More equal societies have less mental illness: What should therapists do on Monday morning?

Duncan Wright

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2014, vol. 60, issue 5, 436-441

Abstract: Background: Therapists seeing poor clients may ask if countries with greater income equality have less mental illness. If so, how should therapists respond? Material: A review of epidemiological studies, theories of inequality and democratic reform movements in psychiatry and psychology leads to four arguments. Discussion: (1) Increasing income equality improves the health of societies. (2) An elite opposes greater equality, partly by persuading the majority to consent to the existing order. (3) Therapists may inadvertently help in this persuasive effort. (4) However, therapists in democratic traditions create systems of care that support movements for greater income equality.

Keywords: Income inequality; shame; capitalism; ideology; Italian democratic psychiatry; liberation psychology; critical psychiatry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:60:y:2014:i:5:p:436-441

DOI: 10.1177/0020764013492700

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