[Magdalen] Washington Post article on involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill

[Kate Conant]

"Both approaches recognize that mental illnesses are complex individual
responses — less like hypothyroidism, in which you fall ill because your
body does not secrete enough thyroid hormone, and more like metabolic
syndrome, in which a collection of unrelated risk factors (high blood
pressure, body fat around the waist) increases your chance of heart disease.
The implications are that social experience plays a significant role in who
becomes mentally ill, when they fall ill and how their illness unfolds. We
should view illness as caused not only by brain deficits but also by abuse,
deprivation and inequality, which alter the way brains behave. Illness thus
requires social interventions, not just pharmacological ones."

This quote from the op ed you cited certainly doesn't negate the idea of
 brain disease.

The mention of hypothyroidism is interesting, though, because it is known
to cause depression, just as hyperthyroidism can cause mania.




"What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love mercy, and walk
humbly with your God?"
Micah 6:8

On Sat, Feb 14, 2015 at 11:54 AM, Ann Markle <ann.markle at aya.yale.edu>
wrote:

> Actually, not that it changes the relevant article and controversy one bit,
> but the "brain disease" model of mental illness is falling by the wayside
> (see the NY Times of a couple of weeks ago).  Genetic predisposition does
> not necessarily a disease make.  And biochemical imbalances do not explain
> it all.  So the parallel between physical and mental illnesses is a
> specious one.
>
> Ann
>
> The Rev. Ann Markle
> Buffalo, NY
> ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
> blog:  www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com
>
> On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 10:16 PM, Kate Conant <kate.conant at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > So how is it better to have "mental" hospitals become de facto prisons?
> > And how many other physically ill people are untreated by choice?  Is it
> a
> > crime to have a brain disorder?  Would you shunt someone off to
> > maltreatment if they had epilepsy or Parkinson's?
> >
>