2.1. Skeptics of natural kinds in psychiatry
Thomas Szasz (1960, 1974) has argued that the objects classified
in psychiatry (‘mental illnesses’) do not refer to natural kinds that
are discovered, but artificial kinds that are invented. He argues that
‘mental illness’ is a term that—in reality—refers to problems in living
(i.e., the undesirable thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals).
Within this theoretical framework, Szasz draws a distinction between
bodily illnesses (which are natural kinds) and mental illnesses
(which are artificial kinds). As Szasz (1998) puts it: