Today, if your behavior, thoughts, or feelings begin to concern you or a family member, for a fee many doctors will translate your experiences into mental illness terminology. Synonyms for mental illness, are mental disease, mental sickness, mental disorder, and psychopathology. These terms, as metaphors for experiences someone doesn’t like, have been with us for centuries. When used in this way, it can communicate something about…
Welcome to “From Insults to Respect.” Regular readers know that I have some serious objections to how mental health service providers treat those seeking their services. As things stand now, unless you can afford to completely pay for such services without any insurance coverage, to access services you are very likely to be required to be labelled as having a mental disorder. Now, many mental…
In 1961 psychiatrist Thomas Szasz published an article in the American Psychologist titled, “The Myth of Mental Illness.” There he proposed that the set of experiences, behaviors, and thoughts viewed as “mental illness” are more aptly construed as “problems in living.” The following year, Dr Szasz published a best selling book by the same name. Some loved it while others writhed in anger. One reviewer, for example,…
Some people find that their actions are violating certain societal norms and feel guilty and ashamed about this. When they try to stop doing these actions, they may find they can’t just stop, and thus they end up feeling even more guilty and ashamed. Some parents, when they see their offspring act in ways that violate certain societal norms, find that they feel guilty and…
“Good morning, Barbara,” I say, as my first counseling case walks into my office. I notice she looks a little angry. Upon sitting down, she declares, “I’m terribly frustrated. I’ve been depressed now for over two weeks, and I just can’t shake it!” It’s easy for me to empathize because I regularly have bouts of what I refer to as melancholy. A deep anguish comes…
In recent weeks, I have been providing a series of blog posts on psychiatric name calling (see here, here, here, and here). In these posts, I have expressed some negative opinions about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM provides the names for the various mental health concerns that mental health service providers are often required to use if they want to…
As some of you may know, Bob Dylan has a show called “Theme Time Radio Hour.” As the title suggests, each episode is centered on a theme. He begins his episode on madness as follows: “Let me ask you a few questions, friends. Are you disinterested in work or family life? Do you suffer from sleep disruption? Have you had significant changes in appetite? Have…
Many mental health service providers well know that there are serious problems with the jargon that is used in their profession. In a recent post titled “Psychiatric Name Calling: Is It Time To Put A Stop To It?” I outline some of the most glaring ones. In a subsequent post titled “Psychiatric Name Calling: Is There An Alternative?” I describe a plan for professionals who have…
William James, psychologist and philosopher, passed away over a century ago. Nevertheless, his remarkable body of work remains as fresh as fruit plucked from its tree but moments ago. His views about his personal bout with a challenging experience developed over many years. Today I think it will be instructive if we spent a little time reviewing what he learned. A Glimpse at James’s Early…
