The Interventionist Theory and Mental Disorders

The onset and development of mental diseases are currently held to result from a combination of variables at a number of different levels (e.g., genetic, biochemical, neurological, social, psychological, ...). Many theoretical models of mental disorders have been elaborated and embraced from many disciplinary standpoints (e.g., clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, psychiatry, genetic psychiatry, psychiatric epidemiology, behavioural neurology, pharmacology, ...). This contribution focuses on causal analyses and causal explanatory models of mental disorders, the collection of different kinds of evidence, the variables involved and their interactions. Mental disorders are here taken as a significant test case for the interventionist theory of causation and causal explanation. On top of its major influence in the philosophical scenario, the interventionist view has attracted increasing interest from within investigations on many scientific topics, including cognition and psychiatric diseases. This view is considered here in the light of its feasibility to address issues arising in attempts to integrate different perspectives on mental disorders.