3. Szasz (2011) Flashcards
What are key points that Szasz makes?
(8 points)
- Mental illness is a myth, not a disease that can be scientifically proven.
- Medical model is now the only way of dealing with people who behave differently.
- Government decides what illnesses exist, control all regulation and funding.
- Mental hospitals are more like prisons to control peoples’ behaviour.
- Economic issues – big business in pharmaceuticals and treatments to treat mentally ill.
- Mentally ill people are actively trying to cope in the world using whatever coping mechanisms they can. They are not passive players to biological forces.
- People are being deprived of the freedom to behave in the way they choose on the grounds of having a disease. This also has implications for ‘insanity’ as a defence.
- We need to try to understand the reasons for a person’s actions by respecting, understanding and helping them, not diagnosing under a loose fitting definition.
- _______years of _______ in US _________ _____________
(2 points)
- Fifty years of change in US mental healthcare
In the past mental illness was seen as incurable and the government were not heavily involved in providing healthcare.
50 years later mental healthcare is the responsibility of the government and is medical and political. The professionals have a legal responsibility to prevent danger caused by the mentally unwell.
- Mental illness – a __________or _______ __________?
(4 points)
- Mental illness – a medical or legal concept?
Mental illnesses are defined by political and economical criteria.
Changes in definitions of what is/isn’t a metal illness such as homosexuality and ADHD provide evidence that mental illness is not real like physical illnesses.
Diagnosis of mental illness is not based on scientific research and therefore is hard to disprove.
Mental hospitals are like prisons who label people and keep them involuntarily and psychiatrists act as judges rather than healers.
- Changing ________________on human ___(and ________) (3 points)
- Changing perspectives on human life (and illness)
For many centuries the diagnosis of mental illness has been questioned.
Work such as Shakespeare (Lady Macbeth) have illustrated the strong desire people have felt to help someone who is distressed and turn to the medical model rather than looking at the internal mental experiences (conflict) people are dealing with.
Today it is the physician who cures the soul.
- Mental illness is in the ____of the _____________
(4 points)
- Mental illness is in the eye of the beholder
When someone displays behaviors that disturb us we medicalize them and search for ways to treat them.
When people are mentally unwell, there are reasons for their actions and these need to be understood yet they are stripped of their human rights and their feelings are seen as inconsequential.
Patients may be seen as dangerous and psychiatrists see it as their duty to protect others from these patients and them from themselves. Therefore, the doctors judgements are seen as superior to any of the patients.
Not all sick people are patients and not all patients are sick.
- Having an _________ does not make an ____________into a _________
(2 points)
- Having an illness does not make an individual into a patient
If you have a physical illness you can choose whether to be a patient and receive treatment or not.
However, if someone is diagnosed as mentally ill, then they require some form of treatment, whether they choose the treatment or not.
According to Szasz
How are patients viewed and treated?
Dehumanised - thoughts and opinions regarding whether, if and what type of treatment is required is often taken out of their hands. It is believed that the judgements made by doctors are the right ones and actions are intended to control and coerce patients .
They can held prisoner in mental health hospitals and deprived of their human rights
How should they be viewed and treated?
As people with internal conflict that they may need resolving but with the freedom to choose if and what interventions they would like (as with physical illness)
In the key research by Szasz (2011), mental illness is described as a ‘myth’.
What does Szasz mean by this? [3]
Szasz sees mental illness as a “linguistic-rhetorical phenomenon” describing behaviours that disturb or disorient others or the self. He argues that if a mental illness turns out to have a biological basis to it then it was never a mental illness but instead was an undiagnosed bodily illness. If it is not a bodily illness then describing it as a mental illness involves maintaining a particular (medicalised) way of viewing behaviours that leads to the ‘patient’ being the subject of coercive ‘treatment’ rather than being seen as an active player in a real-life drama. In short, Szasz’s believes that there is no such thing as mental illness: it is just our modern “pseudomedical” perspective on the tragic nature of life.
In the key research by Szasz (2011), mental illness is described as a ‘myth’.
To what extent do you agree with Szasz’s claim that mental illness is a ‘myth’? [5]
To some extent I agree with Szasz’s ideas, it is clear that some industries are using mental illness as a convenient way of making money. For example the pharmaceutical industry’s has made billions and it is their interest to discover more mental disorders, so they can sell more drugs treating it. I can also appreciate that some people who are diagnosed as mentally unwell are subjected to treatment against their will e.g. severe cases of bipolar, when people distance themselves from family and friends and stop looking after themselves.
However, generally I disagree with Szasz’s suggestions, for example when he puts forward that mental illness is made up and medical treatment should not be provided. I think some peoples mental struggles make living a normal life really hard and sometimes only medication will help them e.g. if they are having hallucinations or suicidal thoughts. I worry that suggestions like those of Szasz risks shutting off a range of ways of helping people that they often find really useful.
Assess the usefulness of the key research by Szasz (2011).
Szasz’s work is useful as it exposes the politication and medicalization of psychiatry. This encourages ethical reviewing of what is classed as a mental illness and whether treatment should be provided or not. E.g. Homosexuality was listed as a ‘sociopathic personality disorder when the DSM was first published in 1952 , and remained so until 1973 (the ICD removed it in 1990) and treatment such as aversion therapy is no longer seen as ethical.
Szasz is also useful as he promotes freewill and encourages giving power back to people who are mentally struggling and giving them the option to receive treatment or not. He also pushes them to consider situational factors and the fact that their emotional or behavioural reaction may be rational based on their experiences. He suggests that those suffering need to face the internal conflict themselves to resolve issues they are facing, for example receive counselling to deal with childhood trauma rather than being prescribed medication for anxiety.
However, his work may not be seen useful as it conveys psychiatrists and medical hospitals negatively and suggests that there is no such thing as a mental illness, biologically. This could dissuade those struggling with their mental health from acknowledging symptoms and seeking treatment, which is extremely unhelpful for those experiencing symptoms such as suicidal thoughts or hallucinations.
Szasz - Evaluation (4)
- Szasz is a “very dangerous man” - Has a lot of influence, if medical model is ignored then mentally ill may suffer from less treatment. Also if potentially dangerous patients aren’t detained, they may cause harm.
- Ethnocentric- He only looks at the American mental health system, it may vary
in other countries. - Free will- Believes everyone should have a choice in their own treatment rather than being controlled by drugs.
- Socially sensitive research - May stigmatise the mentally ill & psychiatrists. Lack of help may harm the mentally ill. May affect policy as it contradicts current beliefs. However this could be good as some policies need challenging.
