Alongside the evolution and development of psychoanalysis, psychiatry during the twentieth century became recognized as an increasingly important area of medicine. The two disciplines can be seen as direct opposites, with psychiatrists dismissing psychodynamics as unscientific, while psychoanalysts reject the idea that psychological problems require medical treatment. Dr. Thomas Szasz was one of the leading figures in this debate, championing the view that mental illnesses are not diseases requiring medical intervention. He wrote two books about his experiences with psychiatry: The Myth of Mental Illiness (1961), and The Manufacture of Depression (1970). Szasz argues that while mental disorders can be diagnosed through observation, they are not illnesses; rather, they are simply problems in living. Psychiatric diagnoses are subjective labels applied to people based on vague criteria, often without any regard for the individual’s freedom or self-determination. They are political measures used to control dissenters. While the government may label someone as mentally ill, they do so without providing any objective proof of the person’s condition. In his view, a psychiatric diagnosis is just another example of medicalization, where medicine attempts to take over all aspects of life including diet and exercise.
Mind and brain
In many cultures around this world, there is the view that humans have a soul that exists independently of the physical body. For Greek philosophers, the soul was also viewed as the seat of our reasoning abilities - what we would call our minds today. While Aristotle...
