Edwards R B
J Med Philos. 1981 Aug;6(3):309-22. doi: 10.1093/jmp/6.3.309.
Rather than eliminate the terms "mental health and illness" because of the grave moral consequences of psychiatric labeling, conservative definitions are proposed and defended. Mental health is rational autonomy, and mental illness is the sustained loss of such. Key terms are explained, advantages are explored, and alternative concepts are criticized. The value and descriptive components of all such definitions are consciously acknowledged. Where rational autonomy is intact, mental hospitals and psychotherapists should not think of themselves as treating an illness. Instead, they are functioning as applied axiologists, moral educators, spiritual mentors, etc. They deal with what Szasz has called "personal, social, and ethical problems in living." But mental illness is real.
与其因精神科标签严重的道德后果而摒弃“心理健康与疾病”这些术语，不如提出并捍卫保守的定义。心理健康是理性自主，而精神疾病是这种理性自主的持续丧失。对关键术语进行了解释，探讨了优点，并对替代概念进行了批判。有意识地承认了所有此类定义的价值和描述性成分。在理性自主完好无损的情况下，精神病院和心理治疗师不应将自己视为治疗疾病。相反，他们是在充当应用价值学家、道德教育者、精神导师等。他们处理的是萨斯所说的“生活中的个人、社会和伦理问题”。但精神疾病是真实存在的。
