Abstract

In "On the Concept of 'Psychiatric Disorder,'" Miriam Solomon strives to resolve the tension between thinking of bereavement as a normal reaction to loss, and recognizing that its most extreme forms look very much like major depressive episodes and benefit from psychiatric treatment. To do this, she introduces the idea that a condition can be both normal and a mental disorder, or in other words, that some mental disorders are normal. Although I very much like the idea that some mental are predictable responses to stressors, I have trouble making sense of the argument Solomon provides. I am going to focus on two reasons why.First, the concept of psychological injury is not new and does not do the work Solomon needs...