"We're all mad here" - Power and Identity in the Modern Era of Mental Illness

Abstract

Mental illness is the modern term for the classification of conditions originally referred to as madness prior to The Enlightenment. Madness was identifiable by the outwardly deviant behavior of individuals acting out of unreason. This definition manifested in the absence of expert knowledge or organized efforts to study the nature of the condition. During this time, madness was seen as a condition of divine origins with the afflicted being blameless. This perception changed during The Enlightenment when madness was instead seen as a condition of moral error. The result was the widespread confinement of the mad. Confinement indirectly catalyzed the study of madness as a condition as it isolated the afflicted into a setting where they could be observed. This spurred the development of systems that classified specific mental-illnesses based on symptoms, thereby officially labelling madness as an illness. Despite dramatic advances in the study of mental-illness since the birth of psychology, diagnostic systems are heavily criticized for lacking specificity and holding the ability to diagnose any individual with a mental condition. This issue is further compounded by the stigmas associated with mental-illness. In order to combat stigma and extend treatment opportunities to a wider population of need, a system that recognizes each individual as existing on a continuum of mental wellness must be adopted. Current systems dichotomize mental health and mental illness in a manner that ascribes an identity to the diagnosed and limits their societal power. By recognizing conditions as often transient in nature and varying in severity, publics can empower the mentally ill while providing psychiatric care to those who would typically not receive its benefits.