[DominikR]

You can very objectively prove that a person is missing a limb but often you cannot prove that a person is mentally ill.

Often persons will be categorized as mentally ill just because they deviate in their beliefs or lifestyle from the mainstream culture.

And yes, mentally ill persons HAVE a free will, don't tell me they don't as this would be equal to declaring that they are not human beings but just a lump of meat.

They have feelings, desires and goals like anyone else, it's just that these in some cases may be very different from yours or mine.

[corin_]

To add to your answer: mental illness isn't all or nothing, it's not either you're a normal person with free will vs. you're crazy and everything you say is crazy. People with depression, bipolar, many other mental illnesses could be completely normal when you meet them but still classified as having a mental illness. It's possible to keep a normal life, a normal job, yet be aware that you are, in some way, "mentally ill".

[cryoshon]

This is exactly the problem! The label of "mental illness" is enough for people to throw out the complete capacity of a person merely because they have troubles in a few spots. It's frustrating.

[marrs]

Add people who don't sleep enough, are pregnant, are facing redundancy, are approaching middle age, have an addiction, etc, ad infinitum.

[nickff]

What you are describing seems similar to Szasz's ideas of mental illness (, but please correct me if I am wrong).[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz#.22Myth_of_mental...

[DominikR]

Thank you for the link, I've never heard about Szaz before.

But I must say that I agree with many points he makes although I disagree with some.

In my naive view (this is not my profession) many persons that are just to some degree different are labeled as mentally ill and medicated starting with children that aren't docile enough.

Psychiatry surely has its uses helping people to improve and overcome fears / tragic events or to evaluate if someone can be dangerous but it can't be right to forcefully medicate everyone that doesn't fit our society into submission.

[Mz]

Thank you for your comments in this discussion.

Often persons will be categorized as mentally ill just because they deviate in their beliefs or lifestyle from the mainstream culture.

Reminds me of this quote:

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?

-- Albert Einstein

Simply being unconventional can be dangerous. Lots of people who were the wrong sexual orientation, skin color, you name it, have been classified in an ugly manner as an excuse to justify mistreatment of them.

(Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drapetomania)