A possible new approach to understanding mental disorder.
The aetiology of mental disorders is not fully understood. This paper presents an analysis of the conceptual control process exploring the tools of conceptual application and the phases and the mechanism of the control process and seeks to show how the illness states of mental disorder naturally come to occur. Living occurs in a world of change. For living to occur some control is required and to exert control, to provide direction for the conceptual process, some interpretation of significance, some definition of need is also required. Such interpretation, monitoring significance in relation to the many aspects of change, forms the base on which living occurs. Change in human terms is intrinsically insecure and interpretation of significance is an interpretation of security, an interpretation of control in living. Conceptual control is a process applied to maintain security, to maintain a secure base for the interpretation of significance, it is a process applied to produce and hold a sense of control. Powering a process, producing and holding a sense of control, is an active process and so requires some form of energy. Human beings have a sense of that energy, something exhibited in terms such as full of energy, tired, exhausted. As energy is required to power the control process, accompanying the sense of energy is a sense of the ability to provide power, is a sense of the ability to hold and maintain control, is a sense of security. As available energy reduces there is difficulty holding the same sense of control, a person in the same setting comes to feel more insecure. This can result in a person experiencing mental disorder from mild to severe degree. Mild where conceptual process is applied to manage just one or a very few particular needs, severe and more general where the insecurity affects the base of interpretation. In this later case seeking to protect security can lead to mania, mood-incongruent delusions, schizophrenia. Failing ability to protect can lead to generalized anxiety disorder, mood-congruent delusions, different presentations and degrees of depression.
Duke Street Surgery, Duke Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 1LF, UK. philipjsharples@btinternet.com
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D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008962:Models, Theoretical