Hi Sam,
ERIN: I agree with your hesitation about the 'biological base of mental
illness' but disagree with your idea that interpreting it due as a result of
sin as being better. From a historical point the medical model was an
improvement from this "demonization" of mental illness. People used to
entertain themselves at asylums when mental illness was "evil". The medical
model is only used as an analogy but I agree that I wish we had a better
analogy.
SAM: I mentioned earlier that bodily illness functions independently of social
context, and that science studies it through distancing the personal
opinions of the person doing the studying. Neither of these factors is
appropriate for the symptoms listed on the DSM list.
ERIN: I don't agree with your distinction of physical/mental illness.
Stress and lifestyle factors play major roles in both.
SAM: Charlotte goes to her doctor, and the
doctor prescribes a course of anti-depressants, which lift her mood and she
returns to her job.
>From the perspective of medial science, all that can be done to help
Charlotte has been done, and in fact she has been returned to her work so
clearly the treatment has been successful. From a religious point of view,
this is a disaster.
ERIN: I think you are oversimplifying it. From what I understand Therapy +
drugs works better then drugs alone or therapy alone. But whether the therapy
is from a priest or a psychologist is probably just personal preference.
In conclusion I think abnormal behavior is sometimes mistakenly seen as an
illness but it is also perhaps mistakenly seen as sinning.
Deviant behavior is sometimes the catalyst for quality change.
The brujo is not sick or sinning.
Erin
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