Abstract
Naturalism, Interpretation and Mental Disorder is an original work by Somogy Varga which focuses on the challenges we face when trying to interpret and understand mental illness. In a therapeutic encounter, dialogue between therapist and client, along with the specific language used by a client to express thoughts, emotions, desires and beliefs, reveals a lot about his or her inner state. However, this vital semantic aspect of the meeting is neglected in the consideration of mental disorder treatment. The book includes a hermeneutic perspective and shows how such an approach can reveal important facts about historical sources in psychiatry. The book’s primary focus is the nature of the dialogue in the therapeutic encounter. In addition, the book demonstrates how this approach can be valuable in the better understanding of the concept of mental disorder itself.
Philosophy of Psychiatry is a unique area of research with very different methodological issues. The book brings new ideas to Philosophy of Psychiatry and will be of great interest to stakeholders in the areas of Mental Health and Philosophy. Despite its philosophical foundation, the book is perfectly accessible to those from a medical background. The concepts discussed are generally well explained and contextualised. The book will be of particular interest to those engaged in the categorical construction of Psychiatry debate.
In most Western countries, the publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) has strongly influenced the new debates about philosophical problems in Psychiatry, and Psychiatry as a medical-scientific discipline. The philosophical consideration of Psychiatry as a disease has highlighted aspects of normality that are incorporated as pathological, raising the fundamental question of the role of diagnosis in psychiatry. An important focus of this philosophical discussion is an interesting debate about over-medicalisation and excess of diagnosis, which is one of the main themes of the book.
The first part focuses on the hermeneutic sensitivity required for proper historical understanding. In the second part, the question of clinical categorisation is introduced. The authors criticise the way in which diagnosis minimises the connection between psychological distress and historical and sociocultural contexts.
Nevertheless, this book is not a pure criticism of the DSM-5, but a discussion of the emblems previously placed. The focus is on the neglected role of interpretation in clinical settings and the excessive employment of the purely biological disease model. The explanatory contribution is identified as essential to interpretation in psychiatric theory, empirical research and clinical practice. In many countries around the world, DSM-5 does not have the same cachet as in the United States and consequently clinical practice moulded by DSM-5 has not entirely trickled down into everyday practice, and one should constantly reflect on the changes placed there.