Is mental illness a social construct or biological fact
Spank a child for unacceptable behavior and somewhere in their brain they begin to realize that unacceptable behavior has consequences and it isn't long before the child begins to learn.
Punish a child for unacceptable behavior by taking away a toy,sitting them in time out etc and I believe after awhile the child begins to cope with the situation with an attitude of "Oh well,I didn't want it anyway" and they just don't get the point that bad behavior sows repercussions.
Years ago,there was LESS ADHA disorders,there was less Bi-Polarism and I attribute it clearly to the fact that children learned to control this behavior because they knew if they got out of order they would be certainly disciplined and discipline controlled alot of things as it would today if people did it right.
Having come from a dysfunctional family myself and projecting some of that same behavior onto my children there could certainly be a certain amount of "mental illness" because of dysfunctionalism but I believe it to be "learned mental illness" and not a brain malfunction which is what I would call MENTAL ILLNESS.
I have a brother who has been diagnosed by a female Dr.as being Bi-Polar but it certainly seems strange to me that his fits of Bi-Polarism only appear when he deals with women and children. When he is faced with men his own size or bigger who refuse to take his behavior his Bi-Polaism rarely rears it's ugly head. Mental Illness I say NOT. Controller,manipulator and temper tantrum thrower. . . I say YES and he's learned when it will work to his best interest and that's when he uses it,if it is going to get his @&%( whipped,he keeps it under control. . . .so you tell me.
This is a good question for different reasons, I don't think there is a right answer really.