Ill-defined: Concepts of mental health and illness are becoming broader, looser, and more benign

Objectives We argue that mental health-related concepts have become degraded within professional circles and in the wider community. We identify three trends: concept creep, the rise of broad umbrella concepts (e.g. distress and trauma), and the conflation of mental health with well-being, which mar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2022-08, Vol.30 (4), p.490-493
Main Authors: Jackson, Henry J., Haslam, Nick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Health Personnel
Humans
Mental Disorders - diagnosis
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental Health
Psychiatry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objectives We argue that mental health-related concepts have become degraded within professional circles and in the wider community. We identify three trends: concept creep, the rise of broad umbrella concepts (e.g. distress and trauma), and the conflation of mental health with well-being, which marginalises serious mental illness. We speculate on the causes of these trends, including cultural shifts towards greater sensitivity to harm and the rise of wellness industries. Contributing factors within psychiatry include overdiagnosis, dimensional models and transdiagnostic perspectives. Conclusions These trends may lead to inflated demands on services from those at the milder end of the psychopathological spectrum. We set out seven measures that mental health professionals can take to resist trends towards broad concepts of mental illness and limit some of their adverse consequences.
ISSN:1039-8562
1440-1665
DOI:10.1177/10398562221077898