I have heard both arguments in my Psych 12 class, and I favor the side that states "Mental Illness is not a disease"
Excerpt from USA Today Magazine July 2000:
Of course, a mental illness is not a disease in the pathologocial sense.
A disease is a bodily abnormality, a lesion of cells, tissues, or orgnas. The term in relation to mental illness is used purely in a metaphorical sense.
The brain is a material object, but the mind is not. The mind is an idea, and therefore cannot be diseased.
If we believe a mental illness is a disease it is on par with bodily diseases such as Cancer.
A mental illness is a pattern of personal conduct unwanted by self or others. Basically, it is abnormal behabior in a person rather than in their body.
A medical disase is discovered and then given a name, such as AIDS.
A mental disease is invented and then given a name, such as ADD.
It is not possible to die of a mental illness or to find evidence of it in organs, tissues, cells, or body fluid during an autopsy. Anthrax is a disease that is biological, cand and does, kill it's host. ADD on the other hand is socially constructed and connot kill.
No one sees a "crush" as a disease, and yes it it the same as a mental illness.
Psychiatrists have succeeded in persuading media, courts, and the scientific community, that mental disorders are diseases. But there is no empirical evidence to support this, in fact, there CAN'T be any.
Let's use this example:
John Smith has astrocytoma, it is discovered and empirically verified. Radiologists identify it and observe the lesion. Pathologists confirm by examining tissues.
John Smith is diagnosed with Schizophrenia. The psychiatrists identifies his behavior as schizo, other psychiatrists confirm it's prescence by committing him to a mental hospital where he gets his right to refuse treatment. He exercises this right. Then a judge tells him he is mentally incompetent to refuse treatment.
Psychiatrists have power over people denominated as "atients," their statems act as covert prescriptions. Psychiatrists would describe a man who says "God is telling him to kill his wife" as schizophrenic. This diagnosis is a prescription to hospitalize the patient against their will, or after he has killed his wife, to acquit him as not guilt by reason of insanity and hospitalize him against his will.
A patient who has a bodily illness may or may not be hospitalized based on his own decisions. Mental illness allows a judge to incarcerate a sex criminal who has completed his prison sentence.
Psychiatry is a vialation of legal-political principle. One that is odious because most persons trated against their will by psychiatrists are defined as legally competent-they can vote, marry, divorce, etc.
In a free society the physician's "right" to treat is not based on diagnosis but on the patient's willingness to be treated.
A mental patient is entitled to liberty unless they ahve committed a crime. Otherwise they should not be forcibly treated.
In a free society a psychiatrist should not be allowed to profit from his diagnosis and treatment of "atients"
That was a bit long, but it is a correct summary of the idea.
Is it right for psychiatrists to profit from their jobs? Considering they may forcibly treat patients who have not committed crimes, allowing them to preserve a job that they may not otherwise have?
Have psychiatrists tricked society into believe that mental illness is a horrible disease?
We are, after all, nothing but flesh, blood, and nerves. So how do we function the way we do?
I'd say, the mind is one of the most complicated things in the universe. If you think about it, is it you or your brain deciding what you do? You decide what you do, but your brain is the one doing it. What if the brain suddenly...took control...?
there is lots of over-diagnosing by doctors (who diagnose depression).
at least 2 people a year that i know go to their doctor (sometimes for flu/other sickness, sometimes for just a checkup) and are told that they are depressed, and no matter what their side of the argument is (like having a 100F fever cause of the flu) the doctor consecutively tells them they are depressed.
psychiatrists rarely diagnose symptoms such as depression.
Some mental diseases can be er... taken(?) after a period of time like ADD, ADHD, etc. While other mental illnesses can be had a birth, like Mental Retardation, Cerebal Palsy, etc. And yet others are purely genetic, like Dwarfism, and Progresia.
And I think that what needs to be sorted out is wheteher or not a Mental Illness is a 'disease' or a 'defect'. And I dont mean defect in a bad way, simply becasue I have lack for a better word. (its happened alot today...)
How can you have someone else tell you how YOU feel lol?
No. That's not how it works. First they remind you of their fancy education. Then you tell them how you feel. Then they tell you WHY you feel that way. Then they insult you with fancy words you don't understand. Then they prescribe expensive medications. THEN hey charge you 100 dollars or more per hour. xD
And I dont mean defect in a bad way, simply becasue I have lack for a better word.
This is what I think about sometimes.
Who ever decided Schizophrenia was a bad thing?
I've met a schizophrenic. And most of his experiences have been good. He talks about the fun things he's done for no reason, but he also talks of the horrible things he's done.
(Being convinced by a voice that he needed to drink cologne)
No. That's not how it works. First they remind you of their fancy education. Then you tell them how you feel. Then they tell you WHY you feel that way. Then they insult you with fancy words you don't understand. Then they prescribe expensive medications. THEN hey charge you 100 dollars or more per hour. xD
Exactly.
Oh and by the way, if your husband has schizophrenia, you CAN sign papers to have him committed to a mental institution against his will.
Which means the diagnosing of a mental illness by a person who will profit from it, rights can be taken away.
because they do bad things due to not being able to control themselves, and the voices confuse them, as well as making them paranoid at times (quite often at times)
No. That's not how it works. First they remind you of their fancy education. Then you tell them how you feel. Then they tell you WHY you feel that way. Then they insult you with fancy words you don't understand. Then they prescribe expensive medications. THEN hey charge you 100 dollars or more per hour. xD
most to all schizophrenics have the option to recieve public and free psychiatrists.
Oh and by the way, if your husband has schizophrenia, you CAN sign papers to have him committed to a mental institution against his will.
Which means the diagnosing of a mental illness by a person who will profit from it, rights can be taken away.
that's because they're the spouse, they spend the most time with them and it's most dangerous to them. also, i don't see how a spouse could ever profit from sending their spouse (often whom they love) to a mental institution, and if they do it untruthfully, the institution will notice, and the spouse will be released to public because they'll know the guy's sane.
you have many misconceptions about this. you generalize these things like everything's always going to go wrong. sometimes psychiatrists are not the answer, but they're never the pure enemy-- any poor results of psychiatry is simply that person's chemistry.
