It is know that combinations of environmental and biological factors can cause mental illnesses (Stewart, 2009). However, knowledge on how mental illness may play a role in the patients’ lives isn’t well understood. Researcher Maria del Carmen Lara Muñoz dedicates her time investigating the effects of mental conditions and raises awareness on the importance of mental illness treatment in Mexico. This paper will discuss the background information of this modern psychologist. Along with this, an original work will be evaluated on its importance to psychology.
Biographical Information
Maria del Carmen Lara Muñoz is a Mexican psychologist who received training in clinical psychiatry, psychology, and medical sciences and did her postdoctoral research training at Yale University (“Maria del Carmen”). There, she worked with Alvan Feinstein, who was an epidemiologist (“Maria del Carmen”). Currently, she is a professor of psychiatry as well as the chair of the department of psychiatry at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, in Mexico (“Maria del Carmen”).
Lara Muñoz was part of many epidemiological projects that pertained to mental illness and disorders in Mexico (“Maria del Carmen”). Her research focuses on the social functioning of people with mental illness, specifically looking at quality of life and disability (“Maria del Carmen”). Her work could fall under biological psychology. Biological psychology is an approach to understanding how genetics and biological processes affect behaviors and mental processes. For example, she conducted a comparative study between United States and Mexico that focused on the depression of diabetic women living in urban areas (Lara Muñoz, Jacobs, Escamilla, & Mendenhall, 2014). The biological component that was of interest was diabetes and the behavior was depression.
Lara Muñoz is known for cofounding the National Mexican Survey of Mental Disorders, while working with the National Institute of Psychiatry in Mexico City (“Maria del Carmen”). This survey, also known as the Mexican National Comorbidity Survey, was the first epidemiological survey of psychiatric disorders in Mexico (Medina-Mora, Borges, Benjet, Lara Muñoz, & Berglund, 2007). The survey was created due to the assumption that the resources allocated for the detection and treatment of psychiatric disorders should be reevaluated in Mexico (Medina-Mora et al., 2007).
Original Work
In 2007, Lara Muñoz conducted a study in which she looked at the social cost of mental disorders from a population in Mexico (Lara Muñoz, Medina-Mora, Orozco, & Wang, 2007). The objective of this study was to determine the disability associated with mental illness and compare the results to disabilities caused by chronic non-psychiatric disorders (Lara Muñoz et al., 2007). Lara Muñoz et al. (2007) defined disability as the decline of expected behaviors or functions of a subject in a social context. Participants were Spanish-speaking people, between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five, who normally ate, slept, prepared meals, and sheltered themselves in their own household (Lara Muñoz et al., 2007). The study used the Mexican psychiatric survey with Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) and the number of workdays lost to determine the severity of the mental illness (Lara Muñoz et al., 2007). The survey is based on a stratified, probabilistic sample of adults living in urban areas (Lara Muñoz et al., 2007). SDS assesses the functional impairment in three inter-related domains and allows patients to rate the level of impairment (Rush, 2000). Ratings 5 or greater were paid attention to since it could be significant to functional impairment (Rush, 2000). The domains, for this study, in which the mental illness could have an impact, were work, relationships, and social contexts (Lara Muñoz et al., 2007).
Lara Muñoz et al. (2007) concluded that people with mental disorders had more disabilities than people with chronic physical conditions. Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression caused the highest level of disability, while depression and panic attacks caused the highest number of work days lost (Lara Muñoz et al., 2007).
Prior to this study, mental illness was assessed to be less significant than other illnesses based on the rate of mortality caused by the illness (Lara Muñoz et al., 2007). Lara Muñoz et al. (2007) were able to shed light on the importance of the impact mental sickness had on the ability to function in different areas of life in Latin America. Although the researchers did not make any suggestions to reform the aid given to help people with mental illnesses, they showed that mental illness does have an adverse effect on the behavior of the patients suffering with mental disorders, which is shown through the interactions made by the patients in social situations.
This study may be important in the biological perspective of psychology because this research focused on the psychological condition of the patients. This research highlighted the fact that these psychological problems cause an adverse effect in the quality of life for the patients.
Opinion
After researching this psychologist, I had a better understanding of what her research was about. My view on mental disorders has changed because this specific research has opened my eyes on the severity a mental illness has on the lives of the patients. I thought it was interesting that mental illnesses have more adverse effects than physical illnesses. In another paper, Lara Muñoz calls attention to the lack of treatment of mental illness in Mexico (Lara Muñoz et al., 2011). She determined that the amount of psychiatrists were insufficient to meet the population’s needs (Lara Muñoz et al., 2011). Other psychologists, like Borges, Benjet, Medina-Mora, Orozoco, & Wang (2013), have shown the same problem. According to Borges et al. (2013), adolescents with mental illnesses in Mexico fail to receive sufficient treatment. Adolescents fail to seek help because of the stigma mental illness carries (Borges et al., 2013). It seems that some people may view psychiatric illness as an acute problem that eventually goes away. That may happen, however there are many disorders that are chronic. Lara Muñoz has informed the public that mental illness is a serious illness and the insufficient care given to patients must be changed.
Conclusion
Lara Muñoz continues to play a key role in researching the effects of mental illness in Mexico. The Mexican National Comorbidity Survey was the first to reevaluate the severity of mental illness. Lara Muñoz has brought to attention the insufficient treatment given to patients and the change that should be taken to solve this dilemma. As Stewart (2009) said, an unsolved situation can lead to discrimination and prejudice to the people suffering from mental illnesses.