We talk constantly about “mental health”, but do we actually know what it is? Psychiatry is very good at defining mental disorders: depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, anxiety and many others. But that raises a more fundamental question: what does a mentally healthy person actually look like?
In this episode, Dr Alex is joined by philosopher and psychotherapist John T. Maier, author of the forthcoming book The Minds We Want: A Theory of Mental Health.
They discuss whether mental health is simply the absence of mental illness, whether it should be defined by how well we function, and who ultimately gets to decide what a “healthy” mind is supposed to be.
They discuss psychiatry’s medical model, psychotherapy, personality, self-actualisation, possible functions of a healthy mind and what mental health services should actually be trying to achieve.
Learn more about John's work - https://www.jmaier.net/
Interviewed by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Alex is a consultant psychiatrist and a UKCP registered psychotherapist.
Get in touch: https://alexcurmitherapy.com/contact/
Check out The Thinking Mind Substack: https://thinkingmindblog.substack.com/
Alex is not currently taking on new psychotherapy clients, if you are interested in working with Alex for psychological coaching , you can email - alexcurmitherapy@gmail.com with "Coaching" in the subject line.
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