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Racism is an issue that many people try to avoid, although it is something that still exists today. Can racism be tied to something deeper than a difference in skin tone, perhaps, a mental illness?
The issue was first raised 40 years ago by a group of black psychiatrists who asked the American Psychiatric Association to classify forms of extreme bigotry and prejudice as a mental disorder.
The APA rejected their request on the grounds that racism is a “cultural and social problem and cannot be attributed to any disorder.”
The APA also said that labeling racism as a mental illness will not do anything to rid society of the problem and doing so will carry too many political implications.This has remained the general consensus.
Recently, some psychiatrists argue that the notion deserves a second look. “To continue perceiving extreme racism as normative and not pathologic is to lend it legitimacy. Clearly, anyone who scapegoats a whole group of people and seeks to eliminate them to resolve his or her internal conflicts meets criteria for a delusional disorder, a major psychiatric illness,” said Alvin F. Poussaint, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard University.
Not recognizing racism as a mental illness seems to legitimize it. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, a mental disorder is defined as a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress or with a significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom.
The manual also goes on to say that in order for a syndrome to be classified as a mental illness it must be considered a manifestation of a behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction in the individual. Neither deviant behavior nor conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict is a symptom of a dysfunction in the individual.”
From that definition, Adolf Hitler, who exterminated six million Jewish people was simply at conflict with the Jewish people and not the fact that they existed.
This would mean that the Hitler did suffer from some type of pathological disorder.
The question of Hitler’s mental health has been the center of controversy for years and a clear diagnosis from those who studied his psyche could have resulted in a deeper look into the minds of Hitler and others like him.
It is time for the APA to reevaluate the seriousness of racism.
Racism is an issue that many people try to avoid, although it is something that still exists today. Can racism be tied to something deeper than a difference in skin tone, perhaps, a mental illness?
The issue was first raised 40 years ago by a group of black psychiatrists who asked the American Psychiatric Association to classify forms of extreme bigotry and prejudice as a mental disorder. The APA rejected their request on the stated that racism is a “cultural and social problem and cannot be attributed to any disorder.” This has remained the general consensus among the association since.
Recently some psychiatrists argue that the notion deserves a second look. “To continue perceiving extreme racism as normative and not pathologic is to lend it legitimacy. Clearly, anyone who scapegoats a whole group of people and seeks to eliminate them to resolve his or her internal conflicts meets criteria for a delusional disorder, a major psychiatric illness,” said Alvin F. Poussaint, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University.
Not only does not recognizing racism as a mental illness seem to legitimize it, it also does not provide an anecdote for the issue.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, a mental disorder is defined as a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual and that is associated with present distress or with a significantly increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom. The manual also goes on to say that in order for a syndrome to be classified as a mental illness it must be considered a manifestation of a behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction in the individual.
Neither deviant behavior nor conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict is a symptom of a dysfunction in the individual.
From that definition Adolf Hitler, who exterminated 6 million Jewish people in anticipation of a pure white race was simply at conflict with the Jewish people, not the fact that they existed, which means that the he did suffer from some type of pathological disorder; The question of Hitler’s mental health has been the center of controversy for years and a clear diagnosis from those who studied his psyche could have resulted in a deeper look into the minds of Hitler and others like him.
It is time for the APA to reevaluate the seriousness of racism.
21 comments
A Sense of Peoplehood is not a PathologyIt is not racist for a professor such as Alan Dershowitz or for a professor likeKevin MacDonald to advocate for their ethnic group interests.The words for bigotry, that are often used, such as: ant-Semitic, anti-white, anti-black, anti-Arab, anti-feminist, anti-gay and hundreds of other labels, are for the most part overstated. Instead, it should be seen as pro-white, or pro-Jewish or pro-women or pro-traditional family and not be ashamed of it.These “pro” sensibilities are part of the human condition, not to be pathologized into an “anti.”It is about group interests.A race or an ethnie without a sense of peoplehood or ethnichood will end up being used to achieve the goals of other ethnies. (Yes, ethnie, not ethnic).The feelings or thoughts for peoplehood is not a pathology. The European-American will have White ethnic interests and it is not racist to have them. Just as Hispanics, Asians, Jews and Blacks have their own ethnic interests, it should not be a pathology for Whites to have ethnic interests. –Michael Santomauro
Peace.Michael Santomauro
Editorial Director
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