With so much hatred in society on all levels against most groups from religion to politics - is this a sign that society has an mental illness or something else?
Ronald Pies, MD
But what about those persons—like my old nemesis, Robin Hicks—who are apparently neither suffering nor incapacitated as a direct result of their bigoted beliefs? Are they, nevertheless, sick or diseased? My personal response is, "Not in any sense that is relevant to the practice of clinical psychiatry." It is true that psychiatrists are sometimes asked—usually by the legal system—to deal with persons who have committed antisocial acts but who do not seem in any way bothered or incapacitated by their behaviors (eg, sexual predators whose pedophilia is completely ego-syntonic). These sociopathic persons represent a medicolegal dilemma, and I have no easy answer as to how our profession should deal with them. However, I would argue that they do not represent persons with disease.
Even if we agree that pathological bigotry accompanied by suffering and incapacity represents disease in a generic sense, we must still ask if it represents a specific disease that might warrant inclusion in DSM-IV.
Here, I believe, psychiatry must draw on the history of general medicine. Historically, physicians usually begin the conceptual-empirical march toward disease by first identifying a syndrome; that is, a specific set of signs and symptoms that we observe with great consistency and regularity. Such a syndrome—for example, central obesity, muscle weakness, hypertension, and amenorrhea—may ultimately be understood as a specific disease when one or more of the following criteria are met.
A pattern of genetic transmission is discovered, sometimes leading to the identification of a specific genetic locus.
The syndrome's pathophysiology and/or pathological anatomy becomes reasonably well understood.
The syndrome's course, prognosis, and response to treatment are seen to be relatively predictable and uniform across many populations.
Indeed, when the features of Cushing's syndrome were traced to pituitary dysfunction, that particular condition became known as Cushing's disease.
Of course, there have been innumerable debates as to whether classic psychiatric disorders or diseases, such as schizophrenia, fully meet any of the 3 criteria described.4-6 Whatever one's view of such controversies, it seems to me that the construct of pathological bigotry has not yet reached even the syndromal level, much less the status of a specific disease.Nonetheless, our present diagnostic schema would allow us to treat such patients under a number of existing diagnostic categories, depending on the nature and severity of their pathology.
That said, there are some preliminary but intriguing data emerging from the work of Professor Edward Dunbar, of the University of California, Los Angeles, that may someday form the foundation for a pathological bias syndrome. Dunbar has developed the Outgroup Hostility Scale (OHS) for measuring the dimensions of pathological bias; for example, experiencing panic and anxiety in response to benign contact with persons of a racial or ethnic group. In a study of psychotherapy outpatients who sought treatment for problems unrelated to such bias, Dunbar found that OHS scores correlated with measures of hypomania, hostility, panic symptoms, and lower scores on the Global Assessment of Functioning (E. Dunbar, unpublished data, 2007). A history of psychological trauma was also a factor in some pathologically biased patients. Earlier work by Dunbar found that high ratings of "outgroup bias" were significantly associated with axis II criteria for paranoid, borderline, and antisocial personality disorders.7
Nonetheless, Dunbar stopped short of concluding that pathological bias should be considered a stand-alone disorder. As he noted, "the identification of specific symptoms of such a diagnostic category would need to demonstrate, via clinical research, an independence from other recognized diagnostic categories, and to . . . [confer] serious impairment to the individual such as to warrant mental health treatment" [italics added] (E. Dunbar, unpublished data, 2007). Moreover, Dunbar acknowledged that, as yet, "there are no established practice guidelines for the treatment of pathologically biased patients."
Carl Bell, MD, a psychiatrist who has written extensively in this area, rightly argued, "racism most likely has biological, psychological, and sociological origins." He added, however, that racism is "mainly a product of learned behavior" and that a "majority of explicitly racist persons do not have any psychopathology."8
In my view, it is at best premature to create a new diagnostic category for racism or bigotry. Still, to the extent that subgroups of those with pathological bias may have comorbid psychopathology—and to the extent that these persons are willing to undergo diagnosis and treatment—psychiatrists should remain actively interested and involved.
1. Vedantam S. Psychiatry ponders whether extreme bias can be an illness. Washington Post. December 10, 2005: A1. Available at: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/09/
AR2005120901938.html. Accessed February 28, 2007.
2. Pies R. On myths and countermyths: more on Szaszian fallacies. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1979;36:139-144.
3. Wittgenstein L. The Blue and Brown Books: Preliminary Studies for the "Philosphical Investigations," New York: Harper Colophon Books; 1958.
4. Pies R. Moving beyond the "myth" of mental illness. In: Schaler JA, ed. Szasz Under Fire: The Psychiatric Abolitionist Faces His Critics. Chicago: Open Court; 2004: 327-353.
5. Szasz T. Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry. New York: Basic Books; 1976.
6. Schramme T. The legacy of antipsychiatry. In: Schramme T, Thome J, eds. Philosophy and Psychiatry. New York: De Gruyter; 2004:94-119.
7. Dunbar E. The relationship of DSM diagnostic criteria and Gough's Prejudice Scale: exploring the clinical manifestations of the prejudiced personality. Cult Divers Ment Health. 1997;3:247-257.
8. Bell C. Racism: a mental illness? Psychiatr Serv. 2004; 55:1343.
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Is Bigotry A Mental Illness?
by writetoknow 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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writetoknow
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nvrgnbk
Not sure about the answer to your question.
But I do think attempting to read that post the whole way through will bring on a severe case of something.
Edited: Thanks for fixing it, wtk.
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rache31
I don't think its an illness. Its a learned behavior or way of thinking. That's just my opinion. As far as the case studies who experienced "panic and anxiety upon benign contact with persons of a racial or ethnic group", I don't know. Maybe they should have turned the lights off or blindfolded them. Actually, I've had some really memorable "benign contact" with individuals of another racial or ethnc group.
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evergreen
no
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evergreen
No , i dont believe bigotry is a mental illness, but an illness of sorts. It is something that is learned and passed on through generations. It is a cancer that exists within many societies around the world and is brainwashing at its ugliest. It has the ability to poison the minds of just about anyone and at any level of society; affecting individuals views by causing tunnell vision. It is sad to think that the the average bigot( or indeed racist) will judge another human being based solely on the religious group that they are born into, country they come from or skin colour.
Germany during Nazi rule and south Africa during the apathied era are prime examples. Entire peoples brainwashed by bigots and racists. History has shown how bigotry and racism is encouraged and why it prevails. I believe that if there is a strong undercurrent of bigotry or racism within a society to the extent that the average man woman or even child makes bigoted or racist comments without realising that they are in fact causing offence to others, then that society has that cancer.
The question is why is it allowed to fester within society. History has shown that it is those within powerful positions that can either allow bigotry and racism to fester or tackle this serious problem head on. I strongly believe that if the police authorities, politicians, the juditiary system, business and religious leaders collectively and wholeheartedly united to tackle this cancer; then and only then will we see peoples disgraceful attitudes change. Sadly, I take a very pessimistic view given that we live in a world full of hate and prejudice, that Man will never achieve this. I believe that only God can solve this horrible problem once and for all.
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proplog2
Bigotry is a form of Un-sanity. NOT in-sanity.
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writetoknow
Does that mean we are all bigots? And we only accept our form of bigotry?
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evergreen
Carl Bell, MD, a psychiatrist who has written extensively in this area, rightly argued, "racism most likely has biological, psychological, and sociological origins." He added, however, that racism is "mainly a product of learned behavior" and that a "majority of explicitly racist persons do not have any psychopathology."8
Writetoknow-- In answer to your question, does that mean we are all bigots and only accept our own form of bigotry?
I would say yes and no to that question. I have no doubt that every human being on this earth has at some time been prejudiced in their lives to a degree. The word prejudice means to prejudge. People do this all the time. Kids do it at school. Example, kids will pick on the fat person at their school and call them names, they will pick on the kid with glasses or because of the color of their hair. People can prejudge people for a whole range of reasons. They dont like the way someone laughs; the way they dress; they may have a stutter, the way a person speaks. People can prejudge others for the smallest of reasons. So yes, i believe that we all have our own forms of prejudice to a degree, albeit that many of us try to work on these and shouldnt hold peoples differences against them. But does that make them a bigot?
As mentioned, we can to an extent prejudge others; but this is mainly due to what we have learned from the people we mix with. I believe it is very much a learned behaviour, which depends on the particular social group you happen to be born into. If you are brought up in a cultural society that often makes jokes or belittles another cultural society, then the likelihood is that a person to some degree will prejudge that society or culture. Yet, despite this, most people tend to suppress these thoughts and show tolerance and respect for these differences.
A bigot however is a person who is intolerant of opinions, lifestyles or identities differing from his or her own (Wikipedia). Bigotry, which is really racial prejudice tends to be people who hold views of others, whether as individuals or as a group of people, based on a lack of knowledge or understanding. It is based on ignorance ie knowing nothing whatsover of other cultures or their history. Bigotry is brought about by socialisation.
Sadly, bigotry / racism tends to begin during primary socailisation, children learn and pick up messages from their families. As a child grows into an adult, the tendency is for them to have similiar views to their family members. The people we mix with, friends, social groups can all have an influence on our thinking. During secondary socialisation, attitudes and ideas are again picked up that will affect the way people view others ouside of their own social and cultural group. The media can have a huge influence on the way people are viewed within society. Television comedies or programmes in the past that had a racist tone and viewed as acceptable within any given society.
Historical factors can also have an influence. For example, in a number of countries some centuries ago, ideologists were produced to make the slave trade look acceptable. These ideologists included religion, academic theories and capatilism. They all put forward the idea that the black man was inferior to the whiteman. All of these ideas and beliefs helped to serve the needs of capatilism, creating sterotypes that helped promote racism. These views were then passed on down throught the centuries, which sadly still have an effect on the way many people view black people today;despite great efforts to stamp out racism. Even up untill recently, children were subtley being inculcated with biased views toward black people through storybooks or the name of certain toys such as gollywogs. Even the word black in the english dictionary denotes something that is bad, words such as blackmail, blackmagic etc.
There is much more I could say about socialisation, but ultimately bigotry is a product of socialisation, which inturn influences individuals psychological thinking and views. Not everyone though, is a bigot, they may prejudge others to a lesser degree, yet show tolerance. But a bigot prejudges others without showing tolerance. So, in answer to your original question, I do not believe that we are all bigots and accept our own form of bigotry.
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R.Crusoe
Some would say your description applies very well to organisations and even nations which harbor such ill will against others that they either wish to overthrow them using force, condemn them to everlasting torment or brainwash them into thinking God has rejected them. Mainstream society has more than its fair share of humans with such a mindset as a result of conditioning since childhood. And those who react to being viewed in such ways then run the risk of being branded bigots which is a self fulfilling prophecy set up by any judgemental psychology.
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writetoknow
What seems to be an improvement of education/enlightenment in the last 100-years has made people more prejuices rather then improve things as some would state.
The more we know about each other and the fields of knowledge that exposes everyone to being human the greater the intolerance seems to be for each other?
Some times I wonder if real changes has been made or circumstance in society force people not to express their real feelings because it not political correct?