New Report Helps to Redefine Mental "Illness"
Over coffee last Sunday morning, I read "Redefining Mental Illness," a wonderful Op-Ed in The Times by T.M. Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at Stanford.
This, in particular, caught my eye:
Two months ago, the British Psychological Society released a remarkable document entitled "Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia." Its authors say that hearing voices and feeling paranoid are common experiences, and are often a reaction to trauma, abuse or deprivation: “Calling them symptoms of mental illness, psychosis or schizophrenia is only one way of thinking about them..."
For all of us working at Community Access, such findings are not surprising. We have long contended that mental “illness” is a misnomer. What is so refreshing, however, is that a leading professional organization has finally confirmed this point of view, in an important and rigorous report.
Hopefully, it will serve to reinforce the trends we are seeing in health care reform – namely, a focus on recovery, peer supports, employment outcomes, and other initiatives that support a person’s strengths and aspirations instead of their “deficits.”
Here is the report in full:
British Psychological Society:
Understanding Psychosis and Schizophrenia
© The British Psychological Society 2014
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