Mental Illness Thomas Szasz Analysis

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

Thomas Szasz was a psychiatrist who wrote a book called the Myth of the Mental Illness.

When people think of an “illness” they typically don’t automatically think of mental illness. They think about HIV, cancer, or even a cold or flu. However when it comes to mental illness it is a whole different idea. But is mental illness even real? Addressed in the book, The Myth of Mental Illness (1961), a psychiatrist Thomas Szasz argues that the idea of classifying psychological and emotional difficulties as “illnesses” takes away sense of control. Instead of holding people personally and morally responsible for their actions, he states, doctors attempt to “treat” the person, often with medications. Diagnosing mental illness, on the other hand, argue that mental disorders are as real as physical diseases and diagnosing them allows people

It is imperative to seek treatment for children or adolescents who present with the onset of serious mental illness. Early-onset of illness is a high prediction of poor outcomes for the patient. Severe mental illness diagnoses include schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. The schizophrenia spectrum includes schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder and xxxx. The diagnoses fall into xxx categories; xxx, xxxx and xxx. Early onset of schizophrenia (EOS) before the age of 13, is very rare at 0.04 % of population in the United States. EOS is before the age of 18, 0.5% of U.S. population. Children and adolescents make up xxx of the psychiatric patient in the United States. The DSM-5

When I first set out to propose a project, I wasn’t sure what topic I wanted to conquer. Therefore, I quickly jumped when the professor suggested reading the memoir, “Darkness Visible” by William Styron. I have enjoyed all the class readings so far, I even did my last project on another memoir, and thought that reading a fresh perspective regarding mental illness would be engaging and inspiring.

My pre-existing belief included the idea of individuals self-diagnosing themselves to an extreme. For an instance, some individuals self-diagnose themselves as being depressed when really they’re just really lazy and blame the fact that they're “depressed”. This belief led to believe that Karp’s story was going to be the same. But by the end of the story, was I amazed. The way David Karp explains his story within a few pages got me very intrigued. Not only was it very well writing but it felt personal. This particular reading made me feel like I was experiencing it with him.

Today, mental illness has been the scapegoat for most crimes today. From mass shootings to bombings, most people have blamed mental illness for the cause of these crimes. Moreover, even some defense attorneys have even had cases in which they claimed their client had a mental illness in order to receive a lesser sentence. However, in order to truly understand mental illness, we must first look at the history of people studying the brain. The history of the study of the brain, psychology, dates back to ancient Greece. By using the scientific reasoning, Hippocrates speculated that human temperament can vary by a person's physical qualities, such as yellow bile or too much blood (Smith). Many philosophers during this time period might have only

Szasz makes a note that when talking about mental illness it is usually parallel to other diseases of the body except it involves plaguing of the brain. Just like any other disease which is a defect of that specific body part, disease of the brain is a neurological defect, not an issue of living. There is another valid point people overlook as well. Saying that mental illness is the same as any other bodily illness or disease would mean that it could be inside the individual, able to be transmitted to others and could even be cured. He proves this to be inaccurate in

While I do feel that Dr. Szasz won the debate, I agree with Dr. Ellis. His argument is more defensive and, in my opinion, not as well prepared, but still, I agree with the fact that mental illnesses do exist. There are certainly people in society who have mental illness, and need the help of psychologists, and in some cases, medication. The example of criminals by Dr. Ellis is a perfect example of this. From my personal experience, I certainly believe that there are criminals who are mentally ill. Both of my parents work at a federal prison facility, and have worked there for a number of years. From the things they have shared with me, and the things I have personally observed, I certainly feel that there are mental illnesses in our society. While everyone may be somewhat irrational and self destructive, there are members of society that display these attributes much more clearly than others. These people, in my opinion, can be classified as mentally ill.

In his view, today, particularly in the affluent West, all of the difficulties and problems in living are considered psychiatric diseases, and everyone (but the diagnosticians) is considered mentally ill (Szasz 4). However, there is very little evidence supporting the popular view that for the most part "mental illnesses" are mental diseases; that is, of a legitimate biological, physiological, neurological or chromosomal nature. Instead, as Szasz writes, "what people now call mental illnesses are, for the most part, communications expressing unacceptable ideas, often framed in an unusual idiom (Szasz 19)."

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

Jim Stevens “Schizophrenia” is open to interpretation. The title “Schizophrenia” sticks out because it is a mental disorder that affects how a person feels, thinks, and acts; it leads the reader to believe this poem has a dark undertone. Each line gives a story of how a family deals with the issues of two people in a relationship. For instance, in the last line of the poem, "It was the House that suffered the most" (Stevens line 1), Stevens indicates the relationship was not a happy one and the house suffered for it. He sets up the image with this opening line and repeats it in the close of the poem. Throughout the poem, the house transforms from a symbol to a person.

In early American history, individuals with mental illnesses have been neglected and suffered inhuman treatments. Some were beaten, lobotomized, sterilized, restrained, in addition to other kinds of abuse. Mental illness was thought to be the cause of supernatural dreadful curse from the Gods or a demonic possession. Trepanning (the opening of the skull) is the earliest known treatment for individuals with mental illness. This practice was believed to release evil spirits (Kemp, 2007). Laws were passed giving power to take custody over the mentally ill including selling their possessions and properties and be imprisoned (Kofman, 2012). The first psychiatric hospital in the U.S. was the Pennsylvania Hospital where mentally ill patients were left in cold basements because they were considered not affected by cold or hot environments and restraint with iron shackles. They were put on display like zoo animals to the public for sell by the doctors (Kofmen, 2012). These individuals were punished and isolated and kept far out of the eyes of society, hidden as if they did not exist. They were either maintained by living with their families and considered a source of embarrassment or institutionalized

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.

Thomas Szasz was one of the first psychiatrist to criticise psychiatry and argue about the concept of mental illness. His book “The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct” highlights the fundamental flaws in the administration of psychiatry, with the aim of challenging the medical characteristics of the concept of mental illness and the wrongful treatment of patients without their consent.