Atlas Summit 2016 at FreedomFest

Within psychiatry and clinical psychology, neuroessentialism is the view that psychological disorders, such as depression, are best explained as brain disorders. For instance, a neuroessentialist perspective of depression argues that an individual experiences depression because his or her brain is structured and functioning in a particular way (e.g., a brain with a “chemical imbalance”). Neuroessentialism is increasingly prevalent in academic and popular writing.

William Schultz will define neuroessentialism, discuss its rising prevalence and some reasons for its appeal, identify some of the prominent arguments raised against it, and point to empirical evidence that it can have negative psychological impacts on individuals who endorse it.