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Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 22
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| Author review |
| Overall Rating | | 10 |
| Professor Rating | | 10 |
| Interest | | 10 |
| Easiness | | 7 |
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Average 93%
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HLTH AGE 2G03 - Mental Health
I took this mental health course with Mathew Savelli in the summer of 2010. As he is a sessional prof, I cannot attest to the nature/quality of the course during the Fall/Winter terms, when it is run by the tenured prof.
If you have the ability to take this course during the summer, I would strongly advise and urge you to do so. Mat Savelli is a prof not to be missed -- he has my vote for the best lecturer at Mac.
Although this course is labeled as a mental health course, remember that its focus is sociological, not medical. Although the first half of the course revolves around the biomedical understanding of mental disorders via the criterion laid out in the DSM, the intent of this course is not diagnostic or physiologic.
This course literally changed my life. It changed the way I view mental health/illness, the way I view Western medicine, and the way I view society and its role in the construction of mental health. It disturbed me, intrigued me, and left me with a zillion questions to hopefully pursue in graduate school.
In terms of structure, the course follows this pattern:
Midterm: 20%
Paper: 30%
Participation assignment: 10%
Final exam (cumulative): 40%
The first few lectures revolve around the history of psychiatry in North America and Europe. Here, the foundation is laid for understanding how psychiatry emerged as a field, and the challenges/dissent it faced. In the first half of the term, the focus is on the Western understanding of mental disorders, as laid out in the DSM. All of the major categories are discussed (mood disorders, personality disorders, psychotic disorders, etc), and the history and contextual factors of each category are elucidated. The overarching focus is primarily on understanding the social construction of mental health and illness -- learning how Western society determines who/what is mentally ill, and how that translates into the lived experience of the mentally ill population.
The last half of the course focuses on critical analysis of the mental health field. This is really where the course comes alive -- cultural variances of mental disorders are discussed, the impact of the pharmaceutical companies on the DSM and clinical practice are analyzed, and the revelations of the anti-psychiatry movement are used to showcase how subjective and vulnerable psychiatry is.
For me, this was one of those breakthrough courses, where the impact of university education and its philosophical tenets really became apparent. It was in this course that I really began to get an idea of how humanity creates its social environment, and how that creative process can significantly and severely impact whole populations of individuals (read: the mentally ill).
In terms of demographics/structure, I would rate the course in the following manner:
- The prof was highly enthusiastic, approachable, and down to earth. He is very dedicated to the field of mental health, and this shows in his lectures. 10/10 for lecturing style, content, and ability to answer questions. Very accessible by e-mail, and constantly available for one-on-one sessions on campus.
- The content was extremely interesting. If psychiatry/social constructionist theories grab you in any way, you will love the material. 10/10.
- In terms of difficulty, the testing was rather straight forward. Pay attention to the lecture slides, and you will do fine. This prof favoured short answer and essay questions on the exams. The final exam requires that you pay close attention to the major themes of the course. The paper can be a little tricky, so please, please give yourself enough time to complete it. 7.5/10.
In summary, this course was fantastic. If you are good at writing papers/essays, and think you might enjoy exploring the field of psychiatry and social constructionism, this is the course for you.
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