Can Mental Health Be Viewed as a Public Social Problem?

Communicating mental health online: a comparative multimodal analysis of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Children’s Mental Health Ontario

“…Other researchers such as Podgornik and Kovačič (2014) support the claim that the definition of mental health is constantly being redefined over time, and mental health is also interpreted differently across different cultures based on value differences and what specific cultures define as normal and abnormal. For example, during the mid-to-late twentieth century, theorists such as Foucault, Goffman, and Szasz viewed and understood mental health to be a "social and psychological phenomenon", placing it within the field of public health (Podgornik & Kovačič, 2014, p. 52).…”

“…For example, during the mid-to-late twentieth century, theorists such as Foucault, Goffman, and Szasz viewed and understood mental health to be a "social and psychological phenomenon", placing it within the field of public health (Podgornik & Kovačič, 2014, p. 52). Szasz claimed that the concept of mental illness is a myth, since individuals who are labeled as mentally ill are often seen as powerless and are devalued within society (Podgornik & Kovačič, 2014). Mental illness may also be interpreted as a concept that cannot be proven or disproven, and being labeled as ill is associated with negative connotations, which leads to stigmatization as well as the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy.…”