Psychological illnesses may not be as obvious as physical disabilities or illnesses, nevertheless they are just as disabling in their own way. Society, however, is more accepting of those with physical than psychological illnesses or disabilities. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Mental illnesses can significantly impact an individual's ability to function in their daily liveslife, yet they are often invisible and harder to understand than physical illnesses. This can lead to society’ssociety being less accepting of people with psychological illnesses than of those with physical conditionscompared to those with physical issues, and I completely agreethis essay completely agrees with this view.
The invisibility of psychological illnesses does not make them any less real or severe. People with mental illnesses often struggle with daily tasks and may experience considerable pain and distressa great deal of pain and suffering. This invisibility can also make it difficult for individuals to receive the support and resources they need to manage their illnesses. Society's lack of understanding and acceptance can also lead to stigmatisationstigmatization and discrimination, further worsening the difficultiesfurther exacerbating the struggles of those with psychological illnesses. For instance, according to a recent article published in Women's Health magazinethe Women's Health magazine, nine out of ten women who suffer from mental illnesses thinkwomen - who suffer from mental illnesses, think of ending their liveslife at some point. This is quite disturbing considering the high percentagepercentages of such cases.
Moreover, the number of hospitals, diagnostic centres, doctors and healthcare providershealthcare service providers that we have to treat our physical ailments is far greater than the number of psychologists or psychotherapistsmental therapists we have. The discrimination is even more severe in poor and developing countries where people do not have adequate means to seek medical help when they are ill, let alone talk to a psychoanalyst about their mental health issuestheir mental issues. This discrimination clearly outlines the societal biases towards our physical illness than our physiological sufferings.
In conclusion, it is crucial to raise awareness and educate people about psychological illnesses while also offering mental health supportoffering mental help when needed. This can help to reduce the stigma and increase acceptance and understanding of mental illnessesproblems as they are no less severe than physical illnessesnot less severe than physical sickness.
Why this response received Band 7.0
The response’s strongest feature is its clear agreement with the proposition and its coherent explanation of how invisibility, stigma, and limited support disadvantage people with mental illness. Its main limitation is that the healthcare-capacity comparison is sometimes treated as direct proof of social discrimination without fully establishing that link, and several word choices blur the intended meaning. The highest-priority improvement is to connect each example more explicitly to differences in social acceptance.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response directly answers the question with a consistent position and relevant ideas about stigma and unequal support, though parts of the second argument are not fully substantiated.
Show more explicitly how fewer mental-health services demonstrate lower social acceptance rather than broader shortages in healthcare provision.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information is logically organised into clear paragraphs, and cohesive devices guide the reader effectively despite some repetitive demonstrative referencing.
Vary internal transitions and make the logical bridge between service availability and societal bias more explicit.
Lexical Resource
The response displays a good range of relevant vocabulary, but imprecise choices such as physiological sufferings and mental help occasionally distort or weaken meaning.
Distinguish psychological from physiological language and use established expressions such as mental-health support and psychological suffering.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex structures is handled with generally good control, although punctuation, comparison forms, and noun agreement contain occasional errors.
Edit comparative and relative-clause structures carefully, particularly phrases using more than, attitudes towards, and inserted non-defining clauses.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Psychological illnesses may not be as obvious as physical disabilities or illnesses, nevertheless they are just as disabling in their own way. Society, however, is more accepting of those with physical than psychological illnesses or disabilities. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.