“The Myth of Mental Illness:” Continuing controversies and their implications for mental health professionals

Since the publication of “The Myth of Mental Illness” in 1960, there has been an ongoing debate about Thomas Szaszʹs ideas concerning mental illness. In this paper, Szaszʹs views are summarized, as are the views of Szaszʹs critics. Specifically, the following areas are addressed: Szasz ʹs definition of disease, his notions regarding the unconscious and rationality, his beliefs regarding culpability, his proposed differences between psychiatry and other branches of medicine, the uses of the term “mental illness,” and the possibility of implicating physical lesions in some mental illnesses. With this discussion as a backdrop, the importance of these issues to mental health practitioners is addressed.