Still More Psycho"therapy:" Moral Development

Another serious problem with a mental health field based on psychiatric concepts grows from the fact that each so-called diagnosis is in fact a moral label of some aspect of the "patient's" behavior.  The patient is not only defined as morally deficient but there are no concepts available to define growth that leads to a more moral and ethical human being. Just as the   psychiatric model cannot define mental health in terms of intellectual, social, or creative growth so too is it unable to find a way to describe growth in maturity and in ethical or moral behavior. Implcitly, each diagnosis states that some behavior, thought pattern, or form of emotional expression "should not be" but never defines what behaviors should replace it. The psychiatric model fails to set therapeutic goals that define mental health and therefore ignores the moral issues that are always necessary in any defintion of mental health.