Thomas Szasz, a well known psychiatrist has strongly objected to the concept of

Question

Thomas Szasz, a well known psychiatrist has strongly objected to the concept of "mental illnesses." What is/are his primary criticism? a. Diagnostic tests are not culturally fair, and bias minority groups. b. Most mental illness symptoms are the result of hypocondriasis. c. Anything called a "disease" should have a physiological basis, therefore any "mental" illness (disease) by definition is not valid construct. d. Behavior labeled as "mental illness" is actually the result of political scapegoating.

Explanation / Answer

Thomas Szasz, objected the concept of 'mental illness', because according to him, to label something as a 'disease', it must have some physiological basis. For instance, the brain is a part of the body like liver, kidney and other organs and thus, it can be diseased. A clot in the brain can lead to a certain disease. However, according to Szasz, 'mind' is not a bodily organ and thus, it cannot be diseased. The primary criticism by Thomas Szasz is, anything called a "disease" should have a physiological basis, therefore any "mental" illness (disease) by definition is not valid construct.

Thus, the correct answer is C.

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