--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Mental illness is a myth, whose function…" description: "\"Mental illness is a myth, whose function is to disguise and thus render more palatable the bitter pill of moral conflicts in human relations.\" — Thomas..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/thomas-szasz-3801_bitter_mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function_1757569.jpg" --- # Mental illness is a myth, whose function is to disguise… ![“Mental illness is a myth, whose function is to disguise and thus render more palatable the bitter pill of moral conflicts in human relations.” quote by Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/thomas-szasz-3801_bitter_mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function_1757569.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/thomas-szasz-3801_bitter_mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function_1757569.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/thomas-szasz-3801_bitter_mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function_1757569.jpg) > “Mental illness is a myth, whose function is to disguise and thus render more palatable the bitter pill of moral conflicts in human relations.” [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement argues that mental illness is a social construct used to simplify moral conflicts in human relationships. **In simple terms:** Mental illness is portrayed as a convenient myth. Key Takeaway Question labels in moral issues. Themes psychology ethics social constructs conflict Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - clinical practice - ethical debates - relationship counseling - policy making Key Concepts sociology philosophy mental health Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance moral analysis with mental health care? - Can labeling be both helpful and limiting? A Different Perspective May dismiss genuine suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitter/) [Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Disguise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disguise/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Human relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-relations/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness/) [Illness Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illness-myth-1663492/) [Mental illness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-illness/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Moral Conflicts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral-conflicts-1663493/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Myth Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth-function-1663495/) [Pill Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pill-moral-1663494/) [Pills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pills/) [Psychoanalysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychoanalysis/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [Mental illness is no myth, as some have claimed. It is a disturbance in our sense of possession of a stable inner self that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/mental-illness-is-no-myth-as-some-have-claimed-it-is-a-disturbance-in/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [For novelists, sharply drawn moral conflicts are often useful, and even human and personal disasters can be seen as material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cartwright/for-novelists-sharply-drawn-moral-conflicts-are-often-useful-and-even/) [Justin Cartwright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cartwright/) > [Science cannot resolve moral conflicts, but it can help to more accurately frame the debates about those conflicts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/science-cannot-resolve-moral-conflicts-but-it-can-help-to-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“One thus gets an impression that civilization is something which was imposed on a resisting majority by a minority which understood how to obtain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/one-thus-gets-an-impression-that-civilization-is-something-which-was/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Psychoanalysis is an attempt to examine a person's self-justifications. Hence it can be undertaken only with the patient's cooperation and can succeed only when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/psychoanalysis-is-an-attempt-to-examine-a-person-s-self/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The poor need jobs and money, not psychoanalysis. The uneducated need knowledge and skills, not psychoanalysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-poor-need-jobs-and-money-not-psychoanalysis-the-uneducated-need/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The camera introduces us to unconscious optics as does psychoanalysis to unconscious impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/the-camera-introduces-us-to-unconscious-optics-as-does-psychoanalysis/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Cinema plus Psychoanalysis equals the Science of Ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-derrida/cinema-plus-psychoanalysis-equals-the-science-of-ghosts/) [Jacques Derrida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-derrida/) > [In fact, people seem to be tired of fiction now. There are so many other ways of exploring humanity - by ethnology, psychoanalysis, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/in-fact-people-seem-to-be-tired-of-fiction-now-there-are-so-many/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [In the 1950s and early 1960s, psychoanalysis swept through the intellectual community, and it was the dominant mode of thinking about the mind. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kandel/in-the-1950s-and-early-1960s-psychoanalysis-swept-through-the/) [Eric Kandel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kandel/) > [Let us not seek our disease out of ourselves; 'tis in us, and planted in our bowels; and the mere fact that we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/let-us-not-seek-our-disease-out-of-ourselves-tis-in-us-and-planted-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [For whatever else the religious life may be, it is the fountain of self-knowledge and disillusion, the safest form of psychoanalysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cs-lewis/for-whatever-else-the-religious-life-may-be-it-is-the-fountain-of/) [CS Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cs-lewis/) > [Men have been adjudicating on what women are, and how they should behave, for millennia through the institutions of social control such as religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-jeffreys/men-have-been-adjudicating-on-what-women-are-and-how-they-should/) [Sheila Jeffreys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-jeffreys/) > [If there's a lot of fear that's going on, if there's a lot of anxiety, it's manifesting itself in your nocturnal world so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-harris/if-there-s-a-lot-of-fear-that-s-going-on-if-there-s-a-lot-of-anxiety/) [Shelby Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-harris/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More by Thomas Szasz > [Institutional psychiatry is a continuation of the Inquisition. All that has really changed is the vocabulary and the social style. The vocabulary conforms to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/institutional-psychiatry-is-a-continuation-of-the-inquisition-all/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [By pretending that convention is Nature, that disobeying a personal prohibition is a medical illness, they establish themselves as agents of social control and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/by-pretending-that-convention-is-nature-that-disobeying-a-personal/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [We shall therefore compare the concept of homosexuality as heresy, prevalent in the days of the witch-hunts, with the concept of homosexuality as mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-shall-therefore-compare-the-concept-of-homosexuality-as-heresy/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The basic ingredients of psychotherapy are religion, rhetoric, and repression, which are themselves mutually overlapping categories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-basic-ingredients-of-psychotherapy-are-religion-rhetoric-and/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [For Jews, the Messiah has never come; for Christians, He has come but once; for modern man, He appears and disappears with increasing rapidity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/for-jews-the-messiah-has-never-come-for-christians-he-has-come-but/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [I submit that the traditional definition of psychiatry, which is still vogue, places it alongside such things as alchemy and astrology, and commits it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/i-submit-that-the-traditional-definition-of-psychiatry-which-is-still/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [I believe the time has come to acknowledge that the practice of routine circumcision rests on the absurd premise that the only mammal in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/i-believe-the-time-has-come-to-acknowledge-that-the-practice-of/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [He who does not accept and respect those who want to reject life does not truly accept and respect life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/he-who-does-not-accept-and-respect-those-who-want-to-reject-life-does/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The passion to interpret as madness that with which we disagree seems to have infected the best of contemporary minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-passion-to-interpret-as-madness-that-with-which-we-disagree-seems/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [We should pledge ourselves to the proposition that the irresponsible life is not worth living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-should-pledge-ourselves-to-the-proposition-that-the-irresponsible/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/a-child-becomes-an-adult-when-he-realizes-that-he-has-a-right-not/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [We have, in our day, witnessed the birth of the Therapeutic State. This is perhaps the major implication of psychiatry as an institution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/we-have-in-our-day-witnessed-the-birth-of-the-therapeutic-state-this/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The homosexual is a scapegoat who evokes no sympathy. Hence, he can only be a victim, never a martyr.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-homosexual-is-a-scapegoat-who-evokes-no-sympathy-hence-he-can/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [People dream of making the virtuous powerful, so they can depend upon them. Since they cannot do that, people choose to make the powerful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/people-dream-of-making-the-virtuous-powerful-so-they-can-depend-upon/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) > [The greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic, and to some extent even antibiotic - in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/the-greatest-analgesic-soporific-stimulant-tranquilizer-narcotic-and/) [Thomas Szasz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) [Explore all 121 Thomas Szasz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/) ## More Bitter quotes > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [From the bitter cold winter at Valley Forge, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, our soldiers have courageously answered when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon-ortiz/from-the-bitter-cold-winter-at-valley-forge-to-the-mountains-of/) [Solomon Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon-ortiz/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [Troy was a sweet, good man. We just were never destined to be married. We just didn't have the same values. But I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-pleshette/troy-was-a-sweet-good-man-we-just-were-never-destined-to-be-married/) [Suzanne Pleshette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-pleshette/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Holy shadows of the dead, I'm not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-the-great/holy-shadows-of-the-dead-i-m-not-to-blame-for-your-cruel-and-bitter/) [Alexander the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-the-great/) > [One may have been a fool, but there's no foolishness like being bitter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-norris/one-may-have-been-a-fool-but-there-s-no-foolishness-like-being-bitter/) [Kathleen Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-norris/) > [“I doubt taking in a sullen, bitter, teenage girl with more issues than National Geographic is at the center of the vision board for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katja-millay/i-doubt-taking-in-a-sullen-bitter-teenage-girl-with-more-issues-than/) [Katja Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katja-millay/) > [Tireless passion, fierce jealousy, longing to possess and crush-these alone were left of all his love for Rosalind; these remained to him as payment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/tireless-passion-fierce-jealousy-longing-to-possess-and-crush-these/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Life is too bitter already, without territories and wars and noble feuds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-too-bitter-already-without-territories-and-wars-and-noble/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With every interview you feel like you lose a piece of yourself, and with every bad review you become just that little bit more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-march/with-every-interview-you-feel-like-you-lose-a-piece-of-yourself-and/) [Jane March](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-march/) > [“Without the bitter, the sweet ain’t as sweet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/without-the-bitter-the-sweet-ain-t-as-sweet/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I refuse to be one of those artists who, 10 years from now, they're bitter about the rise and the fall of their career.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/i-refuse-to-be-one-of-those-artists-who-10-years-from-now-they-re/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [“In these days in which we live, when existence has become a thing of infinite complexity and fate, if it slips us a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse/in-these-days-in-which-we-live-when-existence-has-become-a-thing-of/) [P.G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse/) > [If a sudden jar can cause me to speak an impatient, unloving word, then I know nothing of Calvary love. For a cup brimful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-carmichael/if-a-sudden-jar-can-cause-me-to-speak-an-impatient-unloving-word-then/) [Amy Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-carmichael/) [Browse all 1,923 Bitter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mental illness is a myth, whose function is to disguise and thus render more palatable the bitter pill of moral conflicts in human relations.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Szasz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function-is-to-disguise-and-thus/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bitter" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function-is-to-disguise-and-thus/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/thomas-szasz-3801_bitter_mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function_1757569.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/thomas-szasz-3801_bitter_mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function_1757569.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c9/thomas-szasz-3801_bitter_mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function_1757569.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Mental illness is a myth, whose function is to disguise and thus render more palatable the bitter pill of…” — Thomas Szasz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Szasz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-szasz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Mental illness is a myth, whose...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function-is-to-disguise-and-thus/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-szasz/mental-illness-is-a-myth-whose-function-is-to-disguise-and-thus/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```