Is mental illness a social construct or biological fact
When you say mental illness it depends which one your talking about to decide what we think caused it. For example Autism..can be seen as a mental illness, I don't think this is constructed by society, Its a genetic, scientificly researched illness- parts of it are socially constructed, like the medication, what the definate characteristics are etc...but at the end of the day it's a biological fact.
Many other mental illnesses like depression are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain..this arguing biological fact again, however society can influence this condition, it influences how we view it, how we stereotype it and its often things in society such as dicrimination, pressure, prejudice, abuse etc which cause people to fall into a depression so therefore some mental illnesses do have Societal contrusts or at least influences in it.
I think people maybe angry with this question because it suggests that perhaps mental illnesses don't realy exsist and that people are "creating/constructing" them which is not the case. I have suffered from severe depression, was even suicidal and there is no way that I wanted to feel that, so i wasn't making it up, it was a FACT that was happening to me.
It is a biological fact. It has existed since the dawn of time and will always be with us. Numpties like Thomas Szatz who say that it does not exist and is a conspiracy foisted on people by capitalism to control their revolutionary energies are deluded and ignorant.