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] and pseudoscientific movements[1] question the existence of certain disorders.

In psychiatry, insight is the ability of an individual to understand their mental health condition,[4] and anosognosia is the lack of awareness of a mental health condition.[5] Certain psychological analysts argue this denialism is a coping mechanism usually fueled by narcissistic injury.[6]

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]

Insight

In psychiatry, insight is the ability of an individual to understand their mental health,[4] and anosognosia is the lack of awareness of a mental health condition.[5]

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

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]

References

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.
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.
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.

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[:9-1] 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.

[:0-3] Escalante, Alison. "Researchers Doubt That Certain Mental Disorders Are Disorders At All". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-12-13.

[:12-4] Marková, Ivana (2005). Insight in psychiatry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-511-14045-2. OCLC 63814379.

[:13-5] 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.

[:8-6] Saks, Elyn R. "Some thoughts on denial of mental illness." American Journal of Psychiatry 166.9 (2009): 972-973. Web. 11 Dec. 2021

[7] 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)

[:10-8] 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.

[:7-9] 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.