Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Is ‘normal grief’ a mental disorder?
AU - Wilkinson, Stephen
PY - 2000
Y1 - 2000
N2 - I argue that grief (including ‘normal grief’) is a mental disorder. I discuss the main concepts involved briefly, and state the prima facie case in favour of the view that grief is a disorder. I consider objections that grief is not a disorder because (a) it is a normal response; (b) it is more healthy than failing to grieve; (c) it involves cognitive good; (d) it is a rational response; (e) it ought not to be medicalized or treated; (f ) it has a ‘distinct sustaining cause’. Each objection is flawed, and I conclude that there is a strong case for regarding even ‘normal’ grief as a disorder. Alternatively, the arguments in this paper may be taken as attacking ‘orthodoxrsquo; definitions of mental health (e.g., in DSM 4th edn) by providing an extended discussion of one particular counter-example.
AB - I argue that grief (including ‘normal grief’) is a mental disorder. I discuss the main concepts involved briefly, and state the prima facie case in favour of the view that grief is a disorder. I consider objections that grief is not a disorder because (a) it is a normal response; (b) it is more healthy than failing to grieve; (c) it involves cognitive good; (d) it is a rational response; (e) it ought not to be medicalized or treated; (f ) it has a ‘distinct sustaining cause’. Each objection is flawed, and I conclude that there is a strong case for regarding even ‘normal’ grief as a disorder. Alternatively, the arguments in this paper may be taken as attacking ‘orthodoxrsquo; definitions of mental health (e.g., in DSM 4th edn) by providing an extended discussion of one particular counter-example.
U2 - 10.1111/j.0031-8094.2000.00186.x
DO - 10.1111/j.0031-8094.2000.00186.x
M3 - Journal article
VL - 50
SP - 290
EP - 304
JO - The Philosophical Quarterly
JF - The Philosophical Quarterly
SN - 1467-9213
IS - 200
ER -