[10] Oral presentation

[10-14] The brain disorders debate, Chekhov, and international mental health humanities

*Jussi Valtonen^1,2, Bradley Lewis³ (1. University of Helsinki(Finland), 2. University of the Arts Helsinki(Finland), 3. New York University(United States of America))

Presentation language：English

Mental health care has reached a turning point in the two hundred year brain disorders debate that has divided and distorted the field. In 2015, an influential opinion piece in Science, titled “Brain disorders? Precisely,” kept the debate alive by arguing that biological markers can be salvaged with enough research. But, four years later, a 63-page rebuttal in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, titled “Brain disorders? Not really,” used the current wealth of research data to show the opposite. “Explanatory reductionism is wrong…and we will never find out ‘what mental disorders really are’ through neuroscientific and/or genetic research” alone. The upshot of the rebuttal is clear: bioscientific reductionism has proven a disappointment and a more “holistic” approach is needed.

We take this turning point towards a more holistic understanding seriously by returning to the work of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904). Chekhov is a valuable exemplar of a mental health worker who not only keeps the biological, psychological, and social sciences together, he also works out the necessity of adding the arts and humanities. Generalizing from Chekhov’s contribution, we advocate for the development of an international mental health humanities that can be a major contributor in future mental health research, education, and practice.