SOC303 – The “Myth” of Mental Illness

Abstract

Join the SB team as we talk about the “myth of mental illness,” a phrase coined by psychiatrist and medical sociologist, Thomas Szasz. Today we will be comparing the ideas of mental health and illness as “problems with living” to the medical model. As sociologists we are not anti-medicine or anti-doctor, but we do feel it necessary to use our perspective breakdown the essence of psychological functioning and the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as the gatekeeper.

Keywords

Mental illness, mental health, medical sociology, medicine, stigma, shame

Transcript

You can find the transcript for this episode here! Big mahalos to Dr. Stacye Blount for helping us transcribe this one!!

Sources

  1. Thomas Szasz the Psychiatrist.
  2. The Myth of Mental Illness: 50 years later by Thomas Szasz 
  3. Szasz Under Fire: The Psychiatrist Abolitionist Faces His Critics
  4. According to the American Psychiatric Association, Mental Illness is..
  5. Sociology, on the other hand…
  6. Changing brain chemistry after trauma
  7. Overcoming the stigma of mental illness
  8. What is Neurodiversity? 
  9. What is Neurodiversity from an Autistic perspective (Video)
  10. Halloween and that “special candy”
  11. The Illusionist Magic Show
  12. SOC126: Medicalizing Behavior–Normal or “Abnormal”
  13. The Life Course Perspective. Classic and contemporary medical sociological theory 
  14. History of DSM and the most current edition–DSM 5
  15. Suicide Prevention Hotline

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