Ch. 15-16 Assignment: an Introduction to the History of Psychology, 6th Ed. by Hergenhahn

The premises of Thomas Szasz’s book are that ‘mental illness’’ are a myth. He argues mental illness should not be classified as psychological problems as they arise from categorical error. He claims the concept of illness

When someone is asserted mentally ill, in the eyes of Szasz, they are providing a way of explaining the everyday problems of living (90, Szasz). Szasz does not believe that mental illness is necessarily really there. Consequently mental illness is more of a mere way of pushing aside ones daily living problems and putting up an excuse of why circumstances are not always harmonious. This concept was difficult to read, but made there be a great deal of thinking about whether this is a true statement. It is clear that Szasz has not personally experienced any form of mental illness himself. If Szasz had experienced personally what most define mental illness as

As you will see in this paper, mental illness has been a serious situation for many years. Over the years, there have been different thoughts relating to the causes of mental illness including what the actual situation is and observance of how to treat the mentally ill. This paper will inform you of three different historical periods: Colonial America, Depression & the New Deal and War & Prosperity in which an important aspect of mental health happened in each. I will include some religious and economic information for each period due to the relationship that religion and economy had to the way mental illness was viewed and treated in those periods.

For many centuries there has been multiple arguments about what causes mental illness. Hebrews believed that mental illness was a punishment from god for those who sinned. The way they cured one another was spiritually and through health. They believed that if you had a healthy diet that it would prevent you from any diseases. The physicians were also priests who had “special ways” to heal with higher powers. The biggest theory was that whoever had a mental illness was caused from supernatural forces. There had been many different treatments to help cure ones suffering. Dating back to 5000 BCE was the first treatment preformed on record, showing that one would chip a hole into the human skull to release evil spirits. Later on, the Ancient Egyptians

The history of mental illness represents the ways in which trends in psychiatry and cultural understanding of mental illness influence thoughts and attitudes towards mental health. The earliest records of mental illness show that many cultures have viewed it as a form of religious punishment or demonic possession. In ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek, and Roman writings, mental illness was categorized as a religious or personal

According to the text, mental illness is a social problem because of the number of people it affects (1 in 4 adults in the U.S.), the difficulty of defining/identifying it and the way it is treated. Mental illness sometimes

In the article, “The Myth of Mental Illness” written by Thomas S. Szasz, Szasz states that the concept of mental illness is essentially inconsistent because it is based on the evidence that it occurs due to the nervous system disorders, specifically brain disorders, which marks themselves through irregular thought processes. Szasz argues in opposition to the predisposition of psychiatrists to mark people who are “disabled by living” as mentally ill. In addition, Szasz believes that there is not any real illnesses of the mind, and is rather a metaphor that is not valid. He thinks that it is inappropriate to categorize mental illnesses as diseases. Furthermore, mental illness is rationally illogical as well as has harmful consequences. Psychotherapy helps people gain more knowledge about them, others, and life as stated by Szasz.

Szasz’s most radical belief is undoubtedly his opinion that what many people practicing psychiatric medicine would call a mental illness is in fact not an illness as at all, going as far as to calling them “myths”. Szasz came to this conclusion because aside from certain diseases, including alzheimer 's, that can be clinically proven, all other instances of “mental illness” are subjective. Szasz believed that in order for something to be labeled as a disease there must be a clinical correlation. The nature of disease, to Szasz, referred to a malfunction of the human body, easily identifiable and a disease needs to demonstrate a clear pathology at the cellular or molecular level. The nature of the mental, to Szasz, is concerned with what people do, the actions

In his article “The Myth of Mental Illness”, Thomas Szasz argues that the concept of mental illness is a myth. Szasz argues that mental illness is a vague term used to label problems with the mind. However, according to modern science and anatomy, there is not actual mind per se. Instead, humans have a brain, therefore every diagnostic of mental illness is actually referring to problems with the brain. Szasz states that there is an ongoing false believe that mental illness is some sort of disease or infection entity.

According to Erchul & Martens (2012), in 1960 Thomas Szasz conceptualized and challenges the assumptions of tradition treatment of psychological treatment which was strongly aligned with the medical model. Szasz argued that it vital to examine behavior as normal or abnormal within the situational, social and moral context instead of the person’s mental status. The outlook of Szasz explained psychopathology and the role of psychiatrist as well as the role of social institution in the growth of abnormal behavior. Another issue related to the

Mental illness has been a controversial subject for many years. Some believe that a mind cannot become sick, while others are adamant that the brain can become very ill. This subject has created divisions in the medical world, and many doctors have tried to prove either side of the argument. Since there is a division in the medical world about this topic, patients and the general public have trouble deciding which side is right. Many take either side not knowing what that side believes.

This assignment will be analytically comparing and contrasting the Biological, psychodynamic and Behaviourist psychological perspectives. This will be based on their different explanations of human behaviour and the management of mental illness in relation to practical application.

The existence of mental disorders, while taken for granted by most people, is disputed by moral skeptics. Moral skepticism is the view that mental disorders do not exist and that it is wrong to label someone as having a mental disorder. In his book, The Disordered Mind, George Graham discusses moral skepticism at great length and offers his contrasting viewpoint. In this essay, I will discuss Graham’s view of moral skepticism and contrast that with the views of one of moral skepticism’s greatest proponents, Thomas Szasz. I will also elaborate on my own personal views of moral skepticism in an attempt to unify these two opposing theories of mental disorder.

The social model of mental illness emphasizes the social environment and the roles people play. Thomas Scheff maintains that people diagnosed as mentally ill are victims of the status quo, guilty of often unnamed violations of social norms; thus the label "mental illness" can be used as an instrument of social control. I agree with Scheff's analysis, and I strongly concur with the view Thomas Szasz takes on the notion of mental illness. Szasz argues that much of what we call "mental illness" is a myth; it is not an illness, but simply "problems in living", troubles caused by conflicting personal needs, opinions, social aspirations, values, and so forth (Szasz 13). It thus follows that the widely

Dr. Thomas Szasz takes a very bold approach to tackling the issue of mental illness by stating that mental illness is something that doesn't exist. He fully denies the concept of illness of the mind and explains that "persons are known to manifest various peculiarities or disorders of thinking and behavior. Correctly speaking, however, these are diseases of the brain, not of the mind". Szasz goes on to further explain that every "mental illness" he has diagnosed is actually just due to one or more physical defects,