'The Myth Of Mental Illness': Article Analysis
The articles The Myth of Mental Illness and Road Rage: Recognizing a Psychological Disorder addressed the issue of mental illness in two completely different contexts. Both authors agreed that societal context plays a large role in classifying what is “mental illness”. In The Myth of Mental Illness, Thomas S. Szasz was critical and sceptical of the definition of mental illness. Mental illness was defined as a deviation in behaviour from psychological, ethical or legal norms. He then proceeded to ask the reader, “Who defines the norms and hence the deviation?” He claimed that it is the society that decides what is considered as the norm, implying the significance of society in the classification of mental illness. In Road Rage: Recognizing a …show more content…
In The Myth of Mental Illness, Thomas S. Szasz argued that mental illness does not exist. He claimed that mental illness is not a literal “thing” and it is only a metaphor for human problems in their daily lives. Therefore, he believed that mental illness is just a myth. However, Szasz claimed that the definition of mental illness should be changed. He believed that we should look into mental illness from a different perspective. Rather than looking at it as an illness, Szasc believed that these deviations should be considered as human being’s struggles in living their lives and disharmonies in social settings. In Road Rage: Recognizing a Psychological Disorder, Alexander Ayar argued that Road Rage should be included as a diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Ayar believed that Road Rage should be considered as mental illness because it is not a behavioural choice. Instead, road rage is the uncontrollable desire to unleash the overpowering rage and aggression onto another driver. These two articles are contradictory as one is denying the concept of “mental illness”, while one is trying to classify Road Rage as a type of mental
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452 Words | 2 PagesIn fact, she spends much of her time discussing the different branches of mental illnesses and personality disorders. Her tactic is flawed because she constantly mentions what factors can provoke violence. Barron’s examples include a history of violence, adolescence and being male. She goes on to mention what part drugs play a role in a person’s life. Barron explains “If you are under the influence of a drug, your body is altered and you might do some uncharacteristic things”.
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What Is The Myth Of Mental Illness By Thomas Szasz
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857 Words | 4 PagesStigmatization of mental illness existed well before psychiatry became a formal discipline, but was not formally labeled and defined as a societal problem until the publication of Goffman’s book (1963). Mental illnesses are among the most stigmatizing conditions, regardless of the specific psychiatric diagnosis. Unlike other illnesses, mental illness is still considered by some to be a sign of weakness, as well as a source of shame and disgrace. Many psychiatric patients are concerned about how people will view them if knowledge of their condition becomes public Mental health stigma can be divided into two distinct types: • social stigma is characterized by prejudicial attitudes and discriminating behavior directed towards individuals with mental health problems as a result of the psychiatric label they have been given and has those types stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination Stereotypes are based on knowledge available to members of a group and provide a way to categorize information about other groups in society Prejudiced persons agree with these negative stereotypes, and these attitudes lead to discrimination through negative behaviors toward mentally ill individuals those negative perceptions create fear of and social distance from mentally ill persons. • perceived stigma or
Mental Health Stigma
721 Words | 3 PagesStigma surrounding the patients using mental health servicesurrounding the patients using = = =mental services Panova G, Zisovska E, Joveva E, Serafimov A, Karakolevska Ilova M FACULTY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF GOCE DELCHEV, SHTIP, MACEDONIA Stigma is used as a synonym for designation of individuals or group with some characteristic differ from other population. This means that any disease by itself can carry stigma. But the greatest stigmatization is still associated with mental illness.
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