Since the mid-twentieth century, there has been an ongoing quarrel over the definition of mental health: Are disorders like depression, OCD, or schizophrenia biologically determined or are they socially constructed?

In this episode of “What Is X?,” Justin E. H. Smith talks to Danielle Carr about the history of psychiatry and the politics of madness, from 1930s asylums and the DSM to the antipsychiatry movement and Elon Musk’s newest hobby: neural implants. They discuss the big business of mental health in our therapeutic society—evident in the popularity of mental wellness apps, the proliferation of SSRIs, and Silicon Valley's fascination with brain chemistry. But could the extent and prevalence of everyday unhappiness point to problems that medicine and technology can't solve? Do they call for changing the social conditions that contribute to these feelings of loneliness and immiseration? “Mental health,” Carr argues, “is a terrain of struggle over the question of what human flourishing is and how to achieve it.” Does Justin agree?