Essay: Trauma and Modernism
1. Mental illness as a social construct I do agree that mental illness is variable rather than constant, that it is a function of many elements in the ever-changing cultural and social discourse. Definitions of mental illness are also influenced greatly by scientific, but mostly para-scientific and pseudo-scientific discourse. That is, psychologists and psychiatrists feign to know much more than they do about the workings of the brain and mind. However, along with the negative aspect of social stigmatizing and overmedicating, the plurality of mental illnesses is not entirely a negative phenomenon. Women who were once burned at the stake as witches are today considered to have schizophrenia; people who were lazy or stupid now have learning disabilities; post-partum depression is an acknowledged phenomenon and there are rather more humane resources available to these new mothers. In addition, the profusion of mental illnesses results in (almost) everyone having some mental handicap or an