Directions: In this segment, we have examined the topic of mental health issues with a wide variety of readings on this subject matter. For Short Essay Four (SE4), then, please choose one of the following potential topics and write a full-length persuasive essay that establishes a position in one of these two mental health debates:
Some assert that people today – especially younger people – have grown mentally weak and lack the resilience and emotional toughness that characterized previous generations. Some, such as Emily Camp, author of the “Why I Am More and More Ambivalent About My Autism Diagnosis,” even assert that it has become trendy today to self-diagnose with mental issues – and to embrace them along with the status, attention and exceptional treatment that often follows. Others suggest that this is nonsense and argue that the increased number of individuals diagnosed with mental health issues can be easily explained by a combination of, among other factors, an improved understanding of psychology and a reduced stigma associated with acknowledging the existence of such problems. This line of reasoning typically includes the corollary contention that these mental difficulties existed in the past too, but they were not always recognized or understood by healthcare professionals and/or were frequently swept under the rug to avoid scandal and embarrassment. Which outlook seems to make more sense? Supply evidence from the readings and/or other sources of your own to support your position.
A few articles that we read in this segment focused on the effects of social media on our collective mental health, which can especially contribute to self-hatred. Many people today, in fact, insist that the proliferation of social media is the main reason for* the uptick in depression and other mental disorders that we have seen in recent years – particularly within younger generations. Does this seem reasonable and accurate? Does increased social media usage seem to be the primary driver* of the growth in mental afflictions today, or are there other/multiple factors causing this? If you choose the latter, you will need to identify at least a few of these other factors throughout your essay, but regardless of which way you choose to argue this point, you will again need to supply evidence from the readings and/or other sources of your own to support your position.
*NOTE: As even just a few of our readings in this segment clarify, social media’s negative effects are well established today, so this general point is not debatable. Instead, if you choose this second topic option, you must seek to more specifically prove that social media is or is not the main reason behind increased health issues in contemporary society. This involves discussing the negative effects of social media but not just stopping there. It also requires examining other potential factors – such as the pandemic, inflation and political strife – that could contribute to increased depression and anxiety and then either demonstrating that social media eclipses all of them, or vice versa, that one of those factors is more impactful than social media..
Again, regardless of the point that you are advancing, please be sure to use logic and information to support your argument – from the assigned readings and/or from outside sources. You need not complete any formal MLA documentation for such reference works, but you must make mention of the source of any ideas that you paraphrase or passages that you quote. (For example, if you are referring to Huw Green’s article, you would include an introductory phrase like this: In his article “How Miserable Are We Supposed to Be?” Huw Green states,…) If you quote or paraphrase information without identifying the source like this, you have committed plagiarism, which is grounds for automatic failure.
Nuts and bolts: This essay should be approximately five to eight paragraphs in length. Ideally, it will be approximately two to three pages long. Given the more formal academic modes you are engaging here, as with SE2, you must refrain from using the first-person voice when drafting this essay. In other words, you must NOT use phrases such as “I think…,” “I feel…” or “In my opinion.”
