We’re All Going Crazy Now

How the Covid-19 Pandemic Can Promote More Compassionate Clinical Perspectives

Bibliographic Data

ID9020347
AuthorsAlexander J Calder (0000-0002-0951-9461, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA, corresponding author), Lukas F Novak (0000-0001-6013-8114, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA), Alexandra Lane (0000-0003-1266-5934, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA)
Year2020
Volume60
Issue5
Pages639-646
Publication date2020-07-03
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Humanistic Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-1678 • E-ISSN: 1552-650X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0022167820938615
OpenAlexW3040097734
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

Categorical conceptions of mental disorder divide individuals’ functioning into the categories of normal and abnormal. It is well established that normal functioning is partially culturally defined and understood with reference to culturally expected responses to daily life. However, when a radical and unprecedented situation occurs, as in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, these expectations become less clearly defined, and any categorical account of mental disorder becomes obscured. We argue that, in the midst of this pandemic, traditional hierarchies between the clinician and their client are challenged, because categorical interpretations of mental disorder are less applicable. We use this observation to argue that incidents like the COVID-19 pandemic reveal the ambiguity and permeability of the divide between normal and abnormal functioning, while recommending more humanistic perspectives on individual distress

Ambiguity · Categorical variable · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Disease · Distress · Infectious disease (medical specialty · Pandemic · Clinical Psychology · Empathy and Medical Education · Medicine · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Psychology · Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments · Social Psychology

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