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Paving the Way's avatar

The field might actually be moving in a different direction. Reestablishing deviance and dysfunction instead of minimizing them, without necessarily medicalizing those problems.

Arnold Cantú's avatar

Perhaps, though I'm skeptical of claims that we are no longer medicalizing problems. I argue in this chapter that any headlines about "worsening mental health," "increasing burden of mental disorders," et cetera are actually describing an increase in medicalization across the board: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/400315759_Trapped_in_Wittgenstein's_Fly-Bottle_A_Philosophical_Critique_of_Mental_Disorder

As long as the medical model of mental health reigns supreme, I don't see any decrease in the medicalization of everyday life.

Paving the Way's avatar

I agree that we are not yet de-medicalizing problems. But the recent pushback against SSRI's is the best progress I have seen in decades. The new paradigm is remembering clear lines between disorder, deviance, and dysfunction and health, but not medically pathologizing disorder, necessarily. By the way I have been opposing and advocating against the medical model for 30 years. Welcome to the club. (:

Arnold Cantú's avatar

You are perhaps more optimistic than I am! I don't see it "in the trenches" on a day to day basis working with clients. My hypothesis is that the only way we can near any wholesale end to the medicalization of everyday life is if we completely let go of any notion of "disorder" (and any of its sister terms). That would be a true paradigm shift, though one that would likely come with significant institutional fallout given vested interests.

I'm reminded of Cooper's ideas regarding how, if at all, we can overcome "lock-in": https://philpapers.org/rec/COOWIT

Paving the Way's avatar

I disagree with your solution but appreciate your ideas. We are walking alongside partners in health generally that are rejecting the Rockefeller paradigm and embracing root cause healing. But I do not believe we are rejecting the concept of illness alltogether.

Arnold Cantú's avatar

Fair enough. My take is that if we are to keep it, “mental illness” should be clearly defined. Though that has never been the case. Frances even went as far as to call its sister term, disorder, “bullshit” once.