During the last years, there has been an
important discussion on the concept of mental disorder.
Several accounts of such a concept have been offered by
theorists, although neither of these accounts seems to
have successfully answered both the question of what
it means for a certain mental condition to be a disorder
and the question of what it means for a certain disorder
to be mental. In this paper, I propose an account of the
concept of mental disorder that, if I am right, provides
satisfactor…
Read moreDuring the last years, there has been an
important discussion on the concept of mental disorder.
Several accounts of such a concept have been offered by
theorists, although neither of these accounts seems to
have successfully answered both the question of what
it means for a certain mental condition to be a disorder
and the question of what it means for a certain disorder
to be mental. In this paper, I propose an account of the
concept of mental disorder that, if I am right, provides
satisfactory answers to both of these questions. Furthermore,
this account (unlike other accounts presented in
the literature on the subject) meets the requirements for
achieving a crucial goal underlying the project of sorting
out the concept of mental disorder, namely the goal of
allowing the existence of a dialogue between mental
health professionals of different theoretical orientations.
To achieve this goal, the account herein proposed is not
based in any particular theoretical framework, but in
both ordinary and technical theory-neutral concepts. In
the last part of the paper, I argue that it follows from
most accounts of the concept of mental disorder that
the disciplines concerned with explaining some mental
disorders are not branches of medicine, and that the
treatment of some mental disorders is not a matter of
medical intervention.