normal is the new...

The article “next to normal and the persistence of pathology in performances of psychosocial disabilities” by Scott wallin argues and talks about many of the missing pieces the musical does not show by creating stigma and the well beings of individuals facing psychosocial disabilities. People who are labeled with mental illness can result in emotional, social, and psychological elimination. Wallin also states that these individuals are different in ways that a fence is created in their lives by not allowing them to do daily activities like having an education, work, and do things around the house. Brian Yorker and Tom Kitts think the musical can create a positive message among all the negative influence attitudes. The musical was created to raise awareness with the people that encounter this disability. As Lawrence toppman says about Next to Normal, he considers it as “brutally honest”, considering that the musical understands the fundamentals of facts about psychosocial disability. The author also point out that the musical shows a positive attitude presented in the contemporary bio medical model. Toppman also write how many people who encounter psychosocial disabilities understand and relate to how the musical is portrayed.  Toppman also says that the musical can be used to understand certain concerns that affect psychosocial disability, but it is often missed by society that rely on medical model. Toppman also makes a clear point on how individuals live off to what is considered normal in society by not realizing how it affects their lives. Topper talks about Yonker stating that normal is considered as a separation between individuals, harming the ones that are not able to meet the standards. Topper ends the article by stating that the language used creates a frame to psychosocial disabilities and their behavior to be seen in members in society who consider themselves normal.

The article presents some main points that make his position and my position agreeable. I think that the musical present a positive message to its audience in which it create a picture that allows these affected individuals to go on and open up to the world and not hide the true feelings. The musical has a lack of understanding of how these individuals really are and how stable or unstable is their metal position. Studying about psychosocial disabilities I have a simple explanation of how these disabilities can become a big part in peoples lives where things go out of hang and more than doctor visits are needed. Next to Normal portrays a message of how these individual can better himself or herself when facing this disability that cause a great amount of distress in their lives.

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How Class is Distinguished

In the article “The Color of Family Ties: Race, Class, Gender, and Extended Family Involvement” (Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian) the authors Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian briefly introduce their topic by stating that many politician judge the way Black and Latino/as live by having weaker family trades. One of Gertel and Srkisian main points is that Blacks and Latinos/as live better than white families. White families tend to be at the top of these groups and mostly have financial help. Blacks and Latinos/as help their families most by living near by and supporting each other. They are likely to visit their relatives more than those in the White families. Gertel and Srkisian explain that these racial differences are due to social class. They support this by saying that many Black and Latinos/as say that extended family is important to their lives. White families have more of an advantage because they have more income than Blacks and Latinos/as. Gertel and Srkisian also suggest that these differences are important in our lives because many of the family strategies and difficulties these family have are due to how they live and how their economic life shape their way of living in the communities. Gertel and Srkisian also point out that although Blacks and Latinos/as help their families it should not be considered an obligation that will lead to antipoverty, but that it should be accommodated whenever it is possible.

            While reading through the article I came across many point that seemed to be true and that is why I agree with the authors Gertel and Srkisian. Being Latina my family is very supportive of one another and they are always there to help when something goes wrong. Like Gertel and Srkisian mention in the beginning of their article that many people say that these groups of families such as Blacks and Latinos have a disorganized life, it is not true. I can assume that many people say this because many of these family groups are considered low and middle class. Gertel and Srkisian points were convincing to me because my family is very united and tend to have often communication and we always do family meeting to keep in touch with everyone. In Next to Normal the family that is portrayed there is a White family, with Diana bipolar disorder the family tend to be a little disorganized. Dan at certain points doesn’t like the way he lives because of her wife’s condition. Her daughter Natalie doesn’t even feel like she is apart of the family because Diana doesn’t seem to pay to much attention to her because she only cares about her dead son Gabe. With this you can see that this family doesn’t live very well because they don’t seem to have much support with one another and the only support they encounter is the doctor visit and there own opinions wit one another. 

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Next to Normal

Next To Normal is a magnificent Broadway show based on a woman with a mental illness. Diana is in her thirties or forties, lives with her husband, daughter Natalie and her dead son Gabe. Diana looses control over the course of the show as in the beginning of act 1 she starts off singing and making many sandwiches in the floor. Her husband questions himself by singing a song “who’s crazy” while she’s in the doctors office. Act one is based on Diana’s behavior, how she acts with certain things. She is the only one who is able to see her son Gabe. Gabe is Diana’s son that died at a young age and she can’t seem to let him go. In act one Diana sees two doctors, which the first one is physcopharmacologist who prescribes her many medicine that only make her feel worse. The second doctor helps Diana find her traumas that are affecting her by making her feel bad. Natalie (Diana’s) daughter meet this boy Henry while she plays the piano, after many encounters he admits he is in love with her. Towards the end of act one Dr. Madden suggest Diana to do ECT (Electro compulsive treatment), which will help her feel better. She finally agrees and they start on the process right away.

            Act two starts off by Diana’s ECT procedure claiming how well she feels. Natalie disagrees and makes a comment on how she would not allow anyone to mess with her head. When Diana is sent home there is a conflict where she cant remember who Natalie is and where she lives. Natalie’s feels sad, upset and frustrated leading her to decided to let henry go because she can’t deal with all the mess that is going on. Dan goes to the Dr. Madden’s office saying how Diana can’t remember anything. Dr. Madden comments on how it is a little normal for patients to feel that way and that over time she will recover her lost memory. Diana forgets about her dead son, until she sees a music box her son leave for her to see. Suddenly she starts to processes her lost memory remembering how her son died of an intestinal problem at eight months old. She starts to realize how she has been ignoring Natalie and Dan faces off a sort of depressing asking Dr. Madden for help. Act two ends off by all the characters singing a line that says “finding the ways of things, they know that the darkest skies will one day see the sun” ending the play with the song light.

            What stood out for me in this show was Diana’s character. Her bipolar disorder in the show seemed to be better than a usual bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorders tend to have mood changes but most of the time there person is sad. Her character showed more of a happy side even though she had her sad moments when she will think about Gabe. Another thing that stood out was that she was willing to go ask for help because she wanted to feel normal; in most cases these people loose control and don’t seek help. I can say that this text showed a good side about her bipolar and how it didn’t affect her much then what a bipolar disorder is really considered.

            Having taken a phycology class and learning about the metal illnesses, bipolar disorder is one the most affect metal disorder that destructs peoples lives. People suddenly live in a world where it doesn’t necessary exact in the human world. I think that every one should be well aware of these consequences because it can affect anyone and the sooner we know about it the better it is for us to prevent it and instead ask for help when we feel like life has become a brick of walls.

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