This paper discusses the representation and explanation of relationships between phenomena that are important in psychiatric contexts. After a general discussion of complexity in the philosophy of science, I distinguish zoomingout approaches from zooming-in approaches. Zooming-out has to do with seeing complex mental illnesses as abstract models for the purposes of both explanation and reductio...

With the onset of severe acute illnesses, chronic illnesses, malignant diseases or child and adolescent psychiatric disorders requiring admission to hospital, the pillars of the once supportive system of coordinates collapse. Such a circumstance inevitably leads to the loss of the main points of reference, which has an aggravating effect on the recovery process and future prospects of the patie...

Mental illness and its treatment are largely invisible. We use multiple publicly available data sources to evaluate changes in the well-being of Americans with mental illnesses over the past decade. We find that access to care, including specialty psychiatric and inpatient care, and financial protection have improved. However, not all people with mental health problems have shared in these impr...

Subjective incapacity and fatigue are common as secondary symptoms in many physical and psychiatric disorders. In the last decade, however, a range of “new” illnesses has emerged in which incapacity and fatigue are the primary and central complaints. Patients with these illnesses may often be difficult to treat on an individual level. In the public domain, they are very vocal, challenging medic...

In a recent provocative Opinion article in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Downar et al.1 (see also Goodkind et al.2) draw from quantitative metaanalyses of repositories of structural neuroimaging studies to propose a ‟common core” of brain regions whose function is disturbed in a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. Central to this core is the (dorsal) anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and (ante...

For the last 40 years British Columbia has pursued a general policy of deinstitutionalizing patients from its one large psychiatric hospital, Riverview Hospital (RVH), to a variety of alternative, community-based living and care-giving arrangements. Th is policy has not unfolded in a systematic, linear fashion, but rather it has been punctuated by interruptions and delays as policy makers and m...

Psychiatric rehabilition is the theory and practice of assisting persons with severe mental illnesses achieve and maintain goals. This consists of personal skills training and environmental accommodations, aimed at the person with the mental illness fulfilling roles. Although coercion in relation to psychiatric treatment has been discussed at length, coercion has not been sufficiently discussed...

Theoretical neuroscience, which characterizes neural mechanisms using mathematical and computational models, is highly relevant to central problems in the philosophy of psychiatry. These models can help to solve the explanation problem of causally connecting neural processes with the behaviors and experiences found in mental illnesses. Such explanations will also be useful for generating better...

many health systems have traditionally adopted a view of mental disorders based on pathologies and the risk individuals have towards mental disorders. however, with this approach, mental disorders continue to cost billions a year for the healthcare system. this paper aimed to introduce and explore what the strengths-based approach is in the psychiatric arena. strengths-based approach moves the ...