Psychological Reactions to the Pandemic and the Toxic Myth of Mental Illness

The Stories We Live By

Today's discussion is based on an Op-Ed article in the New York Times entitled "Don't Ignore Clinical Mental Illness" by Andrew Solomon, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University Medical Center. The author writes "Within weeks (of the pandemic) the familar symptoms of mental illness have become universal reality." I will read sections of the article and attempt to deconstruct it as a dangerous myth from a Post-Szaszian perspective. I will argue that mental illnesses do not actually exist and that anxiety and depression are normal but painful emotions that are necessary for our dealing with this and other crises. I will try and warn my listeners not to fall into a trap that might be life-long and damage the rest of their lives. Szasz, Thomas. "The Myth Of Mental Illness." Rev. Ed. New York:Harper and Row (1984) Simon, Laurence "Psycho'therapy' and the Stories We LIve By" Self-Published by BookBaby.com. Both available at Amazon.com and Simon at store.bookbaby.com/book/psychotherapy-and-the-stories-we-live-by.