Description
This excerpt from an article by Sarah Bakewell discusses the work of Thomas Szasz, a psychiatrist who has critiqued the way mental illness is defined in society. Szasz argues that the language of disease is used to describe a wide range of deviant behaviours, from the merely eccentric to the criminal. He argues that this use of language has consequences for the way mental illness is diagnosed and treated, as it blurs the distinction between cultural and scientific standards.
Thomas Szasz is renowned for his critical exploration of the literal language of psychiatry and his rejection of officially sanctioned definitions of mental illness. His critique of the established view of mental illness is rooted in an insistent distinction between disease and behaviour. In his view, psychiatrists have misapplied the vocabulary of disease as metaphorical figures to denote a range of deviant behaviours from the merely eccentric to the criminal. This work documents the extraordinary extent to which modern diagnosis of mental illness is subject to shifting social attitudes and values. It shows how economic, personal, legal, and political factors have come to play a powerful role in the diagnostic process, with consequences of blurring the distinction between cultural and scientific standards.
Related Products
