Are we all mentally ''illed''

Raccoon Love

Raccoon Love

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Ok, I have always researched a variety of psychological disorders, I was greatly impressed by the immense amount of them. It seems like with each passing day more and more disorders are being classified under the DSM. Psychiatrists throughout history have always classified anything they considered ''abnormal'' to society as a disorder. A clear example is the unfair classification of homosexuality under the DSM, this was clearly based on society views at that time rather than actual mental research, the field of psychiatry has also been known in the past for maltreatment of patients and assigning different medications, classifying a variety of disorders for the sole purpose of gaining money etc.. of course I believe that in modern society most psychiatrists do not hold such extreme views. A clear example of the negative influence psychiatry can have if misused can be seen under the influence of Hitler in which mostly all Jews, homosexuals, blacks, etc were classified as mentally ''ill''. It seems to be that if you apply each and everyone of this disorders to the entire population, nearly all the globe can be classified as mentally ''ill'' and that well a lot of this disorders are based on unfair expectations from society which is sad as I feel that the main reason this are classified as disorders is because of lack of understanding and acceptance, society has been shaped a certain way and if you decide to be different then well your considered insane..so in your opinion what exactly is a disorder? do you believe some of this newly classified disorders are really pointless? Do you think most of these are due to lack of understanding and acceptance of people who do not follow a certain pattern in society? Discuss..

Personally I can't argue that some people are indeed in need of desperate help however I feel as if most of this ''disorders'' are mainly just a sad reflection of what society wants from you.
 
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with as many of them as there are, to a certain degree yes. a psychological disorder is supposed to be something that prohibits you from living life normally (mental causes of course). we could make the case the most ppl do indeed exhibit traits used for diagnosis of one or more disorders, but i don't think that your average person (i know there's not really such a thing) would meet enough of the requirements (especially since trained psychologists administer these) to qualify as truly being disordered.
i found the number alarming as well...
 
In my thoughts, the only thing that are actual mental disorders are things like being mentally slow, dyslexia, etc ... Also I believe that murderers (unless its for self protection) and rapists should be considered mentally ill. Other than that, I don't believe any of these stupid things they're calling mental disorders really are mental disorders. We are all different, we all think differently, but society does not want that. Society wants us all to be the same and fit in, which just can't and won't happen, so they try to create all these fake mental disorders and things of that such to make us try and be "normal." At least that's my views on it.
 
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Raccoon Love said:
Ok, I have always researched a variety of psychological disorders, I was greatly impressed by the immense amount of them. It seems like with each passing day more and more disorders are being classified under the DSM. Psychiatrists throughout history have always classified anything they considered ''abnormal'' to society as a disorder. A clear example is the unfair classification of homosexuality under the DSM, this was clearly based on society views at that time rather than actual mental research, the field of psychiatry has also been known in the past for maltreatment of patients and assigning different medications, classifying a variety of disorders for the sole purpose of gaining money etc..
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Psychology generally started in 1880 and I'm going to assume that Psychiatry started some time after that, that's really not a lot of time for a science based on something as complex as humans to start building completely sound logical ideas about how things work. It's like comparing Alchemy to Chemistry. Alchemy was filled with its crack pots (and, comparatively, this is where psychology and psychiatry are now.) Also, neurological studies (and equipment) weren't available like they are now. All you really had to go off of was what was normal and productive and what was not normal and unproductive, in fact detrimental to that person. Also, homosexuality might still be a neurological/biological disorder. I don't think many psychologists have thrown it out, it's just more PR to not say 'something is wrong with them." Since this is what most people think when they see "disorder"
of course I believe that in modern society most psychiatrists do not hold such extreme views. A clear example of the negative influence psychiatry can have if misused can be seen under the influence of Hitler in which mostly all Jews, homosexuals, blacks, etc were classified as mentally ''ill''.
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I'd say that that was the effect of a mentally ill person trying to project his view of people into a science, not the fault of the science itself.

It seems to be that if you apply each and everyone of this disorders to the entire population, nearly all the globe can be classified as mentally ''ill'' and that well a lot of this disorders are based on unfair expectations from society which is sad as I feel that the main reason this are classified as disorders is because of lack of understanding and acceptance, society has been shaped a certain way and if you decide to be different then well your considered insane.
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Diagnosing a disorder is something that is subjective in both Psychology and Psychiatry. (Although to a lesser extent) Some of the disorders are unfair, some of them do have a basis of "people should act like this." With that being said, I think most of the DSM is fair.

so in your opinion what exactly is a disorder? do you believe some of this newly classified disorders are really pointless? Do you think most of these are due to lack of understanding and acceptance of people who do not follow a certain pattern in society? Discuss..

Personally I can't argue that some people are indeed in need of desperate help however I feel as if most of this ''disorders'' are mainly just a sad reflection of what society wants from you.
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A mental disorder is a set of thoughts and activities that are unproductive and detrimental to the person in question. I do believe some of the newly classified disorders are rather pointless but, with that being said, most of the disorders are intended for people who are suffering from that particularly disorder in a severe manner. Often, people are suffering from more than one. And do I think most of the ideas are based on ignorance of society? No. I also believe that the ignorance will be purged because of the advancements of both Psychology and Psychiatry. Both fields, like the medical field, have a gap between what is actually known and what is actually practiced.

(Sorry I broke up your post, I just couldn't reply without doing so though)

Edit: I don't like how the DSM is set up, it lists the superficial symptoms instead of the underlying causes of the superficial symptoms.
 
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interesting, i read a book once which elaborated on this line of thinking. apparently the more mental institutions that are erected, the more 'mentally ill' people they happen to find. i think the mental health industry REQUIRES a steady influx of ill people in order to sustain the increasing supply of doctors.. rather than the expected alternative of doctor populations rising in proportion to a rising demand.. imo people live very differently to how we lived thousands of years ago, how our ancestors lived, and because of it, more people, as a proportion of the whole, are becoming mentally ill. but i doubt a great portion of the diagnosed 'mentally ill' truly are ill, because the criteria has over time become so vague and meaningless. like you said, practically anyone could be termed mentally ill, if it so happens their patterns of behavior deviate even slightly from a subjective norm. are we all ill? i really hope not. i think we all do the best we can do, given our imperfect circumstances.
 
Raccoon Love said:
Do you think most of these are due to lack of understanding and acceptance of people who do not follow a certain pattern in society?
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Exactly. One small correction; a certain pattern not in society (there are many different societies), but rather, certain cognitive patterns, which happen to clash seriously with each other. So, "they got skin and they put me in", as the song goes.

Or, to use their own terms: they have Obsessive Mental Disorder Categorization Disorder (OMDCD). :P

But don't worry, every practice which is cruel, inevitably turns around. We could call this one, mental racism.
 
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I don't think we all are mentally illed people. Just it is we become ill when we pay more attention it. Otherwise you can see those people who remains healthy and wealthy for many years. :) If we take care of our self, then we can stay away from those illness.
 
I don't know if modern psychiatrists are any more immune now than they were then, the hardest thing for a fish to see is the water. I'm sure in a few decades as culture moves on and we will look back at some of the views we have today and laugh (or cry).

Anyway most disorders are only disorders relative to the modern environment.
 
Reon said:
Also, homosexuality might still be a neurological/biological disorder. I don't think many psychologists have thrown it out, it's just more PR to not say 'something is wrong with them."
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Homosexuality was declassified as a mental illness in 1970 by the APA. (Both American Psychological Assoc. and American Psychiatric Assoc. have the APA acronym and I'm not sure which of them did the declassifying.)
 
myst said:
Homosexuality was declassified as a mental illness in 1970 by the APA. (Both American Psychological Assoc. and American Psychiatric Assoc. have the APA acronym and I'm not sure which of them did the declassifying.)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_psychology

Wikipedia said:
The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality per se is a normal variation of human sexual orientation.[2] In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. The American Psychological Association Council of Representatives followed in 1975.[3]
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Thanks, Reon.
 
You callin me crazy???

o_O *twitch*
 
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