Abstract
This essay discusses constructs linked to the conceptions of health and illness and, in particular, ideas that influenced and still influence the notion of mental illness. Starting from a narrative literature review, different times and ideas are visited, which, in consonance, point out that productive processes, time, territory, political and symbolic situations, as well as health models, suggest the way to diagnose and intervene in diseases. The diagnostic attitude towards what is considered pathological or not reveals fundamental characteristics of societies and the forces that operate them and, by reaching the field of subjectivity, it is potentialized as a force capable of elevating or canceling the diversity contained in human existence.
Keywords:
Mental health; Health diagnosis; Health-illness process.