Mental illness denial
Mental illness denial or mental disorder denial is a form of denialism in which a person or group denies the existence of mental disorders.[1] Both serious analysts[2][3] and pseudoscientific movements[1] may question the existence of certain disorders.
A minority of professional researchers see disorders such as depression from a sociocultural perspective and argue that solutions should be sought through fixing a dysfunction in the society, not in the sufferer's brain.[3]
Insight
[edit]In psychiatry, insight is the ability of an individual to understand their mental health,[4] and anosognosia is a condition caused by brain damage where the person becomes cognitively unaware, whether partially or completely, of their impairment.[5]
Certain psychological analysts argue this denialism is a coping mechanism usually fueled by narcissistic injury.[6] According to Elyn Saks, probing patient's denial may lead to better ways to help them overcome their denial and provide insight into other issues.[6] Major reasons for denial are narcissistic injury and denialism.[6] In denialism, a person tries to deny psychologically uncomfortable truth and tries to rationalize it.[6] This urge for denialism is fueled further by narcissistic injury.[6] Narcissism gets injured when a person feels vulnerable (or weak or overwhelmed) for some reason like mental illness.[6]
Scholarly criticism of psychiatric diagnosis
[edit]A small minority of scholars have criticized mental health diagnoses as arbitrary.[7] According to Thomas Szasz, mental illness is a social construct. He views psychiatry as a social control and mechanism for political oppression.[8] Szasz wrote a book on the subject in 1961, The Myth of Mental Illness.[9]
Religion
[edit]Conservative Christians, including charismatics, are more likely to attribute the cause of mental illness to spiritual factors instead of seeking help from psychiatrists. It is often believed that faith is the most effective treatment option. This kind of teaching is associated with the idea that mental illness does not exist, and that Christians are immune to mental illness.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 Novella, Steven (24 January 2018). "Mental Illness Denial". ScienceBasedMedicine.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ↑ "'Depression' Is a Symptom, Not a Disorder". opmed.doximity.com. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
- 1 2 Escalante, Alison. "Researchers Doubt That Certain Mental Disorders Are Disorders At All". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
- ↑ Marková, Ivana (2005). Insight in psychiatry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-511-14045-2. OCLC 63814379.
- ↑ Moro, Valentina; Pernigo, Simone; Zapparoli, Paola; Cordioli, Zeno; Aglioti, Salvatore M. (2011). "Phenomenology and neural correlates of implicit and emergent motor awareness in patients with anosognosia for hemiplegia". Behavioural Brain Research. 225 (1): 259–269. doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2011.07.010. PMID 21777624. S2CID 8389272.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Saks, Elyn R. "Some thoughts on denial of mental illness." American Journal of Psychiatry 166.9 (2009): 972-973. Web. 11 Dec. 2021
- ↑ Paris, Joel (2020). Overdiagnosis in psychiatry how modern psychiatry lost its way while creating a diagnosis for almost all of life's misfortunes (Second ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-19-750430-7. OCLC 1147940363.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Benning, Tony (2016). "No such thing as mental illness? Critical reflections on the major ideas and legacy of Thomas Szasz". BJPsych Bulletin. 40 (6): 292–295. doi:10.1192/pb.bp.115.053249. PMC 5353517. PMID 28377805.
- ↑ Carey, Benedict (11 September 2012). "Dr. Thomas Szasz, Psychiatrist Who Led Movement Against His Field, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ↑ Hlongwane, Nomthandazo; Juby, Vidette (2023). "Knowledge, attitudes, and help-seeking behaviour for mental illness in a Christian community". The South African journal of psychiatry: SAJP: the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa. 29: 2139. doi:10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v29i0.2139. ISSN 1608-9685. PMC 10696576. PMID 38059199.
