Mental health and mental disorder module(psychososial studies Degree) Essay

Mental health and mental disorder module(psychososial studies Degree) - Essay Example The existence of mental disease and the legality of the psychiatric specialization are not universally acknowledged. Some specialists, especially Doctor Thomas Szasz, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Syracuse, seriously stand up against the practice of use of the definition "mental illness." The anti-psychiatry movement frequently refers to what it means by "myth of mental illness" and dispute against a biological cause for mental disorders, or also states that all human experience has a biological origin and so no type of behaviour can be called a disease per se. In this particular work I would like to study depression from the general point of view and from the point of view of Thomas Szasz in order to prove or disprove his position. So, is depression a disease or a myth? Depression is the most widespread disease of XX century. During all the past and in present century depression was considered as a normal condition of artistic, creative people. We heard more than once:  «I am in depression, live me along ". Nowadays, depression is a dangerous disease, which causes unfeigned suffering. However there are some scientists who do not agree with it, they are Thomas Szasz and his colleagues Jeffrey A. Schaler and Ron Leifer. 1. The first point: â€Å"A disease scientifically is defined as a biological abnormality that affects living tissues. Trees can be diseased, plants, animals, and humans. A real disease is typhoid fever, we call it a literal disease. Spring fever sounds like a disease but it is not a disease. The whale is a real animal, but it is not a fish, it is a metaphorical fish. So when we say depression is not a disease, we do not minimize the human phenomenon suffering. It exists like the whale exists but it is not a disease.† (Thomas S. Szasz Cybercenter for Liberty and Responsibility, 1998). 2. The second point: â€Å"Treatment has got nothing to do with