The Thinking Mind Podcast: Psychiatry & Psychotherapy E116 - What are Mental Disorders? (with Dr. Awais Aftab)
Mar 21, 2025
Dr. Awais Aftab, a Cleveland psychiatrist and author of Conversations in Critical Psychiatry, joins this insightful discussion. He delves into the philosophical angles of psychiatry and the challenges of psychiatric diagnoses. Aftab argues for a holistic view of mental health, blending biological, psychological, and social factors. He critiques the rigidity of current classification systems and emphasizes the complexities of depression and anxiety. Aftab also calls for improved pharmaceutical accountability, advocating for a more integrated approach to mental health care.
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Philosophy Frames Psychiatric Basics
- Psychiatric questions probe assumptions: what counts as disorder, how values shape classifications, and how biology and culture interact.
- Philosophy of psychiatry analyzes metaphysics, epistemology, and mind-body relations to clarify clinical and scientific practice.
Diagnoses Are Practical Constructions
- Diagnostic categories often function as practical kinds rather than natural kinds with fixed essences.
- Optimal classifications depend on goals like treatment matching, genetic mapping, or neuroimaging, not a single correct carve-up.
History Shapes What We Call Depression
- Depression and anxiety overlap heavily and statistical work shows a shared distress dimension rather than clean syndromes.
- Historical shifts (e.g., DSM-III) changed thresholds and treatment patterns without patients' symptoms changing.
