What is the definition of a disease, and specifically a mental disease? Has science truly failed?

By webmaster | March 13, 2010

  • I think this is the biggest failure of science and generally the world. It is full of imperfections, even though religion is not a better alternative.

    But, what can you define as a disease; and what can you not? First of all, we have to realize that all humans are different physically. But they should be treated equally on moral basis, and on the basis of humanity (whether its gay ppl, straight ppl, women, old ppl; they should be treated equally on moral grounds).

    Because people are different physically; they exhibit different behavior due to the chemistry of their body. Here is where the tricky part comes. What can you categorize as an illness/disease/disorder and what can you not? This is the biggest failure of science: why do you need to categorize things into illnesses and non-illnesses? It is clear you are letting your bias through. Modern feminists define rape that is only committed by a man on a woman. So there come the discrepancies. Why can you not accept behavior that everyone's behavior is deviant from one another. Why do we have to claim somethings are anomalies, and some are not? I know pedophilia and rape is wrong, but can you categorize is as an illness/disease/disorder? Do we have any proof that pedophilia and rape are not illnesses/diseases/disorders? Is there any proof that homosexuality is not an illness/disease/disorder? I dont think so.

    So why do we have to say that pedophilia and rape are done intentionally, when they could very well be 'illnesses'. And how can we say homosexuality is not a disease/disorder when it could be?

    The fact is that these are faulty premises. We cannot categorize things into illnesses/diseases/disorders. Everyone is different from each other physically and psycologically. That is the best way to deal with things. Science cannot even come to a consensus when (at what time period) a child in a mother's womb is alive; or whether abortion is murder or not (after what stage). So i think science has failed in that aspect.


  • I am sure you feel much better for that little rant, which, if I understand it aright, implies that nobody is responsible for any of their actions, which are determined entirely by their body chemistry. If that is what you believe, then you will be when understanding when I come and burn your house down because that is in my body chemistry.

    In fact society has evolved through an understanding of appropriate relationships between its members (understanding the concepts of right and wrong confers a benefit on the members, even at the expense of a limitation of freedom). I will happily give up the freedom to murder you for the benefit that you no longer have the freedom to murder me.

    Society now has to deal with those who transgress the rules. We can separate out the ill from the merely deviant, an important classification, because we can pass the ill persons to a process of treatment, and the otherwise deviant to a process of justice. The fact that medical treatment sometimes fails does not disturb this philosophy. This is where classification comes in. If the medical profession says "Yes, you are sick, and yes, we can help" then that is excellent. Sometimes it is "Yes, you are sick, but we don't know how to cure". This is less satisfactory, but it is not a failure of the principle that if you can classify correctly, you are more likely to devise an appropriate management.

    I am not an expert on paedophilia, but if the experts in mental health do not classify it as an illness, then I, along with the rest of society, will accept that opinion as being the best available. The fact that we have not achieved a consensus on foetal development (or the existence of life on other planets) is an irrelevance.

    I note your demand for "conclusive studies". I hate to say this, but do you have a sufficient understanding of the scientific process? Yes evolution is a theory, but the experimental evidence is such that it has a probability of more than 99.99% of being the truth. If you don't understand the degrees of probability, then you have to rely on someone else's understanding. I am happy to follow the scientific opinion that homosexuality is not an illness, and if you understand no more about it than I do, you will have to do the same.


  • im not rlly guna waste time and effort reading this.. i got the impression in the first two lines.. ur an idiot who thinks u know more than u do. disease means diff things for diff people. basically its a state where u arent functioning correctly. i wont delve too much into detail as not to confuse ur little head.


  • This is cute, go get an education.







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