Szasz (2011)

Question 1

Background?

Answer 1

Szasz suggested that mental diseases were in fact behaviours that made people feel uncomfortable, and, consequently, were thought by society to need treating, to make other people feel better rather than to help the person displaying the behaviour.
He believed that people with mental illnesses should not be treated in the medical sense..
Szasz wanted to look at his initial research on mental illness in the 1960’s and then reconsider how his points may or may not be valid.

Question 2

1960’s?

Answer 2

• Health care for mental health consisted of mental hospitals and private professionals.
• Mental patients are treated no better than prisoners. Patients have few rights - e.g. held against their will with no chance to appeal that decision.
• Mental illness is not the same as physical illness.
• Mental illness doesn’t exist so it is foolish to look for causes or cures.

Question 3

Reconsiderations in 2010?

Answer 3

• All mental health care is provided by the NHS and the danger to patients and others.
• A false belief that is apparent in research is that mental illness can be diagnosed accurately and treated successfully.
• Mental illness is seen as being a disorder of the brain, despite there being no scientific evidence that mental illness is caused solely by the brain
• Mental disorders are labels given to people with undesirable behaviours

Question 4

Aim?

Answer 4

considered the current medicalisation of abnormal behaviour in the light of his earlier arguments.

Question 5

Method?

Answer 5

Szasz’s paper is an essay on psychiatry and how it affects those who experience mental health issues. As such it is not a study and does not involve participants or a specific procedure.