Clarifying the message of critical psychiatry

Reaction to my BJPsych Bulletin editorial has made me realise I need to be clearer in my essential message about critical psychiaty (see previous post). It needs to be more relevant (see twitter conversation) and inclusive without becoming diluted. To this end, let me try to create a basis to build on in a couple of sentences.

Functional mental illness has a dynamic, systemic and purposive character and we need to move on from expecting to explain it in physico-chemical terms. It makes more sense to see it as a process rather than a static substance in the brain (see eg. previous post).