5-1: Rhetorical Analysis (Part II) | Treating Someone Who Doesn't Want Treatment

Julie Ackerson

Professor Smith

English 2010

17 February 2017

Rhetorical Assignment Part Two: Treating Someone Who Doesn’t Want Treatment

         In Dr. Chris Ballas’s article entitled Treating Someone Who Doesn’t Want Treatment, he uses various rhetorical strategies to inform his audience on how to help someone with mental illness problems, but is avoiding treatment. He uses strategies such as reference to various laws, careful word choice, and emotional appeal to strengthen his claim and purpose. His article is published on a health information site under the mental health tab so his audience is going to be either people looking for this kind of information, or people like me who are interested in learning about mental disorders and how to help treat them. Although the article had its strong points, Ballas uses his personal opinions without using any evidence to go along with it. He treats his opinions like facts and it drastically weakens his argument.

         He starts off the article with a solid, factual base. Through the use of references to concrete information such as laws and standard medical procedure, he is able to establish his credibility. As he starts to share his personal philosophy and ideas, his credibility rapidly declines. His viewpoint is “the more, the merrier” when it comes to convincing someone to seek treatment for their mental health problems. He says that the best way to convince someone that they need treatment is to get as many people as possible to tell them that they need to get treatment. This claim is backed up by no evidence other than his personal testimony that it is an effective method. If he had made his claim and then followed it with some form of provable evidence, then it may have helped strengthen his argument. Instead, it calls on the reader to question if the author is qualified to be making such claims. This article also calls into question how his theory would work on more introverted people. There are a lot of people in the world who aren’t comfortable around large groups of people and in this case, the author’s approach may be more detrimental than helpful.

         At the very end of the article, an interesting point is made. The author states the following: “Much of our current laws were brought about by the courts in reaction to the “gross” (depending on the perspective) disregard for personal freedoms of the earlier days of psychiatry, and the current principle that having a mental illness does not therefore negate one’s freedoms – or their own personal responsibility for their behavior” The wording used in this section is interesting and can be somewhat difficult for the average reader to understand. In short, Ballas is saying that the laws that are in place in our society are a reaction to how people with mental illnesses were treated in the earlier days of psychiatry. People with mental illness were often misunderstood and were often denied the freedoms that were offered to other Americans. This claim is followed by the author saying that helping loved ones find medical help is a very delicate balance and it is important to consider both the person’s feelings towards treatment, and laws.

         When comparing this article to other informational articles that can be found on the web, it accentuates the fact that there is not a lot of medical proof to the arguments presented. Every mental disorder is different and the author over-generalizes them by approaching them the same. He says that large-scale intervention has a high success rate, but he doesn’t say what for. He doesn’t say which mental illnesses he has used this theory on and seen it be successful. When advising treatments, it is important to include what the treatment is designed to help.

         Although the author brings up many good ideas about helping someone who is avoiding treatment, he fails to back up his claims with solid evidence. The lack of evidence calls the reader to question his claims and his credibility and weakens his argument. If he would have backed up his opinions with some solid facts, the article would have been more useful and more relevant to people looking for quality and helpful information.

Works Cited

Ballas, Chris, M.d. “Treating Someone Who Doesn’t Want Treatment.” Health Central.

            15 Oct. 2006. Web. 9 Feb. 2017.