According to david Mechanic, how does society define what is mentally ill?

Question

According to David Mechanic, how does society define what is mentally ill?

Answer 1

I'm not sure this is what you're looking for as it speaks of the publics view of the mentally ill, not it's definition exactly but it's such a great quote. I'm going to keep looking, stay tuned ;)

"The criminalization of persons with mental illness is commonly noted, and we now have many more persons with mental illness in jails and prisons than in mental hospitals. These correctional institutions typically have poor mental health services, and persons with mental illness are commonly victimized by other inmates and sometimes staff. The large number of persons with mental illness in prisons is due to many factors, including poor community mental health services. But many patients are jailed for substance offenses that are by definition associated with DSM disorders. [ . . . ] It is also fair to say that these patients do not fall high on the average person's hierarchy of compassion or high on political agendas. But the criminalization of the mentally ill represents perhaps the greatest scandal of our health care system, and a situation that should embarrass all thoughtful citizens."  Source:     http://www.tomhull.com/ocston/books/mech...

EDIT:

OK, It seems he beleives that society feels mental health care should be generalized as opposed to specialized. That says, indirectly, that the public  thinks that it's all biological and can be treated medically by chemically "adjusting"  the brain. I smell a rat here. (It's a goldmine for the drug companies and much less costly for insurance companies). I know, no one asked my opinion ;)

David says this about that:

"Sociologist David Mechanic suggests that the

public should not be misguided by recent research findings that general medicine can fill the gap for providing specialty  mental health services."

And my source for this quote is here:

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/rep...

Answer 2

Never heard of him, however its a spectrum, and not to be incorrectly classed by any definition. Each living human mental status is on a spectrum and given to variance. Mentally ill is an extension further than the remit of society.