The Myth of Mental Illness Essay Assignment Paper
The Myth of Mental Illness Essay Assignment Paper
By Thomas S. Szasz (1960)
First published in American Psychologist, 15, 113-118.
Kindly order now for a custom-written, completely unique essay paper that is free of plagiarism! on The Myth of Mental Illness Essay Assignment Paper from Best Nursing Writers
Posted January 2002
My aim in this essay is to raise the question “Is there such a thing as mental illness?” and to argue that there is not. Since the notion of mental illness is extremely widely used nowadays, inquiry into the ways in which this term is employed would seem to be especially indicated. Mental illness, of course, is not literally a “thing” — or physical object — and hence it can “exist” only in the same sort of way in which other theoretical concepts exist. Yet, familiar theories are in the habit of posing, sooner or later — at least to those who come to believe in them — as “objective truths” (or “facts”). During certain historical periods, explanatory conceptions such as deities, witches, and microorganisms appeared not only as theories but as self-evident causes of a vast number of events. I submit that today mental illness is widely regarded in a somewhat similar fashion, that is, as the cause of innumerable diverse happenings. As an antidote to the complacent use of the notion of mental illness — whether as a self-evident phenomenon, theory, or cause–let us ask this question: What is meant when it is asserted that someone is mentally ill?
Kindly order now for a custom-written, completely unique essay paper that is free of plagiarism! on The Myth of Mental Illness Essay Assignment Paper from Best Nursing Writers
