Mental illness denial or mental disorder denial is a form of denialism in which a person denies the existence of mental disorders. ^[1] Both serious analysts ^{[2] [3]} and pseudoscientific movements ^[1] question the existence of certain disorders.

In psychiatry, insight is the ability of an individual to understand their mental health condition, ^[4] and anosognosia is the lack of awareness of a mental health condition. ^[5] Certain psychological analysts argue this denialism is a coping mechanism usually fueled by narcissistic injury. ^[6]

A minority of professional researchers see disorders such as depression from a sociocultural perspective and argue that the solution to it is fixing a dysfunction in the society, not in the person's brain. ^[3]

Insight

In psychiatry, insight is the ability of an individual to understand their mental health, ^[4] and anosognosia is the lack of awareness of a mental health condition. ^[5]

According to Elyn Saks, probing patient's denial may lead to better ways to help them overcome their denial and provide insight into other issues. ^[6] Major reasons for denial are narcissistic injury and denialism. ^[6] In denialism, a person tries to deny psychologically uncomfortable truth and tries to rationalize it. ^[6] This urge for denialism is fueled further by narcissistic injury. ^[6] Narcissism gets injured when a person feels vulnerable (or weak or overwhelmed) for some reason like mental illness. ^[6]

Scholarly criticism of psychiatric diagnosis

Scholars have criticized mental health diagnoses as arbitrary. ^[7] According to Thomas Szasz, mental illness is a social construct. He views psychiatry as a social control and mechanism for political oppression. ^[8] Szasz wrote a book on the subject in 1961, The Myth of Mental Illness. ^[9]

See also

• Anti-intellectualism
• Traditionalism^{[ disambiguation needed]}

References