Aronson was one among many psychologists who believed that conventional notions of mental illness failed to take into account individual conditions. This led to questions about whether some disorders, particularly those classified as mood disorders or anxiety disorders, were actually responses of certain people to specific events rather than instances of abnormal behavior.
At the forefront of critics was psychologist Thomas Szasz. Szasz recognized that there are a variety of disorders that have physical causes, but in his view, too many seemingly mental disorders are nothing more than ‘problems in living’. For instance, categories of mental disorders are means to marginalize people who have reached the point that they cannot cope with life anymore. An example of such a person is someone who takes alcohol because he feels depressed. In another case, a person might take cocaine because he suffers from anxiety. By labeling these individuals as addicts, society can attempt to control them. However, rather than helping the individual, society labels him with a negative term.
