The Illness Inquisition

Abstract

In 1487, the Malleus Maleficarum was published by members of the Catholic Church in Germany as an authoritative guidebook on how to identify, question, and, ultimately, convict witches. Similarly, the DSM serves as an authoritative manual for identifying and classifying individuals who disturb, who defy social norms, and who are considered to be somehow different. These diagnostic categories, however, lack reliability and validity, result in assumptions and stereotypes that contribute to unhelpful and harmful practices, create an illusion of disease and difference where there is none, and provide a means of social control that may violate human rights for many. Anti-stigma campaigns advocate for decreasing prejudice and discrimination for those suffering emotional distress, yet the very paradigm upon which these campaigns, and the mental health field as a whole, is predicated may be the central culprit for this prejudice in the first place.