Dialogic
Analysis of Thomas Szasz’s “The Myth of Mental Illness”
First published in 1960 in American Psychologist „
First published in 1960 in American Psychologist „
The Myth of Mental Illness
Thomas S. Szasz (1960)
American Psychologist, 15, 113-118.
My aim in this essay is to raise the question "Is there
such a thing as mental illness?" and to argue that there is not. Since the notion of
mental illness is
extremely widely used nowadays, inquiry into the ways in which this term is employed would
seem to be especially indicated. Mental illness, of course, is not
literally a "thing"–or physical object–and hence it can "exist" only in
the same sort of way in which other theoretical concepts exist. Yet, familiar theories are in the
habit of posing,
sooner or later–at least to those who come to believe in them–as "objective truths" (or
"facts"). During certain
historical periods, explanatory conceptions such as deities, witches, and microorganisms appeared not only as theories but as
self-evident causes of a vast number of events. I
submit that today mental illness is widely regarded in a somewhat similar fashion, that
is, as the cause of innumerable diverse happenings. As
an antidote to the complacent use of the notion of mental illness–whether as a
self-evident phenomenon, theory, or cause–let us ask this question: What is meant when it is
asserted that someone is mentally ill? „
Fundamental Premise: Reciprocity --“We write on the premises of the reader [and read] on the premises of the writer" (Rommetveit, 1974, p. 63). 4
Situation Corollary: The beginning of a text functions to situate the reader in terms of a mutual frame of reference, including genre, topic, comment „
Genre cued by: „
• journal (Amer. Psych.)
„
•“My aim in this essay …” „
• lexis (theoretical, concepts, microorganisms, phenomenon, … „
Topic (mental illness) and Comment (myth) cued by title „