ABSTRACT
Many papers and books written from the varied backgrounds of deviancy, transcultural or historical psychiatry reach a common conclusion which is summed up in the phrase ‘therefore mental illness is a social construction’. This deduction is usually made upon the basis of social process effects upon the generation and development of mental illness, or evidence for the variability of mental illness across cultures or epochs. Alternatively, the same conclusion is reached by those who argue from first principles that all illness is socially defined, mental illness included. Having considered how these ideas are applied in the varying realms of the sociology of deviance, transcultural psychiatry, the history of psychiatry, psychiatric practice and reflection, we are now in a position to say in exactly what ways this statement is correct or incorrect.
