Mental Illness, The Social Construction of
Fixsen, Alison 2025. Mental Illness, The Social Construction of. in: The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society John Wiley & Sons.
| Chapter title | Mental Illness, The Social Construction of |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fixsen, Alison |
| Abstract | Social constructionism stands in contrast to the positivist conception of knowledge as scientifically measurable, providing an important counterpoint to the medical determinist approach to mental illness. However, social constructionism is a broad canvas covering approaches and ideas allied to different intellectual traditions. This chapter considers some of the questions social constructionism poses in terms of the historical and cultural embeddedness of mental illness, the rise of psychiatry and psychiatric hegemony, biomedicalization and medicalization “from below,” the economics of mental illness, and moves to “normalize” mental illness. The widening of the psychiatric narrative to be more inclusive means that more and more conditions that could be considered lifestyle preferences have been awarded psychiatric labels. Ideas about mental illness are changing rapidly, and in our digitally connected era are framed less as private troubles and more as problems to be detected, shared, and resolved. Events such as COVID-19 have led to the message that everyone must look after and invest in their mental health. Understanding the socially constructed nature of mental illness is imperative at a time when psychiatric discourse has moved far beyond official lexicons to feature in the nooks and crannies of everyday life. |
| Book title | The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 03 Nov 2025 |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118410868.wbehibs554 |
| File | File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
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