In his most famous work, “The Myth of Mental Illness,” Szasz discusses in detail the problem of the boundaries of normality and pathology in psychology, the metaphorical nature of the concepts of “illness” and “sick” as applied to the human mind, and the possible consequences of incorrect interpretation of these terms for the individual and society as a whole. The author argues that psychiatry considers thinking and behavior as its object of study, and not the biological structure - the brain; mental illness is not diagnosed through studies of cells, tissues or organs, but is identified as a conditionally given set of characteristics of mental and behavioral activity, differently expressed and assessed in each case. Even though some people behave or view things in ways that seem inappropriate to others, this does not mean that they have a disease. In this interpretation, “illness” or “disease” turns out to be only a medical metaphor to describe a behavioral disorder.

Title: The Myth of Mental Illness Author: Thomas Szasz Publisher: Academic Project, Alma Mater Series: Psychological Technologies Year of publication: 2010 Pages: 432 Format: DjVu Size : 7 MB.Quality: scanned pagesLanguage: Russian