Mental illness denial

Mental illness denial or mental disorder denial is a form of denialism in which a person denies the existence of mental disorders.[1] Both serious analysts,[2][3] as well as pseudoscientific movements[1] question the existence of certain disorders.

A minority of professional researchers see disorders such as depression from a sociocultural perspective and argue that the solution to it is fixing a dysfunction in the society not in the person's brain.[3]

Certain analysts argue this denialism is usually fueled by narcissistic injury.[4] Anti-psychiatry movements such as Scientology promote mental illness denial by having alternative practices to psychiatry.[1]

Views

Views of Thomas Szasz

According to Thomas Szasz there is no such thing as mental illness. He views psychiatry as a mechanism for political oppression.[5] Szasz wrote a book on the subject in 1961, which is called The Myth of Mental Illness.[6] There are also "Szasz followers", people who agree with ideas of Thomas Szasz.[1]

Views of Elyn Saks

Probing patient's denial may lead to better ways to help them overcome their denial and provide insight into other issues.[4] Major reasons for denial are narcissistic injury and denialism.[4] In denialism, a person tries to deny psychologically uncomfortable truth and tries to rationalize it.[4] This urge for denialism is fueled further by narcissistic injury.[4] Narcissism gets injured when a person feels vulnerable (or weak or overwhelmed) for some reason like mental illness.[4]

Denialism in India

Mental illness denial in Republic of India is a common problem. Many Indians view mental illnesses as, quote: "touchy-feely, new-age hogwash", even though 1 in every 10 Indians have a mental health condition in India.[7]

Athletes

Studies show that Overtrained (OT) athletes suffer from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)[8][9][10][11] but many athletic trainers and psychologists deny this and as a result athletes are not getting proper medical treatment.[12][13] Patients deny existence of depression and blame themselves for their inadequacies and try to overcome their inadequacies which severes the symptoms more.[12] Their denial also acts as an obstacle for biopsychological approach towards OT.[12]

Pop culture

TV series

In the animated TV series South Park, in the episode titled City Sushi there is a scene where Butters Stotch is wondering whether Dr. William Janus is having an incident of his multiple personality disorder, to which Dr. William Janus replies: "Come on, you think multiple personality disorder is real? I've been using that to scam this town for seven years.".[14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Novella, Steven (24 January 2018). "Mental Illness Denial". ScienceBasedMedicine.org. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "'Depression' Is a Symptom, Not a Disorder". opmed.doximity.com. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  3. 1 2 Escalante, Alison. "Researchers Doubt That Certain Mental Disorders Are Disorders At All". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  4. 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
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Bhagat, Chetan (10 October 2020). "Indians are still living in denial about mental health issues". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  8. ↑ Nieman DC. Exercise, upper respiratory tract infection, and the immune system. Med Sci Sport Exerc1994;26:128–39. Web. 11 Dec. 2021
  9. ↑ Keizer HA. Neuroendocrine aspects of overtraining. In: Kreider RB, Fry AC, O'Toole ML, eds. Overtraining in sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 1998:145–67. Web. 11 Dec. 2021
  10. ↑ Keizer HA, Kuipers H, deHaan J, et al. Effect of a 3-month endurance training program on metabolic and multiple hormonal responses to exercise. Int J Sports Med1987;3:154–60. Web. 11 Dec. 2021
  11. ↑ Simon GE, VonKorff M, Piccinelli M, et al. An international study of the relation betwen somatic symptoms and depression. N Engl J Med1999;341:1329–35. Web. 11 Dec. 2021
  12. 1 2 3 "The stigmatisation and denial of mental illness in athletes". British Journal of Sports Medicine. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  13. ↑ Hirschfield RMA, Keller MB, Panico S, et al. The National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association consensus statement on the undertreatment of depression. JAMA1997;277:333–40. Web. 11 Dec. 2021
  14. ↑ "South Park (1997–…): Season 15, Episode 6 - City Sushi - full transcript". Subs like Script. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
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