The Social Construction Of Mental Illness

Mental health is the measurement of a human’s levels of psychological well-being. The levels of a human’s well-being can dictate their life through mental illnesses, which are seen as deviant in today’s society. Through the years many psychologists have delved into the abstract that the concept of mental illness is socially constructed. The last 50 years have seen an ultimate rise in this area in terms of research which in return has given psychologists a vast insight into this topic also providing great contributions into our understanding of the origin of mental illness. In this essay I will be delving into different examples to support and deny the idea that mental illness is socially constructed.
Thomas Szasz (1960) criticised the idea

These being; how culture influences the illness, the experience as socially constructed, and medical knowledge as constructed by society. Firstly, it is important to acknowledge that the social constructionism approach to illness is based on the distinction between disease (this is biological) and illness (which is socially constructed) (Eisenberg 1977). The medical model provides the idea that all diseases are universal regardless of culture or time, however social constructionism draws heavily on the idea that illness rather is shaped by cultural beliefs Gusfield (1967). Perring (2005) provided us with an anthropological study in non-Western countries which found that behaviours interpreted as signs of mental disorders in Westernised countries were found to be completely normal in non-westernised countries. An example of this is Christian teachings; where suicide in Catholic belief goes against Christ and his teachings and abodes to poor mental health however in ancient Japanese traditions suicide was seen as noble and a way to atone for your sins (Kawanishi, 2008). Furthermore, in Russia where until the ‘Russian Mental Health Act’ was passed in 1993 protecting the rights of those who are mentally ill, it was seen as deviant and those who showed signs of mental illness were locked up and treated with harsh conditions. This meant that individuals suffering from mental illness believed that is was merely a social deviance and therefore had to abide to the norms in the hope of not getting locked up. The contrast between cultural views on mental illness can also vary on the way it is collected. In places like Russia where mental illness is still looked down upon and seen as a nuisance or a sign of weakness a smaller percentage of citizens would be keen to discuss their experience or admittance to suffering with a mental related illness. Therefore, figures would not be as