I often hear that one of the goals of psychiatry is that the patient be a healthy, "functional," and

Question

"productive" member of society. This entails for the vast majority a "normal" life-arc of growing up, studying, beginning and finishing a career (possibly beginning a famiy at some point), retiring, and finally dieing. What exactly is "functional" and "normal" for the leisure-class, like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie?

Answer 1

oooohh - excellent question.

Answer 2

LOL!  I can't imagine the life those two live.  But, they do appear to be productive and functional....in their sense of the word.  Paris making a name for herself has resulted in her getting a lot of jobs in ads or by being the "spokesperson" for certain products.  That has given her a very nice income, irrespective of her family's fortune.  Same with Nicole, who has a fragrance line and works with her hubby-of-the-moment on his clothing line.  They are not so at odds with the society they live in that they can't go about a daily life, even though it is far different from yours or mine.  Paris carrying the bible around when she was going to be sentenced is a good example.  She was aware her butt might be on the line, so resorted to behavior that served her intents.  They both may be disgusting people, but they appear to be "normal" enough to function.  But they both make me gag....hey! maybe that's their function!

Answer 3

I think that the goal is not that they HAVE to be healthy, functional and productive, but to give them the chance that something as devastating as a mental illness will try to rob of them. Maybe they don't care about being 'normal' and living up to peoples expectations, but they have the right to be able to if they want to. That's why psychiatrists try to achieve this, because it gives people the chance.