Sociology and Psychiatry.

Sociology and psychiatry have a longstanding, albeit intermittently, conflicting relationship. During the mental health care reforms from the 1950s to the 1980s, mainstream sociology has supported psychiatry with both basic and applied research. Currently, the sociological perspective has become more critical. From a sociological point of view, several so-called mental disorders are nothing but medicalized behavioral features (e.g., grief reactions as depression). Further issues addressed are the current countermovement against medicalization ('recovery') as well as the ongoing stigmatization and social exclusion of persons who are diagnosed with a mental disorder.