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Reflection on the views of Thomas Szasz

Anushree Saboo

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In his book titled, "The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct," Thomas Szasz goes too far in claiming that mental illness is a myth. Szasz argues against the illnesses of the mind and says that naming problems which we today call "mental illnesses" is a logical error.
Though Thomas Szasz would love to have a world without psychiatry, it seems horrendous to even think of that as a possibility. Achieving a utopic world without any mental illnesses would be idealistic but mental illnesses do exist and it is wrong not to acknowledge that.  

Szasz accepted that people have problems in their life and coping difficulties but did not want to label these problems as "mental diseases" rather call them "difficulties in living." But his supporters failed to notice that Szasz's definition of disease is very narrow. His definition of disease is obsessively centred around cellular pathology which interprets disease as alterations in the body at a cellular level. In his views against Thomas Szasz, Robert Evans Kendell pointed out that if Szasz's notion of 'disease' was supported then diseases like migraine would fail to qualify into the category. There is no singular perspective on the way diseases are defined in medicine. 

Psychiatrists can help alleviate 'problems in living,' according to Szasz, and this should happen through a contract rather than coercion. He also states that psychiatrists should not believe that they have the utmost authority over such problems and the highest expertise to help people. This is true and can create problems in the society. If psychiatrists are portrayed as having the solution to all 'problems in living,' people will become overly dependent on them to solve their issues. This undermines the ways one can help themselves. 

Szasz highlights individual rights and people's personal responsibility of their life and problems, but there are some cases where people with mental disorders lack the capability of coping with their difficulties and in such cases, psychiatric intervention and psychopathology can assist and bring about positive results. 

Labeling has always been an issue in the field of psychology. Should we let professionals define what we are going through? Arguments made by Thomas Szasz about the medicalisation of 'problems of living' lead us to the issue of over diagnosis in today's society. The number of psychiatric diagnoses is increasing fast and the criterions for existing ones have been lowered, leading to problem in people being labeled with a certain mental health problem. Many writers, critics and psychologists share Szasz's concern in this aspect but calling mental illness a myth is overdoing it. There is a reality attached to psychological dysfunction and many people suffer because of it. Hence, to completely dismiss the idea of the "mind" and its associated problems is unjustified.



References:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-bulletin/article/no-such-thing-as-mental-illness-critical-reflections-on-the-major-ideas-and-legacy-of-thomas-szasz/3F024F2B9FB9766E5A7C489047207EDC/core-reader

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/reality-play/201209/revisiting-the-myth-mental-illness-and-thomas-szasz

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