The illusion of mental health.

Abstract

It is argued that researchers' reliance on "objective" mental health scales and disregard for clinical judgment has led to many mistaken conclusions. Specifically, standard mental health scales appear unable to distinguish between genuine mental health and the facade or illusion of mental health created by psychological defenses. Evidence is presented indicating that (a) many people who look healthy on standard mental health scales are not psychologically healthy, and (b) illusory mental health (based on defensive denial of distress) has physiological costs and may be a risk factor for medical illness. Clinical judges could distinguish genuine from illusory mental health, whereas "objective" mental health scales could not. The findings call into question the conclusions of many previous studies that rest on standard mental health scales. They suggest new ways of understanding how psychological factors may influence health. Finally, they suggest that clinical methods (which researchers often malign) may have an important role to play in meaningful mental health research.

Cites (11)

1. An inventory for measuring depression
   BECK, A. T. · 1961 · Archives of General Psychiatry
2. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image
   Rosenberg, Morris · 1965
3. Illusion and well‐being: A social psychological perspective on mental health
   Taylor, Shelley E., Brown, Jonathon D. · 1988 · Psychological Bulletin
4. Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers.
   McCrae, Robert R., Costa, Paul T. · 1987 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
5. Negative affectivity: the disposition to experience aversive emotional states
   Watson, David, Clark, Lee A. · 1984 · Psychological Bulletin
6. A personality scale of manifest anxiety
   Taylor, Janet A. · 1953 · The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology
7. Health complaints, stress, and distress: Exploring the central role of negative affectivity.
   Watson, David, Pennebaker, James W. · 1989 · Psychological Review
8. Judgment of contingency in depressed and nondepressed students: Sadder but wiser?
   Alloy, Lauren B., Abramson, Lyn Y. · 1979 · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
9. Low-anxious, high-anxious, and repressive coping styles: Psychometric patterns and behavioral and physiological responses to stress.
   Weinberger, Daniel A., Schwartz, Gary E., Davidson, Richard J. · 1979 · Journal of Abnormal Psychology
10. Behavioral Development and Construct Validity: The Principle of Aggregation
    Rushton, J. Philippe, Brainerd, Charles J., Pressley, Michael · 1983 · Psychological Bulletin

Show all 11 references

Cited by (60)

1. Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress.
   Diener, Ed, Suh, Eunkook M., Lucas, Richard E., Smith, Heidi L. · 1999 · Psychological Bulletin
2. Is there a universal need for positive self-regard?
   Heine, Steven J., Lehman, Darrin R., Markus, Hazel Rose, Kitayama, Shinobu · 1999 · Psychological Review
3. Measures of emotion: A review
   Mauss, Iris B., Robinson, Michael D. · 2009 · Cognition and Emotion
4. Flawed Self-Assessment: Implications for Health, Education, and the Workplace
   Dunning, David, Heath, Chip, Suls, Jerry M. · 2004 · Psychological Science in the Public Interest
5. Inequality and happiness: are Europeans and Americans different?
   Alesina, Alberto, Di Tella, Rafael, MacCulloch, Robert · 2004 · Journal of Public Economics

See all 801