagnosis may play out and any statistics introduced to indicate likely outcomes
if pharmaceuticals continue to market new-found prescriptions for all degrees of
mental illness.
Proposed Time Table:
January 8: Initial readings and materials
January 22: Begin first draft with direction of original materials
February 5: First draft submitted for review
February 19: Draft revisions and final research integrated
March 5: Second draft submitted for review
March 19: Draft revisions
April 2: Final draft submitted for review
April 16: Final draft completed and submitted for department review
April 30: Completion and presentation of final thesis project
References
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Blackwell, 2001.
Bentley, Kia & Joseph Walsh. The Social Worker & Psychotropic Medication:
Toward Effective Collaboration with Mental Health Clients, Families, and
Providers. California: Brooks/Cole Social Work, 2001.
Canguilhem, Georges. The Normal and the Pathological. New York: Zone Books,
1991.
Fiedler, Klaus & Peter Juslin. Information Sampling and Adaptive Cognition. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Fishbein, Diana H. The science, treatment, and prevention of antisocial
Behaviors: application to the criminal justice system. Kingston, N.J.: Civic
Research Institute.
Foucault, Michael. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of
Reason. New York: Random House, 1965.
Goldstein, Arnold (Eds). Prescriptions for child mental health and education. New
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James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Modern Library,
1999.
Kant, Immanuel. The Critique of Practical Reasoning and other works on the theory
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Kaufmann, Walter (Eds). Basic Writings of Nietzsche. New York: Modern Library,
1991.
Keyes, Corey L.M. & Sherryl Goodman (Eds). Women and Depression: A handbook
for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2006.
Kirk, Stuart A. (Eds). Mental Disorders in the Social Environment: Critical
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Marsa, Linda. Prescriptions for Profit: how the pharmaceutical industry bankrolled
the unholy marriage between science and business. New York: Schribner,
1997.
McKeon, Richard (Eds). Basic Writings of Aristotle. New York: Modern Library,
1992.
Pinker, Steven. The Blank Slate: the Modern Denial of Human Nature. New
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