Some questions regarding schizophrenia were recently posted and at the same time a person at a local discussion group made the assertion that schizophrenia is not a disease. The arguments he gave were not very good, so I did a Web search to see if anyone else is of that opinion. I found this site maintaining that schizophrenia is a person’s attempt to resolve an existential dilemma and that the right approach is not to medicate, which stands in the way of the healing process, but to provide support in the knowledge that the person will come out of this more enlightened and better off than before becoming schizophrenic.

To me it seems like a lot of malarkey, but I did a search for reviews and references to the writer’s book Rethinking Madness and have not seen any really negative reviews. I also came across a lot of articles criticizing the whole notion of mental illness and denying that psychiatry is a legitimate profession.

I would appreciate your comments on this.